Sloopin's Top Stories of 2013 #4) Retail Business Booms in the Sloop

Over the past year a ton has happened in the South Loop.  Since there are a few Monday's left in the year, we thought we would count down the top 5 stories on Sloopin in 2013 according to Google Analytics.

Loft at the Roosevelt Collection (via Roosevelt Collection Facebook Page)

2013 isn't over yet, but we would venture to say it will go down as one of the biggest years in terms of retail openings in a long long while.

While there were a ton of openings and some closings, in our mind the biggest news of the year was Roosevelt Collection finally getting retail tenants.  As of this post there have been 11 different businesses that have opened this year with some more coming in short order.  While it was painfully slow to get to this point (thanks recession!) it seems like the development has found it's groove.  Hopefully that continues.

We also saw a number of new independent food options open in the Sloop - Kurah (1355 S. Michigan), Nepal House (1301 S. Michigan), Umai Sushi (730 S. Clark) - to name a few of our favorites.  There are more, but these really stood out to us!

Let's not forget about the chains that the neighborhood has been clamoring for (Chipotle and Gioradno's).

We also were excited to welcome Piano Forte (1335 S. Michigan) to the Sloop.  This business, which was previously located just north of Congress and Michigan, brings a different, musical vibe to the neighborhood and something we like to see.

There was also a large grocery store that moved in at 1615 S. Clark...but we will discuss that later.

Let's remember - not everything was peaches & cream in 2013.  By our count we lost twelve businesses in 2013 (as of today).  While we can't speak for everyone - the news about Panozzo's was especially disappointing.

By our calculations we are at a net positive of 38 businesses opening in the South Loop this year.  Not too shabby!

We will finalize this at the end of the year - but please keep us honest, did we miss anything?