Reflections on the Past 364 Days of Shopping

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Thank you very much to all our stylish Racked Readers and supporters of great retail. This year has been filled with highs and lows of which contribute interest to our cultural climate and enhance our shopping experiences. From Andersonville to Damen, and everything between Oprah, Comet Vintage and Chalk in Evanston we feel like this was a growing year and we have a lot to reflect on.

Some of the favorite stories, of course are big ones- the breaking news of Madewell signing a lease in the Starbucks on Rush, the opening of Walmart Express in Lakeview, and LK Bennett deciding on The 900 Shops as it's first American location.

We saw a British Invasion on North Michigan Avenue and a massive poster on the Allsaints facade. There was mystery of the cryptic flow chart next door to Trader Joes on Diversey and the all-time favorite [at least this editor's] was live-blogging the first day of the red box.

This year will go down in history as one of the most tumultuous (think Borders, Filenes and Block 37) which has allowed Chicago to grow stronger into an arena which will make us known for destination shopping. This coming year will be doubly as great propelling our beloved neighborhoods and independent webstores into, as they say on Cermak, happiness and prosperity.
[The Management]