Shopping

Chicago shopping has split in two since this page first went up. Downtown, the big streets are mostly chains and flagships, and some of them are still filling empty storefronts left by the pandemic. The neighborhoods are where the city's own shops are, and that's where most of your money should go. Some of the stores the old version of this page sent you to are long gone (Filene's Basement closed in 2011), so here's where to shop now.

The Magnificent Mile

North Michigan Avenue between the river and Oak Street is still the first place most visitors walk, but it's had a rough few years. Saks Fifth Avenue left in 2026, Water Tower Place has lost its anchors, and the new arrivals lean younger, with Uniqlo, Mango and the Harry Potter Shop. It's worth a walk for the architecture and the river, less so as a shopping trip. We cover it block by block on our Magnificent Mile page. The luxury boutiques that used to line the avenue are more likely to be on Oak Street, just west of Michigan.

State Street

State Street in the Loop is the practical downtown option. The anchor is Macy's, in the old Marshall Field's building at State and Washington. Even if you don't need anything, walk in to see the Tiffany mosaic ceiling above the cosmetics floor, and have lunch in the wood-paneled Walnut Room. Mrs. Hering's chicken pot pie has been on the menu since 1907.

Across the street, Block 37 has Zara, Sephora and an AMC theater, plus a climbing gym and Five Iron Golf. A few blocks south, Target fills the lower floors of Louis Sullivan's old Carson Pirie Scott building at State and Madison. Look up at the cast-iron ornament over the corner entrance before you go in. The rest of the street is discount and fast fashion, including Nordstrom Rack, TJ Maxx, Saks Off 5th, Uniqlo and Primark. The Red Line runs right under State, and the Blue Line is a block west on Dearborn. Our Loop guide covers what else is nearby.

Neighborhood shopping

Wicker Park and Bucktown

Get off the Blue Line at Damen and you're at the six-corner intersection of North, Milwaukee and Damen, the center of the city's best walkable shopping. Milwaukee Avenue running southeast is the busiest stretch. Myopic Books, 1564 N. Milwaukee, is a big used bookstore, open noon to 8pm every day. Reckless Records is at 1379 N. Milwaukee. Quimby's, 1854 W. North Ave., sells zines, comics and small-press books you won't find anywhere else, and it's open noon to 7pm daily. Division Street, a few blocks south, has more boutiques mixed in with a Target.

North of the tracks, Damen Avenue through Bucktown is quieter, with independent clothing and home stores. See our Bucktown page for more on the neighborhood.

Andersonville

Clark Street around Foster and Berwyn is the most shop-local strip in the city. Start at Andersonville Galleria, 5247 N. Clark, a market building with more than 200 small vendors selling jewelry, art, clothes and antiques. A couple of doors south at 5233 N. Clark is Women & Children First, a feminist bookstore that's been open since 1979. The Swedish American Museum at 5211 N. Clark is a reminder that this was a Swedish neighborhood first. When you need a break, Hopleaf, 5148 N. Clark, is the neighborhood's Belgian beer bar. The Berwyn stop on the Red Line is the closest train, about a 10-minute walk west.

Lincoln Square

Lincoln Square is a short walk from the Western stop on the Brown Line, and Lincoln Avenue here still has traces of the old German neighborhood. Merz Apothecary, 4716 N. Lincoln, has been in business on the North Side since 1875 and stocks soaps, shaving gear and European skin care you'd otherwise have to fly for. It's open Monday to Saturday, 10am to 6pm, and closed Sundays. Up the block at 4750 N. Lincoln, Gene's Sausage Shop is a full European deli with more than 40 kinds of house-smoked sausage. Its rooftop beer and wine garden opens Memorial Day weekend and runs through the warm months.

Lakeview and Southport

Southport Avenue, north of the Southport Brown Line stop, is a strip of boutiques and cafés that caters to the young families who live around it. The anchor is the Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport, a movie palace from 1929 that shows classic and independent films. Over on Belmont, near the Red Line stop, the shops are cheaper and louder, and Reckless Records has a second store at 929 W. Belmont. In Northalsted and Andersonville, the Brown Elephant resale shops raise money for LGBTQ health care at Howard Brown Health. More on the neighborhood on our Lakeview page. For Armitage Avenue and the boutiques around it, see Lincoln Park.

Things made in Chicago to take home

• Garrett Popcorn. Garrett has been popping in Chicago since 1949. Order the Garrett Mix, caramel corn and cheese corn in the same bag, which sounds wrong and isn't. There are shops on the Magnificent Mile and at O'Hare, so you can buy a tin on the way out.
• Frango mints. The Marshall Field's chocolate mints now belong to Garrett, which bought the rights to the original recipe in 2017. Macy's still sells its own version, which makes for a good argument over which one is the real thing.
• Eli's Cheesecake. Chicago's best-known cheesecake is baked at Eli's Cheesecake World, 6701 W. Forest Preserve Dr., on the Northwest Side. It has a café and retail shop, which makes it an easy stop if you're driving to or from O'Hare.
• Something from a local maker. The Andersonville Galleria is the easiest place to find prints, jewelry and Chicago-flag everything from people who live here. Our Chicago flag page explains why the four red stars show up on so much of it.

Outlets and malls

If you want a mall, you'll have to leave the city. Fashion Outlets of Chicago, 5220 Fashion Outlets Way in Rosemont, is the closest outlet center, with more than 140 stores next to O'Hare. It's reachable from the Rosemont station on the Blue Line with a short Pace bus ride, so you don't need a car. Farther out, Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg and Oakbrook Center in Oak Brook are the big suburban malls. For both, you'll want a car. See our car rental page.

Sales tax

Chicago's sales tax is among the highest of any big US city. The combined rate on general merchandise in the city is 10.5 percent. That's the 6.25 percent state tax plus 1.75 percent for Cook County, 1.25 percent for the city and 1.25 percent for regional transit. The transit share went up a quarter point on August 1, 2026, according to the Illinois Department of Revenue, taking the total from 10.25 percent. Groceries and restaurant meals are taxed at different rates. Illinois doesn't offer a tax refund to overseas visitors.

Photo by David Boyle