Chicago Tribune To Publish Weekly Book Review

Weekly Book Review Ready To Launch
Would you buy a weekly book review for $2 above the price of your regular Chicago Tribune subscription? According to today’s ChicagoBusiness, the folks at the Tribune are hoping you will. It’s an attempt to offset the loss of revenue from diminishing newspaper sales.

What do you think? Is a weekly devoted to book reviews, author interviews, bestseller lists, and other book news a good idea? Is it worth $2?

Other ChicagoBusiness news includes the Ricketts family’s investment in the Cubs’s front office, including the recent hiring of Theo Epstein as President of Baseball Operations and Blue Cross Blue Shield’s hold on the health insurance market in Illinois.

Ricketts family, left to right: Pete, Tom, Laura, Todd

Food Trucks Putting on the Brakes?

   

Food trucks use social media to
alert customers of their schedules

In today’s ChicagoBusiness there is a piece on the Southern Mac & Cheese Truck opening a storefront location in the Loop. As of yesterday, the successful food truck vendor was serving up its famous macaroni-and-cheese at 60 E. Lake St. The co-owners of Southern Mac & Cheese wanted a downtown location, due in part to their success serving Loop lunchtime crowds from the truck.

5411 Empanadas near the Willis Tower

According to ChicagoBusiness, Nicolas Ibarzabal, co-owner of 5411 Empanadas, said his success with the truck helped him secure loans for the street front location he is planning to open in Lincoln Park.

While most people love buying lunch and snacks from Chicago food trucks, brick-and-mortar restaurants complain that they’re stealing their business. In some locations, food trucks can be ticketed, rather steeply, if they’re parked too close to a restaurant. To promote themselves and to get the word out, food trucks rely on social media. Most announce their schedules in advance on Facebook and Twitter and update customers live if they have problems parking or if they’ve run out of food or treats (the goal is to sell everything).

The owner of GiGi's Bake Shop is from the South Loop

Working on a food truck is far from glamorous. Food trucks have to navigate traffic in the city, find parking, and deal with mechanical issues. In March, I wrote “Cupcake Wars Chicago Style” about all the cupcake trucks in the city. They still exist and thrive, but you can also buy tacos, sausages, frozen yogurt, and meatball sandwiches from food trucks in Chicago. Legislation is in the works to allow trucks to cook onboard, something they’re not currently allowed to do. Once that legislation passes, it will be a whole new ballgame.

Have you eaten anything purchased from a food truck? Do you have a favorite truck that you follow on Facebook and/or Twitter? Tell us about it here.


Editors note: Look for a story coming soon about life on a food truck, an insider's perspective.

Is Ilinois Doing Enough to Keep Jobs in the State?

With the fiscal crisis affecting Illinois businesses, other states are trying to lure companies to their states. Check out the video below from ChicagoBusniess.com for their perspective.

What do you think? Can Illinois do more to keep companies from moving elsewhere? Are we doing enough?

Holiday Retail Hiring: Cautious Optimism

Looking to earn some extra cash this holiday season? Many retailers in Chicago and the surrounding area will be hiring more temporary holiday staff than they did last year. This could be good news for many, but some retailers like Best Buy and Walmart are hiring holiday employees at 2009 levels.

For more on the changing retail landscape, check out the video from ChicagoBusiness.

Marché to close in June

Popular French restaurant Marché located at 833 W. Randolph St. in the West Loop will close its doors June 13. According the ChicagoBusiness.com, cowner Jerry Kleiner said, "it's time to do something else." Kleiner and partner Howard Davis, an attorney, opened the French brasserie 17 years ago in 1993.

Kleiner and Howard own the popular South Loop restaurants Gioco and Opera.

Opera will be hosting the the "Meet Me at the Movies" wrap party on Thursday June 24. The movie screened that night will be Houseboat starring Cary Grant and Sophia Loren.

10 Things to do this weekend

It's starting to look more and more like fall, but that doesn't mean the fun has to end. Check out the ChicagoBusiness Web site for some weekend activity ideas.

One of the things they mention is the Daniel Burnham Scavenger Hunt sponsored by Chicago Public Radio. This is one of many activities commorating the one-hundreth anniversary of Burnham's Plan of Chicago.

We have our own Burnham exhibit right in our own backyard. At the Glessner House, there are artifacts and architectural remains from some of the grand old homes that used to populate Prairie Ave. in the late nineteenth century. These artifacts are on display in the Glessner carriage house/visitor center. Burnham's firm not only designed some of the homes here; Burnham married into a Prairie Ave. family.

Check out these Chicagoland restaurants

ChicagoBusiness.com has video reviews of some popular local eateries. Restaurants featured included Sepia, Lulu's Dim Sum, and Coco Pazzo.

Chicago and its surrounding areas are filled with great places to dine, so we think you'll find these videos helpful in choosing a great place to eat and entertain. Click here to see videos.

Thin crust pizza makes its mark in Chicago

Say it ain't so!

Can thin-crust pizza actually be pushing aside the iconic Chicago deep-dish? According to an article posted at ChicagoBusiness, thin crust pizza is gaining momentum in our fair city. As if to bolster their thesis, the article mentions that in June, GQ magazine declared a thin-crust pizza the top in the land. And where did this "skinny" pie come from? It came from Chicago's own Great Lake pizzeria. No Chicago deep-dish even made the list...no deep-dish period!?

No Chianti-bottle candles here

While it is unlikely that thin-crust will usurp deep-dish pizza in the hearts and minds of Chicagoans, the former is gaining some new-found respectability. Eschewing the typical pizza parlor atmosphere for something more sophisticated, diners are flocking to restaurants (don't call them pizza parlors!) featuring these thin pizza interlopers. Restaurants like Roof and Spacca Napoli are building loyal followings. So loyal are these followings that people are "actually raving about the slow service," according the article in ChicagoBusiness. What is the world coming to?

Take the pizza poll

What do you think? Deep-dish or thin-crust? Take the poll.

Economists question Olympic economic benefits

An economic professor questions Mayor Richard M. Daley's assertion that the 2016 Olympics would boost Chicago's economy by $22.5 billion. Several economists think this boost is highly unlikely.

Victor Matheson, a professor of economics at College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts, who studies the impact of the Olympics on host cities called the mayor's claims "crazy."According to the article in today's Chicago Business, that figure far exceeds the benefits of other host cities.  A big part of the $22.5 billion figure is based on a boost in tourism during and five years after the Olympics.

The organizers of the Olympics in Sydney, predicted a $2.5 billion boost in tourism five years after the games, but that "never materialized."

What do you think? Will the Olympics be a boom or bust for the city?

"Entrepreneurs under siege"

According to Chicago Business, our city makes it difficult for small businesses and entrepreneurs. Chicago has laws on the books that are obstacles to small businesses without any benefit to the city or the consumer. One of the oddest laws classifies child play centers as "Public Places of Amusement" (PPA) and requires them to have amusement licenses.

For a short video report click here.