Browsing: Business
Amazon Books came across as if it had been created by data miners who once visited a mall bookstore like Waldenbooks. Once, years ago. As I wrote when it opened, if a bookstore reflects a community, Amazon Books felt right for slick, gentrified Southport. What’s more obvious now is how much the store also reflected Amazon’s approach to books themselves. To grow his nascent web business in the 1990s, Bezos needed a loss leader. Books had a mostly uniform size (making them easier to package and ship) and upscale customers (drawing a demographically-attractive base who might stick around for toasters and socks). But when it came time to occupy real-world real estate and mine real-time data from physical locations, books were an odd choice. Amazon was so successful online with books, a strange hybrid evolved: the Amazon book customer who feels guilty buying books from Amazon. (Perhaps, um, you know one or two of these creatures?) And so, occasionally they go out of their way to browse and buy books from warm, local bookstores. But why leave home to shop for books at Amazon?
In this April 30, 2020, file photo, Kia Neros that are part of the Lyft ride-hailing fleet sit unused in a lot near Empower Field at Mile High in Denver. Lyft says it’s adding a fuel surcharge of 55 cents to each ride its drivers perform to help offset recent gasoline price increases. The company said in a blog post on Wednesday, March 16, 2022, that the surcharge will be effective beginning next week, with all of the money going directly from riders to its drivers. (David Zalubowski/AP)
The husband-and-wife acting powerhouse couple Tracy Letts and Carrie Coon recently listed their four-bedroom, 6,873-square-foot contemporary-style house in Bucktown for $3.99 million. – Original Credit: Cook County Assessor (Cook County Assessor / HANDOUT)
Early in the invasion, The Associated Press reported that vodka brand Smirnoff had become the victim of a misconception that it was Russian-made. Now, Smirnoff’s homepage clarifies the brand is owned by Diageo, a British company, and that it is produced in Plainfield, Illinois, as well as in a host of countries including Canada, Italy, Brazil and Argentina — but not in Russia.
Chicago welcomed nearly 61 million visitors the year before the pandemic. In 2020, that number fell to 16 million, and the city was projected to attract just under 29 million visitors last year, according to data previously provided by Choose Chicago.
Earlier this month, the Labor Department reported that consumer inflation, propelled by surging costs for gas, food and housing, jumped 7.9% over the past year, the sharpest spike since 1982. That 12-month period ended in February, meaning it does not include most of the oil and gas price increases that followed the start of Russia’s war on Feb. 24.
— Properly maintain your vehicle. Follow the manufacturer’s recommendations for oil and other fluid changes and for replacing air and other filters. Replacing spark plugs at the proper intervals can help, too. “The vehicle is going to operate at its peak efficiency” with good maintenance, Bennett said. It will cost between $219 and $268 for new spark plugs on, say, a 10-year-old Ford F-150 pickup with a 3.7-liter V6, according to Repairpal.com.
Built in 2017, the mansion has four full bathrooms, two half bathrooms, four fireplaces, intricate millwork and built-ins throughout, custom lighting and draperies, high ceilings, and a Savant home automation system. The mansion’s living room has a custom limestone fireplace, and the rest of the first level has a butler’s pantry, a walk-in pantry, a great room and a kitchen with commercial-grade appliances, oversized quartzite countertops, a steel hood and an eat-in area with built-ins.
The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, a municipal corporation whose board is split between gubernatorial and mayoral appointees, owns McCormick Place, the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place, the Marriott Marquis Chicago, Wintrust Arena and Navy Pier, which it leases to a not-for-profit corporation for $1 per year.
Rohini Dey, left, owner of the restaurant Vermillion, and Erick Williams, chef-owner of Virtue, sit down for a conversation at the Chicago restaurant Giant about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the restaurant industry. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)