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The "Priscilla Queen Of the Desert cupcake" at Magnolia Bakery in New York City earlier this month. (Jemal Countess/Getty)
Magnolia Bakery, the New York chain credited with starting the cupcake craze, plans to open its first Chicago store at the Block 37 shops in the Loop. The bakery signed a lease for 2,550 square feet on the first floor of the indoor shopping mall. The shop is slated to open in June. Get the full story »
First Midwest Bank, which has grown into one of the area’s biggest banks without a presence in downtown Chicago, confirmed that it plans to set up shop for the first time in the city’s central business district.
The bank told the Tribune that it plans to open an office in a LaSalle Street building in the Loop in early April. It’s not divulging the address until a lease for the property, which has 3,500 to 4,000 square feet, is signed, which should occur “shortly,” a bank spokesman said. The office will handle commercial banking, cash management and trust services, he said. Get the full story »
The AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust said on Monday it is investing $20 million to help finance the redevelopment of a landmark downtown building.
The trust said it purchased $20 million of taxable bonds as part of the financing package for the $148.2 million redevelopment of the Randolph Tower, a Gothic Revival-style skyscraper in the West Loop. Get the full story »
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. plans to open a Neighborhood Market store at the Presidential Towers apartment complex in the West Loop in what would be the discount chain’s first small grocery store in Chicago.
The world’s largest retailer intends to spend $1 million to build out 26,491 square feet on one level at the residential tower at 555 W. Madison St., according to a building permit filed on behalf of Walmart.
The Bentonville, Ark.-based discount chain has been making a push to expand into urban centers of the north to jump start sales growth. On Tuesday, the retail giant reported that sales at U.S. stores open at least one year, a key metric of retail health, fell for the second year in a row. Get the full story »
