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From high fashion to fast food, retailers battle for soul of Chicago’s Fulton Market

One of nation’s fastest-changing urban areas is still forming long-term identity Chicago’s Fulton Market has undergone major changes for more than a decade, including waves of new retailers. (iStock) By Ryan Ori | CoStar News | February 25, 2026 | 4:16 P.M. More than a decade into its run as one of the nation’s fastest-changing […]

Former McCormick & Schmick’s space on East Wacker gets a new tenant

A Mexican-American restaurant and bar is taking the place of the recently shuttered Loop steakhouse McCormick & Schmick’s. Espiritu, an upscale restaurant offering classic Chicago dishes with a Mexican twist, will occupy the 10,000-square-foot ground-floor retail space at 1 E. Wacker Drive, as well as 2,200 square feet of adjoining patio area along Wacker Drive, […]

Chicago Annual Loop Retail Analysis – 2025 Data

For the second year in a row, The Loop’s retail vacancy rate decreased with a significant drop to 28.53% versus 29.76% in 2024. Surprisingly, and perhaps a sign that a broader recovery has commenced across the entire Loop, State Street and the long-suffering Wacker & LaSalle corridors both reported significant increases in their respective occupancy […]

River North Market Survey – 2024 Report

After dipping to a vacancy rate below 17 percent in 2022, retail vacancy increased to 17.11 percent in 2023 and then jumped to 20.47 percent in 2024.  While the 2024 vacancy rate is high, a substantial portion of it was attributable to the 30,000 sf former Whole Foods space at One W. Superior.  Now that […]

Armitage/ Damen/ Southport Survey – 2024

Stone Real Estate Research Services has completed its Armitage/Damen/Southport Retail Survey as of year-end 2024, an annual market analysis of Chicago’s three primary boutique neighborhood retail streets. In this eighth edition of the Survey, we examine the fundamentals which created and now sustain the success of these streets. We attribute the streets’ prosperity to the […]

Editorial: A much-needed bit of good news from the retail sector

March 14, 2025 02:16 PM Need a dose of good news? Here’s some, courtesy of Crain’s Ally Marotti: After a decade of vacancy ups and downs, Chicago’s neighborhood retail corridors are hitting their stride. As Marotti reports, a new analysis from Chicago’s Stone Real Estate found that the shopping strips on Damen, Armitage and Southport avenues […]

Stone Real Estate’s Damen, Armitage and Southport Street Survey as Featured in Crain’s Chicago Business

Chicago’s boutique retail corridors are thriving. Here’s why. After a decade of vacancy ups and downs — including a pandemic that changed how people shop — Chicago’s neighborhood retail corridors are hitting their stride. A new analysis from Stone Real Estate found that the shopping strips on Damen, Armitage and Southport avenues are thriving, with […]

Chicago Annual Loop Retail Analysis – 2024 Data

The Loop retail market improved slightly in 2024 as the vacancy rate decreased to 29.78%, down from 30.13% in 2023. As we approach the fifth anniversary of Covid, we can now analyze what occurred during the 5 year period after the March 16, 2020 shutdown. Since the shutdown, Loop retailers have vacated 222 storefronts consisting […]