Chicago CTA question

[Bob Dylan]

I'll second ( third) the other posts saying to go to the Target store downtown and also look around State Street and Michigan Avenue @ the many stores there ( Macys is a good Dept. Store!) as opposed to going to the 'burbs to a mall that's nothing special!

There is also an upscale mall on S. Canal St. not far from Union Station that has a Whole Foods Market, a Chain Shoe Store etc. One of our members ( pennyk)shops there when passing through CHI and can probably advise you of what all is located there, it is walkable as long as the weather isn't too bad!

Must be an interesting time to be in France now, those of us that were in NYC on 911,or Boston during the Marathon bombing, can really share their feelings! Hopefully all the lunatics involved, and their fanatical associates world wide, will be caught and receive the justice they want to deny others!

 

[MiRider]

No one in Chicago says Chi town!

I got "internet slapped" for saying "Frisco." Never did it again.

Some people are just way too uptight about stupid things.

Hmmm... I've seen a lot of people on this forum way more uptight about things much more *stupid* than that.

Nothing wrong with correcting someone posting bad information and the post was full of it.

Now excuse me while I continue to plan my trip to the Big Apple on The Amtrack that goes from Chi Town all the way to Bean Town.

 

[George K]

Are the sales taxes less at the mall than in the city? Do they tax on clothing? Just some additional things to think about. I live in a state that does not have sales tax, so I have to remember these things when I travel out of state.

Here in Illinois, everything is taxed - though at different rates. Each little subdivision of government takes a bite. The state sales tax is 8%. But, in Cook County, and the City of Chicago add theirs. The total in Chicago is 9.25% (highest in the country) down from 10.25%. Groceries are 2.25%, unless you want a soft drink which tacks on another 3% to the general sales tax (yep, 12.5%).

 

[MiRider]

Tax at Riverside Mall is 9%

http://www.sale-tax.com/NorthRiversideIL

Also, if Levis are a priority, there's a corporate Levis Store on Michigan Ave. not far from Nordstrom's.

 

[user 6862]

OK, to keep George happy we will be off to Target and Macey's, both are a short walk from the hotel so that's a big bonus and thank you all very much indeed, especially you George K.

We'll have breakfast the next day at Lou Mitchell's as recommended a while back by I think Jim Hudson, then later a light lunch at Union Station. I know someone asked for the best eatery at the station months ago but can't find the thread, any current recommendations for somewhere inside the station that serve something small and tasty?

Jim. Haven't hardly seen any French people this week, but the tv here is in full range of sombre to uplifting. The French people we know tend to be serious but with a sense of humour, they do hold their 3 essential values of Liberte, Egalite and Fraternite very very dear to themselves, so this last week will have affected them quite a lot. We'll understand more by the time we reach Chicago.

Thank you everyone

 

[Bob Dylan]

vv: Lou Mitchell's is still excellent!( take a big appetite)

As for Union Station the Deli downstairs by the Great Hall is Excellent!

Upstairs in the Food Court ( take the escelator on your left in the hall outside the Metro Lounge on the way to the Coach Waiting Room)Gold Coast Dogs have excellent Brats and Dogs and the Chinese Joint kept several of us alive during the Chicago Gathering in 2013!

The so called Mexican food joint and the Pizza Hut, McDonalds etc. is a waste of time and money!

Didn't mean to skip mentioning England's spells of terror during "the troubles" and today's religious lunatics doing their thing in London!

 

[trainman74]

This might come in handy: Here is a 10%-off "international visitors" voucher for Macy's that you can print out and present with your passport.

 

[tp49]

I second Lou Mitchell's, love the place for breakfast. Target is similar to Carrefour in France of a Tesco Extra in the UK if you didn't already know that. Also, Macy's always has sales going on what you can do is look in the local newspaper (Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun Times) look for their advert and usually there will be a "savings pass" for some additional percentage. Macy's also would have the pass available on their website and through their app (for iphone and android.) Worth having to save a little money.

