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Chicago’s streetwear boutiques weather COVID-19, social unrest
Even as Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Mayor Lori Lightfoot were giving the go-ahead to reopen stores while adhering with social distancing guidelines, the streetwear boutiques were grappling as well with the ever-constant threat of burglary.
Some of them were looted during the protests in the aftermath of the May police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, the Aug. 9 shooting of a 20-year-old in Englewood by Chicago police and the protests over the police shooting of Kenosha, Wisconsin resident Jacob Blake. Some were burglarized duirng the weeks in between.
Brittany Stewart, owner of Chatham’s Sweats X Stew, had been hit a few times before moving from her 75th Street location. Stewart, 30 — the daughter of Diego Ross, co-owner of Leaders 1354 — said would-be burglars aren’t thinking of the collateral damage looting does to Black business owners.
“This can be your sister or your brother’s store, or your cousin’s store,” said Stewart. “It’s upsetting because these are my peers. … After I got hit, I could’ve moved downtown or to the North Side. I wanted to stay in my community.”
The owners of Pillars, a boutique with locations in the West Loop and Calumet Heights, discovered both stores had been hit as co-owner Michael Willis went to check on the West Loop location, while his business partner Andre Weaver drove to the South Side store.
“You almost forgot about COVID [-19] because so much more is going on,” said Willis, 31. “By the time I got to this store, it was crazy. It seemed like the movie ‘The Purge.’ All this from the front [of the store], all the way to the back door; everything was basically gone.
“It’s very upsetting. You sit back and you’re like: ‘Why me? Why us?’ At the end of the day, I understand the reason — not particularly [the looters’] reasoning — with the looting going on, but you never want something that’s yours being damaged or taken away from you, especially when you busted your a- – to get it. If it happens next time, we’re prepared.”
Read Evan F. Moore’s full story here.
News
10:30 a.m. Chicago staple Ronny’s Steakhouse closes
After over 55 years of feeding hungry Chicagoans, downtown staple Ronny’s Steakhouse has closed its doors for good.
“Farewell, Chicago … It has been an historic run; it’s time to turn off that famous neon sign one final time” read a message posted Sunday on the restaurants Facebook page.
“My family is grateful to the city of Chicago. It means a lot to us as we have been a meaningful part of a rich civic history,” owner Kenny Munic said Sunday. “We are grateful to our staff and guests for their loyal and unwavering support over these past six decades.”
Ronny’s was first opened in 1963 at 16 W. Randolph St. by Kenny Munic’s father Herman. At one point, Ronny’s had six locations downtown.
By 2000, the chain was down to a single restaurant inside the Thompson Center in the Loop, where customers from across the city have sat at the steakhouse’s indelible green leather booths since.
Pictures of celebrities who have enjoyed a meal at Ronny’s adorned the restaurants walls.
“It’s been our honor and privilege to serve and employ our spectacular city’s citizens. A million thanks for the good times. Hold on to the memories. We won’t say good bye but rather until we meet again,” the Facebook message read.
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Analysis & Commentary
11 a.m. This Labor Day, let’s honor the workers who are beyond essential
Labor Day is one of the most beloved holidays of the year, a time for people of all backgrounds to take a moment to celebrate the people who lace up their boots every day and go to work. However, workers are not celebrating right now. Workers are doing whatever they can to live their lives during an unimaginable public health and economic catastrophe.
Our city, state and country are in the middle of multiple intersecting crises. And while we are all learning to live with the new normal, figuring out how to get our kids to school every day and keep ourselves safe, we cannot lose sight of the lives and livelihoods being lost every single day in our communities.
I think about Maria Lopez. Maria was a nurse in robotic surgery at the University of Illinois hospital and a proud member of the Illinois Nurses Association. Maria worked at the hospital for 20 years and was scheduled to retire on April 30. She had recently undergone knee surgery when COVID-19 hit, and she could have used vacation days to leave her job early, but she felt it was her duty to stay at the hospital and help — because that’s what nurses do. They help.
In her last month before retirement, Maria contracted COVID-19, and she died on May 4.
