River North Shopping
Head to River North if you are especially interested in art galleries, antiques, or home furnishings.
This revitalized artsy neighborhood is also home to scads of trendy, popular restaurants. (However, it did not feel as lively at night as I expected. Was it just me? Anybody else walked around there at night?)
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Most of the art galleries (more than 60!) are within a block or two around the intersection of Superior and Franklin Streets.
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Antiques tend to be on or near N. Wells, between W. Kinzie and Superior.
- Antiquarians Building, at 159 W. Kinzie (near the Merchandise Mart) has over 20 dealers with mostly Asian and European items.
- Around the corner, Jay Robert’s Antique Warehouse at 149 Kinzie specializes in 19th-century European shown in a 50,000-square-foot space.
- A few blocks north, Chicago Arts & Antiques Center at 215 W. Ohio St is a huge antiques mall with over 35 dealers.
- For less-overwhelming browsing, Fly-by-Nite Gallery at 715 N. Wells carries a well-chosen selection of European art glass, pottery, antique jewelry, and other 1890-1930 objects; Michael FitzSimmons Decorative Arts at 311 W. Superior is
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Home furnishings studios are scattered throughout the district.
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Chicago’s famous Merchandise Mart — mostly open to trades only, but now with some retail shopping — is in the southwest corner of the district, along the river.
FOR MORE INFO on River North shopping, visit one of these links:
www.seemoreshopping.com Overall a terrific Chicago shopping resource! This link takes you straight to their River North section.
www.chicagogallerynews.com. Excellent comprehensive site for news and info on art galleries all over Chicago. This link takes you to the River North page.