 

[John Bredin]

If you really must go to a suburban mall take the Blue Line to Rosemont, where there's a frequent shuttle bus (or a few block's walk if the weather's decent) to a big new(ish) outlet mall.

 

[MetraUPWest]

The Target store on State Street is nice, but there is a bigger one at Roosevelt Road and Clark Street, a block away from the upscale outdoor mall Jim was talking about.

 

[NorthShore]

The Target on State is the historic Carson, Pierre, Scott department store building. It is a beautiful Louis Sullivan design that should be seen. Similarly, with Macy's (just a block away) being the historic Marshall Field's. If you want a small taste of historic American shopping (pre mall) districts, this is the place as it is, in some real sense, where it all started.

For a different sort of take on malls, take the bus a mile up Michigan Ave to experience the vertical skyscraper which houses Water Tower Place, which led the way for what is now one of the most significant high end shopping districts in the country.

North Riverside Mall is very much in the vein of an average (but certainly not above average) U.S. Mall. The Mall of America in Minneapolis it is not. Woodfield Mall in suburban Schaumburg would be more representative. North Riverside did once have a local landmark which was kitschy but interesting: old cars on a spindle. Alas it is now gone. If you were to travel there, you would want to take the Pink Line to 54th, then the #21 CTA bus, to be able to use that day pass without having to pay an extra fare on Pace. You do pass by some interesting and colorful local businesses along Cermak which show the historic character of this suburb, as well as the vibrancy of its current population. For a nearby oddity of curiosity walkable from the mall is a Showmans Rest at Woodlawn Cemetery. Here are buried circus and other entertainment industry people, including many who perished via the early 1900s Haggenback Wallace train wreck. There are very nice elephant monuments which mark out the place.

Other mall options would include Ford City (so named because it sits on the site on an early Ford plant) near Midway Airport. It has some history attached, as an early era mall, but isn't anything special or interesting today. There is a lot of other shopping surrounding, also. But, really, you will do just as much (if not more) walking as you would do around the streets of downtown.

My recommendation, if you were intent, is the very nice and outdoor (between shops) Old Orchard Mall. Take the Yellow Line from Howard (Red or Purple from downtown to get there) then the 97 bus. Or, alternatively, take the 201 from Howard through Evanston and past Northwestern University and its pretty campus.

For lunch before departure, head over to Halsted (just a bit west of the station) and eat at a restaurant in Greek Town. Or wander north along Canal past Madison and the Ogilvie Transportation Center (formerly Northwestern Station) to what is dubbed the French Market for a great variety of tasty eats from various vendors.

 

[Metra Electric Guest]

Old Orchard is also easily reachable by CTA, as NorthShore said. The new mall in Rosemont is a "fashion" mall with overpriced merchandise in my opinion. There are also Sears stores reachable by CTA in the city.

Old Navy & etc are on State Street along with lower end retail. North Michigan is mostly higher end mall stores, outside of a few outliers and Oak Street.

 

[NorthShore]

Old Orchard is also easily reachable by CTA, as NorthShore said. The new mall in Rosemont is a "fashion" mall with overpriced merchandise in my opinion. There are also Sears stores reachable by CTA in the city.

Oh, yeah. While there was a Sears on State until recently, there are still a couple of the old neighborhood department stores around.

Take the 56 Milwaukee bus to Six Corners. Along the way you'll see something of the city's neighborhoods via this classic route of immigrants and upward mobility.

Or, for a nice L ride via the winding routes that were originally patched together from private plots of land which were purchased and over alleys, take the Brown Line to Damen. There is a Sears just a couple of blocks away on Lawrence.

 

[Metra Electric Guest]

Old Orchard is also easily reachable by CTA, as NorthShore said. The new mall in Rosemont is a "fashion" mall with overpriced merchandise in my opinion. There are also Sears stores reachable by CTA in the city.

Oh, yeah. While there was a Sears on State until recently, there are still a couple of the old neighborhood department stores around.

Take the 56 Milwaukee bus to Six Corners. Along the way you'll see something of the city's neighborhoods via this classic route of immigrants and upward mobility.

