All posts by ChicagoAdmin

Chicago Taco Bell to Serve Alcoholic Beverages

September 13, 2015Business Newsalcohol, Chicago, Taco Bell, tapasChicagoAdmin

Wine, beer, sangria, and a variety of frozen mixed drinks will be introduced for the first time at a US Taco Bell fast food restaurant starting on September 22 in Chicago. This location will also be the first to introduce tapas-style appetizers, have a mural painted by a local artist, and display an open kitchen.

“You will literally be able to see the food,” said Meredith Sandland, Taco Bell’s chief development officer. “(Customers will be) able to see all the beautiful ingredients,” she added.

The opening of this branch was first announced at the beginning of the summer, but without details such as opening date or exact location. Another Taco Bell with a similar theme is planned to open in San Francisco later in September. Taco Bell says that the basic menu and food preparation at the new locations will be the same as at the more traditional stores under the brand, aside from the innovations named above.

The new Taco Bell will open in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago. They will be charging $4 ofr wine and beer, and $4.50 for sangria. The frozen drinks, called “Twisted Freezes” will contain rum, tequila, or vodka. These mixed drinks will be priced between $6.19 and $7.19.

Japanese Uniqlo Launching in Chicago

September 9, 2015Business NewsChicago, Japan, UnigloChicagoAdmin

Uniqlo store in Hong Kong. Photo by Slisalsok

Near the end of October Uniqlo, a Japanese retail chain, will be opening its flagship store in Chicago. The store will be Uniqlo’s second largest, with 60,000 square feet of floor space located at 830 North Michigan Avenue on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile. Uniqlo’s largest store is on Fifth Avenue in New York City.

Uniqlo deals in casual clothing such as jeans, scarves and sweaters. They also sell sportswear for men, women and children.

“Chicago is a global city that’s home to some of the finest cultural and sports institutions in the world, and we are thrilled to join the city’s rich landscape,” said Larry Meyer, CEO of Uniqlo USA.

It is expected that the new outlet will create 400 new jobs. Uniqlo is a global company with over 1,600 stores and 40 in the United States. The Chicago branch will be the first in the Midwest.

Chicago Policeman Helps Homeless Man

September 7, 2015Business NewsChicago Police Department, Facebook, homeless, Sargeant B. HagartyChicagoAdmin

In widely seen photos first published on the popular social media web site Facebook, a Chicago policeman is shown helping a homeless man at a Chipotle in Lakeview.

The photos show Sergeant B. Hagarty buying lunch for a homeless man who had been digging through the garbage outside the restaurant. The officer noticed the man, tapped on the window, and beckoned for the man to come over. He then asked the homeless man if he was hungry. When the man said yes, Sgt. Hagarty invited him to come inside.

The kind policeman then purchased a meal for the man, shook hands with him, and then left.

The Chicago Police Department put the picture up on its Facebook page. In a short while the page received more than 16,000 “likes” and was shared more than 6,000 times.

The CPD offered praise to Hagarty, explaining that his behavior should be a role model for others. Hagarty is planning on retiring from the CPD at the end of this year, after 35 years of service.

Innovation from the University of Chicago

August 31, 2015Business NewsDave Thomas, Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Tap Recorder, University of ChicagoChicagoAdmin

The results of this past summer’s accelerator program at the University of Chicago are impressive. An app called “Tap Recorder” allows users to make notations on an audio file while recording with an iPhone. The co-founder of the Chicago start-up that developed the app, Dave Thomas, explained:

“It was originally started because we were working with some doctors, and they mentioned that they’d love to find a better way to record some of their consultations and transcribe them,” Thomas said. “It uses basic gestures. Throughout the conversation you could tap it, swipe it, put your hand over it, and each of those gestures would correspond to an annotation, a bookmark or highlights.”

The app was developed with the help of the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, a program which will end with a demonstration day this coming September 9.

The app is in private beta testing now, but is expected to be launched to the public at the end of September. The company is hoping that the final version will include the option for users to have a transcription made of the audio file for a fee.

Developer R2 Bringing Innovative Business Space to Pilsen

August 23, 2015real estateChicago, Matt Garrison, Near South Side, office space, Pilsen, R2, Raymond ChinChicagoAdmin

Matt Garrison, managing principle of R2, a Chicago-based developer, announced that his company is planning to convert a 300,000 square-foot warehouse into office space. He said when the space in Pilsen is done it will be one of the largest office projects completed outside the Chicago central business district.

As of today R2 has the potential for a deal with a group of investors headed by Raymond Chin who own the five-floor vacant structure located at 465 West Cermak Road, along the river.

R2 has been rapidly looking for projects to develop non-traditional office locales, and its venture into Pilsen is just the latest on the Near South Side of Chicago.

Garrison explained that R2 is constantly looking for new areas for innovative offices as a response to the high cost of property in other areas of Chicago.

