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| | | Grocery Closures and Openings — Bet You Can Guess Where | As the Chatham Walgreens prepares to close Thursday, Ald. William Hall (6th) said a series of pharmacy pop-ups will begin filling the space. He also plans to launch an Office of Pharmacy Access to address pharmacy deserts after he called Walgreens' closure "corporate abandonment.” | | The Walgreens closure comes one year after five other South Side closures in Bronzeville, Little Village, South Shore, Chicago Lawn, and South Chicago. In 2025, West Roseland also lost its Walgreens. | - What happened to Walgreens? The Chicagoland-based company was acquired by private equity last August and closed its downtown office in January.
| | Elsewhere on the South Side: | | | Meanwhile, chains to buy essentials are springing up all over the North Side. | | A Trader Joe’s Boom: | - In North Park, a Trader Joe’s is coming to the same strip mall where a pick-up-only grocery store previously failed.
- In Uptown, Trader Joe’s will replace the former XMarket Food Hall.
- In Logan Square, Trader Joe’s will fill a long-vacant Walgreens. That news comes as the nearby Food Smart on Armitage continues to struggle, recently slashing its hours.
- In Fulton Market, a Trader Joe’s will anchor a 667-apartment tower slated to open in 2027.
| | Whole Foods too: | |
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| | | Take a short road trip up to Madison for the Harry Whitehorse International Wood Sculpture Festival. This FREE one-of-a-kind cultural experience features 13 world-class Indigenous and international wood sculptors creating large-scale, original works right before your eyes. Situated in beautiful San Damiano Park on the shores of Lake Monona, enjoy live sculpting, cultural experiences, live entertainment and global food vendors. | | Plan your trip! |
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| What Chicago's Talking About |
| Northwestern Researcher Booted From Conference Over Trump Criticism | A Northwestern researcher was among those kicked out of an American Diabetes Association conference in New Orleans for distributing an editorial criticizing President Donald Trump. The piece originally appeared in the association’s own journal. A security guard snatched away copies while local officers escorted the group out. [WBEZ] | | | Pools, Pride, and Viral Videos | Most of the city’s 77 public pools open next Friday. Also discussed on today’s podcast: (even more) events and organizations to visit during Pride, plus the best Chicago videos we’ve seen lately. [City Cast Chicago 🎧] | | Women’s Prison to Be Built Alongside Stateville in Crest Hill | Both Logan and Stateville will be rebuilt in the southwest suburb for financial and operational reasons, Illinois officials announced. The prisons have “critical infrastructure needs,” but Logan County residents worry losing the women’s facility would be an economic blow to the community. [Capitol News Illinois] | |  | Mahari is teaming up with Sanders BBQ for a one-day brunch. (Courtesy of Banchet Awards / Mistey Nguyen) |
| Food Events Ahead of James Beard Awards | The sold-out “Oscars of the food world” will be livestreamed June 15. Still, there are plenty of food events across the city ahead of the prestigious James Beard Awards, including restaurant pop-ups, dinner series, night markets, panels, and rooftop parties. [Sun-Times] | |
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As hockey’s gay era continues, LGBTQ+ players in Chicago are speaking out against discriminatory rules. As this excellent headline puts it, the real heated rivalry is between sports and politics 🏒🏒 |
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