Shopping - Chicago 2005 - page 224

An Oak Street Bargain
Oak Street is not the place to come shopping for bargains—with one excep-
tion: Bravco, 43 E. Oak St. ( & 312/943-4305 ), a crowded, narrow drugstore
that seems out of place among the hip boutiques, is the favorite spot of
Chicago hairstylists and makeup artists. You'll find an excellent selection of
professional hair and beauty products (including Aveda, Sebastian, and
Bumble and Bumble) here for much less than they cost at salons. Even if you
haven't heard of some of the brands, trust us—if Bravco carries them,
they're hot.

Finds

selection, and always-interesting home accessories (prepare for attitude from the
sales staff if you're not dressed to impress); and stratospherically hip Italian
designer Prada, 30 E. Oak St. ( & 312/951-1113 ), which offers three floors of
sleek, postmodern fashions for men and women, and plenty of the designer's sig-
nature handbags.

2 More Shopping Neighborhoods
STATE STREET & THE LOOP
This was Chicago's first great shopping district—by World War I, seven of the
largest and most lavish department stores in the world were competing for shop-
pers' loyalties along a half-mile stretch between Randolph Street and Congress
Parkway. The area has now been eclipsed by Michigan Avenue, and State Street
now is lined with discount stores and fast-food outlets. But it's still worth visiting
because of the two grand old department stores that remain: Marshall Field &
Co., 111 N. State St., at Randolph Street ( & 312/781-1000 ); and Carson Pirie
Scott & Co., a few blocks south, at 1 S. State St., at the corner of Madison Street
( & 312/641-7000 ). Both buildings are city landmarks and attractions in them-
selves. Architecturally speaking, the Louis Sullivan-designed Carson's is the more
celebrated of the two; however, Field's State Street store remains one of the world's
largest, occupying an entire city block and featuring the largest Tiffany glass
mosaic dome in the United States. If you're in Chicago between Thanksgiving and
New Year's, a visit to Marshall Field's to see the holiday windows and to have lunch
under the Great Tree in the Walnut Room is in keeping with local tradition.
Although State Street has not recaptured the glamour of decades past, it man-
ages to draw crowds of loyal customers from the Loop's office towers and
Chicagoans turned off by Michigan Avenue's snob factor. There's no better
example of the street's revival than the 2001 opening of a new Sears store
( & 312/373-6000 ) at the corner of State and Madison streets and a large Old
Navy store at Washington and State streets ( & 312/551-0522 ).
RIVER NORTH
Along with becoming Chicago's primary art-gallery district, River North—the
area west of the Magnificent Mile and north of the Chicago River—has
attracted many interesting home-design shops, concentrated on Wells Street
from Kinzie Street to Chicago Avenue. The neighborhood even has a mall of its
own— The Shops at the Mart ( & 312/527-7990 )—in the Merchandise Mart,
at Wells and Kinzie streets, with a standard collection of chain stores.
The rest of the Merchandise Mart, the world's largest commercial building,
houses mostly interior design showrooms—which are open only to professional