With more boutiques opening every year and the city’s increasing awareness and support of the local design scene, Chicago’s style IQ is higher than ever. While that can translate into higher prices, savvy shoppers can always find a bargain. Here are some tips for working the retail system.
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All the other department stores hold big regular sales throughout the year and usually have a few discounted racks going at any one time. Bloomingdale’s (900 N. Michigan, 312-440-4460) tends to attract a wide customer base, and Nordstrom (55 E. Grand, 312-464-1515) is a step up on the luxury scale. Saks (700 N. Michigan, 312-944-6500), Barneys (25 E. Oak, 312-587-1700), and Neiman Marcus (aka Needless Markup; 737 N. Michigan, 312-642-5900) are the top of the heap, but if you stop in at the right moment you might be able to score a heavy discount on that top that caught your eye in Vogue last season. If you do go to Neiman’s, bring a wad of cash–they take AmEx and their own store card but not the dirty likes of Visa or Mastercard. For real fire-sale prices, head to Filene’s Basement (1 N. State, 312-553-1055) and Nordstrom Rack (24 N. State, 312-377-5500)–but you’ll have to sift through a lot of ill-conceived dreck to find a genuine good deal.
If you want your selection more closely curated, lately Chicago has no shortage of high-end boutiques–and they all mark stuff down sometime. The trick is knowing when. Krista K (3458 N. Southport, 773-248-1967) holds an “around the clock” sale every January and July, opening its doors at 8 AM and offering discounts up to 50 percent for the first hour; that percentage decreases incrementally thereafter until closing time. Its neighbor down the block, Red Head Boutique (3450 N. Southport, 773-325-9898), often holds a concurrent sale. Other stores with intimidating price tags, including Hejfina (1529 N. Milwaukee, 773-772-0002), Robin Richman (2108 N. Damen, 773-278-6150), Penelope’s (1913 W. Division, 773-395-2351), P.45 (1643 N. Damen, 773-862-4523), Blake (212 W. Chicago, 312-202-0047), and Ikram (873 N. Rush, 312-587-1000) offer occasional steep discounts, and you don’t need to be the owner’s best friend to find out about them ahead of time: these and many other boutiques have mailing lists, and Web sites like Style Chicago (stylechicago.com) and Fashionista (chicagofashionista.com) announce sales and other events like designer trunk shows and sample sales.