Or, for a nice L ride via the winding routes that were originally patched together from private plots of land which were purchased and over alleys, take the Brown Line to Damen. There is a Sears just a couple of blocks away on Lawrence.

I'm probably wrong, but I think the Sears on Lawrence is now gone. Nope, spoke too soon, still open. Thought it had been closed and turned into a Mariano's (supermarket).

The recent sears on State was pathetic. Of course, the old one at Congress was no great shakes in it's last days either. Macy's on State is pretty sad, imho, it's like going to a KMart with better merchandise. Even when Target owned Marshall Field's it was tidy and organized (of course, when it was truly Field's, it was something special).

 

[user 6862]

Thanks again for all the different angles, we'll need a week to follow all the recommendations. Only thing I can say definitely is, as I don't want to upset George K we wont go to the North Riverside Mall! What I do for this forum.

As an aside. First visit to the US about 15 years ago, we flew to NC, picked up a car and headed south. After an hour or so passed, what to a first timer in the US European was an absolutely enormous supermarket, a Wall Mart super store.

Wanted to pick up a carton of orange and a couple of pair of socks, and that was it. It didn't stop me from taking an equally enormous cart into the store, just in case. Rosie didn't come along as she was beat from the flight, so she stayed in the car and slept.

Came back 2 hours later with a full cart! and although I accuse her of exaggerating what happened it was full to within a couple of inches of the top. I'm not a shopper in the usual sense but do like a bargain, I hadn't seen so much, so cheap under one roof before. Also had never seen guns on sale in a supermarket before either, Guns next to clothing and food???

Since that day on I am only allowed into a shop alone with a (short) list, it's for my own good so I'm told.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Outstanding story vv! Our Huge Mega Stores really do surprise first time visitors! " Stack ' em Deep and Sell 'em Cheap!" is the Modern American way!

 

[NorthShore]

I'm probably wrong, but I think the Sears on Lawrence is now gone. Nope, spoke too soon, still open. Thought it had been closed and turned into a Mariano's (supermarket).

Marianos is across the side street and down the block, next to the Metra line. It is on the old Sears parking lot property. I imagine if they had a key shop on the lot, that's gone. There is also a gym in the new building. And the structure includes its own lot.

 

[NorthShore]

Too bad Marshall Field's old bargain basement isn't still around.

Or Stop and Shop.

Oh, you might want to get some Garretts popcorn (on Madison just east of State)

 

[Metra Electric Guest]

Ah, Stop & Shop, was trying to remember the name of that place the other day. And of course, Hillman's.

There's also a Garrett's on Jackson just west of State too.

Back to the OP I suspect Macy's will do you for jeans and basics. I'm cheap and just buy Old Navy rather than Levi's which are, in my mind, highly overpriced these days.

 

[Ispolkom]

Guns next to clothing and food???

Now, come on, surely the guns were a couple of aisles away, in sporting goods.

Of course, I've lived in places (St. Croix Falls, Wisc., Minot, N.D.) where the gas station/convenience store stocked ammunition on the same shelf as candy, and, come to think of it, I bought said ammunition occasionally when I was as young as 12 or 13. (Sure, what I bought were .22 LR cartridges, but it wasn't as though they weren't next to shotgun shells and .30-06 rounds.)

 

[Bob Dylan]

I've worn Levi 501s since I was a kid, but I agree they have become way overpriced!

Store brand Jeans such as Arizona ( Penny's), Faded Glory ( Wal- Mart) cost 1/3 to 1/2 as much ( jeans are always on Sale!) and work great for travel!

As for the guns and ammunition, I live in Texas where its easier to buy a semi- automatic and a magazine of cop killer bullets than it is to get a drink or find a bookstore, so seeing weapons and ammo for sale everywhere is just normal to me (but insane! Soon as some of these self appointed religious fanatics shoot up a school or store the great unwashed that accept this madness will be howling for the government, who they want to go away, to " do something!")