Moody’s Says Chicago Pensions Burdensome for City

August 16, 2015sightseeingChicago, Moody's, pensionsChicagoAdmin

Chicago's pension funds underfunded in a big way. Photo credit: Flickr — Chicago’s pension funds underfunded in a big way. Photo credit: Flickr

According to a recent study by Moody’s Investors Service, Chicago’s pension fund has the most underfunded retirement plans in the country. How underfunded is that? Moody’s says the pensions cost the city 8 times annual revenues.

Based on a three year average calculated by Moody’s Chicago’s pension obligations add up to a total of $29.8 billion. That figure comes to 15.5 percent of its property tax base, making it also the highest in the nation using that parameter.

Chicago came in at the bottom of this list also two years ago, the first year of this Moody’s survey. The office of Mayor Emanuel did not comment on this report.

Amazon Fulfillment Center Coming to Joliet

August 8, 2015Business NewsAmazon, Bob O'Dekirk, Chicago, Fulfillment Center. Mike Roth, JolietChicagoAdmin

Amazon announced that it will soon be building a new 500,000-square-foot warehouse, known as a fulfillment center, in the city of Joliet, about 40 miles southwest of Chicago. The giant on-line retailer promises that the new facility will be hiring about 1,000 full-time employees when it is completed.

Fulfillment centers are Amazon’s method to incredibly fast delivery of consumer products ordered from their web-site. The warehouses, filled with workers and products, process orders of a huge variety of items, including books, electronics, clothing, jewelry, and just about anything else that can be delivered by truck (or drone, in some places.)

At the end of April Crain’s reported Amazon’s intention to build a new center in Joliet, and that they had also leased space on Goose Island.

“We are thrilled that Amazon has chosen Joliet as the location for its new Illinois fulfillment center,” said the mayor of Joliet Bob O’Dekirk in a statement from Seattle-based Amazon.

Vice president of Amazon’s operations in North America, Mike Roth, said in a statement:

“We are grateful for the support of local and state leadership in helping to bring Amazon to Illinois and we look forward to being an active member of the community.”

Unlimited Parental Leave New Policy at Netflix

August 5, 2015sightseeingmaternity leave, Netflix, parental leave, paternity leaveChicagoAdmin

Netflix offering new, liberal parental leave policy

The new policy for employees at Netflix is fabulous news for new moms and dads who would like to spend some quality and quantity time with their newly born children for the first year after birth.

Netflix announced that they are now going to allow workers to take unlimited maternity or paternity leave anytime during the first year after either a birth or adoption of a new child in the family.

The new policy is extremely liberal, with no demand for any kind of decision as to whether the employee wants to come back at all, or come back full or part time, or stop working now and coming back later, and anything in between or in combination. The Netflix policy will be continue paying the normal salary, regardless of the amount of time the worker works, with no cumbersome switch to disability, maternity or sick leave.

The company is being praised for its liberal policy regarding parenthood and time off from work. There is no regard whether the parent is the mother or father, and the time period allotted recognizes the key importance of a child’s first year of life.

Paula Steiner to Take Over Chairmanship of Health Care Service Corp

August 2, 2015Business NewsBlue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, Health Care Service Corp, Patricia Hemingway Hall, Paula SteinerChicagoAdmin

Meet Paula Steiner. She will be taking over for Patricia Hemingway Hall, who was the previous CEO of Health Care Service Corp. She is set to lead Chicago’s biggest private company this coming January, a company which is the parent of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois.

Steiner, who is 58 years old, has been with Blue Cross Blue Shield for over 30 years. Today she is HCSC’s executive vice president and chief strategy officer. She also is the chief to external affairs, including government relations and advertising.

The outgoing CEO, Patricia Hall is 62 and was with HCSC for over 23 years, spending the last seven years as CEO. The company offers BC & BS plans in five different states and is the country’s fourth-larges health insurer, having almost 16 million subscribers.

“Given her experience, her tenacity to solve tough issues and her ability to lead people, Pat has been the ideal CEO to navigate this company so successfully through the twists and turns of our industry over the last several years,” Milton Carroll, chairman of Health Care Service, said.

Chicago’s Commercial Real Estate for 2015

July 30, 2015real estateChicagoAdmin

There have been significant real estate sales in the commercial realm in Chicago since the beginning of this year. Most notable to date have been the three tallest towers that are in the sale process. In addition to those, the sale of downtown office towers from January to June 2015 reached a value of $4.19 billion combined. That alone – just for the first half of the year – was more than the total of sales in the same category of 2014 in Chicago.

What has yet to have been calculated are the largest deals that are in process, including the sale of the Aon Center, the city’s third tallest building, that is due to reach $712 million. According to Senior Vice President and Investment Sales Expert at JLL, broker Nooshin Felsenthal, Chicago will “at the very least meet that $5.3 billion record and I’m pretty confident we’ll blow right past it.” The other two of the large towers that are in the process of sale is the two-tower Illinois Center, which will be sold for $376 million.