Tag: West_Loop

One Kind Favor

Seth Anderson0 comment

Skybridge, West Loop. Applied the new 3D filter in Photoshop CS5, can you tell? Pretty subtle, at least on this particular photo.
One Kind Favor

[Click to embiggen, natch]

My AlienSkin filters1 no longer work – they claim a new version of Exposure is to be released in June, taking advantage of the 64 bit architecture of Photoshop CS5. Haven’t attempted to run CS5 in 32-bit mode. Also haven’t tried my scanner to see if it will work, or if Epson has released new drivers yet.2

Footnotes:
  1. that emulate various films and darkroom techniques [↩]
  2. doubtful, but who knows [↩]

Threadless moving to West Madison

Seth Anderson0 comment

Cool, I’ll pop in there more often, perhaps.

Threadless on Broadway

T-shirt firm Threadless moving to West Loop | Crain’s Chicago Business: “Internet T-shirt retailer Threadless.com plans to move its headquarters from Ravenswood to a former FedEx Corp. warehouse in the West Loop. Threadless, which lets online visitors choose the designs of the T-shirts it sells, hopes to move into the 45,000-square-foot building at 1260 W. Madison St. in July, says Charles Stephens, the company’s vice-president of operations. The 10-year-old firm, which shipped two million T-shirts last year, is quickly outgrowing its operations in Ravenswood on the North Side, where it has two warehouses that would function more efficiently if they were in the same building, Mr. Stephens says. ‘We’ve got some pretty aggressive growth targets, and in order to scale up and meet that growth, we’ve got to eliminate that bottleneck,’ he says. Threadless signed a seven-year lease for the West Loop building with a five-year extension option, says Larry Bell, chief financial officer at JRG Capital Partners LLC, the Chicago-based firm that acquired the FedEx property last year. Mr. Bell hopes the Chicago City Council this month will approve a zoning change that would allow Threadless to use the building. “

(Via T-shirt firm Threadless moving to West Loop | Crain’s Chicago Business.)

This location1 was originally just going to be a mixed use condo building, Threadless is much better from my perspective.

Via GB

Had Enough for a Long Time
This photo taken on a friend’s balcony, right next door on West Madison

Footnotes:
  1. which I went to frequently when it was an active FedEx drop-off point, closing at 9PM [↩]

Dreaming of Fulton Market Cold Storage

swanksalot0 comment

Shot with my Hipstamatic for iPhone
Lens: John S
Film: Float
Flash: Off

Was considered to be converted into condos, but that was before the mortgage bubble ended.

Anthony Bourdain Loves Him Some Chicago Dogs

Seth Anderson0 comment

Can’t say I blame him, New York City dogs are decidedly lesser than Chicago dogs. Also, deep dish pizza is like eating a big piece of bread, and I’m not a huge fan either.

Chicago Dog

Kevin Pang interviews Bourdain, including this question:

KPangWhat can you say about the Chicago food scene that would piss off Chicago foodies?

I don’t like deep dish pizza, except for Burt’s Place (in Morton Grove) which was quite wonderful. Most deep dish is awful and not pizza, I don’t know what it is. It’s ugly stuff. But that’s about it. I love Chicago. Chicago’s one of the few American cities that’s big enough to support a large number of high end restaurants. A lot of cities cannot support restaurants like Charlie Trotter or Alinea or Blackbird. There just aren’t enough wealthy people. It’s a big town, it’s got great food on the high end and low end. And I’m on record admitting the Chicago hot dog is far superior than the New York hot dog.

KP: Any places in Chicago you’re eager to visit?

Publican I’d like to try.

[Click to continue reading Anthony Bourdain interview: No Reservations star talks TV, food and more – chicagotribune.com]

Has It Really Been Ten Years?

swanksalot0 comment
Has It Really Been Ten Years?
Has It Really Been Ten Years?, originally uploaded by swanksalot.

West Loop

Embiggen

and yes, it has been ten years, as of next week, that I’ve lived here, by far the longest stretch of time I’ve ever resided in one place.

April 6th, 2000, to be precise. Lots has changed, lots still needs to be changed, but the decade was a good one, all and all.

Alley – West Loop

swanksalot0 comment
Alley - West Loop
Alley – West Loop, originally uploaded by swanksalot.

After my Leica committed suicide, t-plus about 5 minutes.1

decluttr

another photographer’s view:
www.flickr.com/photos/phule/4464047578/

but today, my Leica worked! Yayyy, maybe some capacitor had to discharge, or something. Regardless, now have to talk about my Leica’s attempted suicide…

Footnotes:
  1. details here: www.flickr.com/photos/swanksalot/4447962496/ [↩]

Maria Pinto liquidating boutique

Seth Anderson0 comment

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.

Maria Pinto

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.

Reading Around on February 25th through March 1st

swanksalot0 comment

A few interesting links collected February 25th through March 1st:

  • Two is better than one

  • Where is The Best Bloody Mary in DC? « brunch and the city – image by swanksalot on Flickr

  • R.J. Cutler: What I Learned From Anna Wintour – Lesson 1: Keep Meetings ShortI work in the film business, where schmoozing is an art form, lunch hour lasts from 12:30 until 3, and every meeting takes an hour whether there’s an hour’s worth of business or not. Not so at Vogue, where meetings are long if they go more than seven minutes and everyone knows to show up on time, prepared and ready to dive in. In Anna’s world, meetings often start a few minutes before they’re scheduled. If you arrive five minutes late, chances are you’ll have missed it entirely. Imagine the hours of time that are saved every day by not wasting so much of it in meetings. It’s not by accident that during the final scene of The September Issue, Anna Wintour is in her office alone, waiting for a meeting to begin, and we hear her voice call out, “Is anyone coming to this run-through except for me?”
  • Haymarket Pub & Brewery Opening this Summer in the West Loop — Grub Street Chicago – Once Extra Virgin, then Bar Louie, now Haymarket Brewery Photo: swanksalot/Flickr