Archive for the ‘60661’ tag
Maria Pinto liquidating boutique
Local high profile designed Maria Pinto (we’ve discussed her store before) is closing down her boutique, located at 135 N. Jefferson St in the West Loop.
All of the praise for Michelle Obama’s grape- and tomato-colored sheaths couldn’t bear enough fruit to spare their Chicago-based designer — Maria Pinto — from the recession’s blight.
Pinto, whose work has been worn by not only the country’s first lady but also queen-of-talk Oprah Winfrey, will open her West Loop boutique for five final days starting Tuesday. Her daywear, eveningwear, wraps and one-of-a-kind accessories will be liquidated at 50 percent to 70 percent off their original prices.
In January, Pinto arrived at the decision to close her shop and cease wholesale operations, she said. A fashion designer for 20 years who previously worked for Geoffrey Beene, Pinto launched her own line in 1991. Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue, Barneys New York and Takashimaya in New York, as well as high-end boutiques across the country, carried her pieces.
[Click to continue reading Maria Pinto: Chicago designer Maria Pinto liquidating boutique - chicagotribune.com]
I’ve glanced at her store window a few times, and I didn’t see any item that entranced me. Perhaps her best work was customized to particular customers, and not for display on a clothing rack.
And this statement mostly sounds true:
“In the general scheme of things, our store was doing very well. But our other retailers are paring down their open-to-buys (merchandise purchases) and looking to build sales through trunk shows,” she said. “It’s difficult because it makes your forecasted cash flow challenging. You’re waiting for the show to happen, waiting for things to happen. Before, the stores were committed to larger inventories.”
Any avid shopper can see the shift, she said.
“Walk through the stores and see how the stores are buying very differently. Saks had blast-out sales going in November 2008. November this year, there was very little in stores that was on sale. What was left was bottom-of-the-barrel. Everyone is having to reposition themselves.”
For 2009, total U.S. apparel sales fell 5.2 percent to $188.5 billion, market research firm NPD Group reported last month.
It’s a Blue Light Special
Red Light, Blue Light, all semantics anyway
[view large: www.b12partners.net/photoblog/index.php?showimage=129 ]
down the street from me
No More Number 3
Evening Lullaby
Happier than the Morning Storm part 2
Dream away
Still raining, still dreaming
gazing out of my office window onto the streets below is much more fun than working
Clarity of distress
iPhone snapshot modified with Best Camera App
probably my personal favorite iPhone snapshot, so far. Might be a copy of some famous photo, but not consciously, if at all.
Street corner in the rain
West Loop, from my office window. Modified with Best Camera app
if I had opened this on my computer before uploading, I might have cropped this a bit, but not drastically.
Yet More Development in the West Loop
Received this letter in the mail the other day.
In accordance with the requirements for an amendment to the Chicago Zoning Ordinance, please be informed that on or about September 3, 2008, the undersigned will file an application for a change in zoning from DC-12 Downtown Core District to a DX-12 Downtown Mixed-Use District and then to a Residential-Business Planned Development on behalf of JRC 108 Jefferson LLC, whose address is 401 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 1300, Chicago, Illinois 60611 (the “Applicant”), for the property located at 108 North Jefferson Street, Chicago, Illinois (the “Property”). The Property is owned by the Applicant and JRC Jefferson DAS, LLC, JRC Jefferson JJO, LLC and JRC Jefferson EMP, LLC. …
The Property is currently improved with a non-accessory surface-level parking lot. The Applicant proposes to construct a 41-story building on the Property containing ground floor business uses, five floors of office space, accessory off-street parking spaces and 311 dwelling units, which must be processed as a Planned Development pursuant to the Chicago Zoning Ordinance.
[108 North Jefferson, Chicago, IL 60661]
Oh boy, more people are moving in, Ma. Where does all the cash come from to convert every single parking lot into a 40 story high rise? I thought real estate development was in a down-turn? There is the Catalyst, right across the street from this newly proposed building, R+D 659, the Emerald, and probably others. An amazing boom happening in my zip code.
