Rick Santelli said it well on CNBC: “I never thought we’d see another exchange open up with actual humans, but I was wrong.” According to a press release on their web site, the Chicago Board Options Exchange opened a new trading floor this past June. Located in the historic Chicago Board of Trade Building, CBOE’s new trading floor … Continue reading CBOE Has Opened a New Open Outcry Trading Floor
Above: An ATM vestibule on Clark St. just north of W. St. James Place, with a most likely mentally ill homeless man asleep on the floor, on 12/19/21 According to a Chase Banker from a North Side location, Chase Bank has limited some ATMs that were formerly accessible twenty-four hours a day to the normal … Continue reading Chase Bank Locks Some ATMs After Hours Due to Increased Crime
According to a Loop small business owner interviewed last week, the City of Chicago has inspectors going around to check on mask compliance. If they find people not wearing masks the offending business is fined $500. Every weekend Chicago area bars are packed with people not wearing masks. But there is no swath of sickness … Continue reading Does the City of Chicago Profit Off the Mask Mandate?
The current political environment in Illinois is neither pro-business nor supportive of law and order. It is beginning to show in shocking ways. Fox 32 is reporting that a Michigan Avenue store was robbed October 11. Police said that the robbers went into the store on Michigan Avenue near Chicago around 3 p.m. They grabbed … Continue reading Brazen Robberies Strike High-End Retail Across Chicagoland
Large amounts of Federal aid handed out recently have not been productive. The photograph above was taken last Wednesday at around 8:30 P.M. Windy City Gyros, a popular Lakeview restaurant, closed at 7 P.M. that night due to staffing shortage. As you can see from the door they would normally be open until 2 A.M. … Continue reading It Seems Chicagoans Do Not Want to Work but Benefits are Ending
Chicagoans, showing no signs of COVID fear, packed Wrigleyville bars over the weekend. The footage above shows a long line to get into Deuces on Clark Street. It was the same most places. There was not a mask to be seen, nobody was social distancing, and COVID protective partitioning was gone from inside every business … Continue reading Chicagoans Return to Bars in Large Numbers
Anyone who shops at Home Depot knows that it tends to involve a lot of walking. Their stores are large. A 2019 Forbes article put the average square footage per location at about 103,000 square feet. Now a new system has made that situation easier. Smaller orders can be paid for online and picked up … Continue reading Home Depot’s In-Store Pickup Lockers Work Well
McDonald’s is testing computer driven order taking at ten Chicago drive-thrus. It is a strong reminder that big minimum wage hikes accomplish little in the long run. According to CEO Chris Kempczinski the technology is eighty-five percent accurate. Only about a fifth of orders need to be a taken by a human at those locations, he said, … Continue reading McDonald’s Testing Automated Drive-Thrus
Central Camera, one of Chicago’s oldest retailers, is open once again. Operating since 1899, it was set on fire by criminals during one of the many George Floyd incidents last year. They are temporarily operating out of a store front next to their normal space while renovations take place. Operating hours are currently abbreviated: Monday, … Continue reading Central Camera Reopening in Stages
Macy’s is leaving the Magnificent Mile. This is a serious blow. They are leaving 170,000 square feet of space in Water Tower Place vacant. The Mayor’s reaction was something along these lines: Macy’s was having problems before 2020. There is at least some truth to that. Online sales have certainly been a problem for traditional … Continue reading Macy’s Leaving Michigan Avenue