Storefront City Chicago

Archive for the tag “holiday gifts”

Topshop/Topman Pop Up Shop

WHAT: Topshop/Topman Pop Up Shop
WHEN: Thursday, Dec 8 (1-8pm); Friday & Saturday, Dec 9 & 10 (1-7pm)
WHERE: Floating World Gallery (1925 N. Halsted St.)
HOST: Topshop/Topman

OUR RATING: Chance It!

The holiday shopping season is definitely in full swing, with holiday pop-up shops literally appearing everywhere you look. Topshop/Topman joined these ranks yesterday with their holiday pop-up shop in Lincoln Park, which is only open for another two days, closing Saturday night for good.

Topshop/Topman had dozens of folks out and about in the Lincoln Park area last night handing out fliers and tote bags promoting their ephemeral new shop, and last night after 5pm they even welcomed customers with an in-house DJ, small doughnuts from Glazed and Infused (check out our review on their doughnuts in the near future!) and complimentary Miller Lite and champagne.

Alicia: The ambience of this little shop is pretty great and not even close to how overwhelming the Michigan Avenue store feels. While the price tags of Topshop goods are a bit above my comfort level, I would definitely consider ‘splurging’ on some of their stuff. The intimate selection at this location makes a perfect short shopping experience, and even if you don’t think you are going to ultimately buy anything, just seeing how a pop up shop like this works in a really cool gallery space is a fun expedition.

This location is selling goods that the Michigan locale doesn’t quite have in stock yet, so you get a little glimpse of things to come if you are an avid Topshopper. I definitely had my eye on a few pieces, and while I tend not to be the biggest Topshop fan, I must admit that much of their clothing is of real quality. If you spot the beautiful maroon fitted pants with the creme decals, you’ll see what item of theirs almost made its way into my closet. Ladies: they also have a station where you can get your nails done for free, if that’s a thing you’re into. Ultimately, if you like browsing for clothes while listening to a live DJ and sipping champagne…and you’re in the LP area…I say go for it.

Adam: This little pop-up shop is in an interesting locale, staffed by friendly employees and sporting some stylish goods. When I was in Britain, I never really was a Topshopper, perhaps because I preferred buying my clothes over the internet or in America, both of which are cheaper than your average English highstreet store (if you slap a 20% tax on everything, it’s bound to be expensive).
However, I was pleasantly surprised by some of the offerings available from this Topshop location. For men, I spied several beautifully fabricated blazers in faux black velvet and several nice woolen sweaters. I will say, however, that the styling has definitely been Americanized, as I can’t imagine anyone in England wearing some of the the completely ugly sweaters (why buy these when relatives subject you to them anyway at this time of year!)

Overall, it’s perhaps a good idea to come in for a browse, imbibe the beer (the champagne was alright, but slightly naff–probably a waste of energy in terms of calories to taste ratio) and taste some of the sweet treats from Glazed and Infused (most fantastic name ever, by the way).

Shop Chicago!

WHAT: Shop Chicago!
WHEN: Thursday, November 29, 2012 from 6pm-9pm
WHERE: Sydney Yates Gallery, Chicago Cultural Center (78 E. Washington St)
HOST: Time Out Chicago in partnership with Gilt City

OUR RATING: Skip it!

In celebration of the 2012 Shopping Awards and in preparation for the holiday shopping and gift-giving season, Time Out Chicago hosted their second annual Shop Chicago! Holiday marketplace a week ago today. The event featured nominees and winners from the 2011 and 2012 Shopping Awards.

Time Out Chicago Shop Chicago!

–(photo courtesy of timeoutchicago.com)

As soon as we walked in the doorway of the Sydney R. Yates Gallery at the Chicago Cultural Center, we knew we were in trouble. Shop Chicago! was set-up in a single large room within the gallery, with vendors around the perimeter of the room, a few tables in the center giving out free glasses of champagne, and a live DJ spinning in the corner.. Why did we know we were in trouble? Small room, limited patrons, only a handful of vendors, and extremely large price tags. Not to mention the lack of ambience. We had seen the photos from last year’s event and we were pretty excited, but this year’s event lacked the aesthetic effort.

The first thing that really got us about this event was the price tag. Yes, you had to pay to get in! $15 to be exact. We’ve been discovering a lot of events like this lately, and while we were more than happy to imbibe in the complimentary champagne, we were stunned by the mere thought of paying to shop…just to pay some more if we came across anything we wanted to purchase.

So okay, okay, we’ll give the event some credit. Free champagne, nice and classy. And the vendors, along with their products, were pretty legitimate. We saw some beautiful collections, and we enjoyed chatting with the vendors and noticing the inspired branding of their products and their company titles, such as “Cities in Dust.” Other vendors included Milk Handmade, Alapash Home, LeThrift, The Haute Spot, Shades of Grey, Nac for Style, Mineralogy, Trillium, Fortunate Discoveries, Spare Parts, Study Hall, Exhale and more, selling mostly jewelry and clothing, with a few food and home goods items.

shopchicago

–(photo courtesy of timeoutchicago.com from Shop Chicago! 2011)

Unfortunately, due to the limited quantity of vendors and the small size of the room, we were able to traverse the entirety of the event in under twenty minutes, and while certain products did spark our interest, the high price tags ($120 for a bracelet?) turned us off. The vendors were young and hip, but did they not understand that other young and hip people in the city don’t have that thick of a wallet?

Obviously the event is meant for a very niche audience, so if you aren’t willing to put out at least a few twenties for a single item, we’d suggest skipping this event. And put the money it costs for admission into something nice for yourself (or your loved ones, of course) for the holidays. Or even a decent bottle of champagne, since that’s really all we got out of it.

Post Navigation