Consumer
/Home & Leisure
Macy's considering leaving Chicago's Water Tower Place
CHICAGO -- Macy's is considering leaving its store in Water Tower Place, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said at a Friday news conference.
Lightfoot, who announced increased security measures in the Loop this weekend after unrest earlier in the week, pushed back when asked about a report suggesting recent looting was a factor in the retailer's potential ...Read more
Hot Property: Geena Davis to play the part of seller in Pacific Palisades
LOS ANGELES -- Academy Award-winning actress Geena Davis has listed her longtime home in Pacific Palisades for sale at $5.995 million.
Set on a tree-lined street, the Mediterranean-style house features curated spaces filled with calming hues and decorative accents. A sculptural fireplace flanked by picture windows is a focal point in the living...Read more
Real estate Q&A: My landlord is making it harder to leave lease early. What are my options?
Q: I am moving out of my rental apartment a few months early to move in with my special someone. I gave plenty of notice to my landlord to find a new tenant, and they are not doing anything. Now they are giving me grief about scheduling the moving truck, and I am beginning to regret trying to do it the "right" way. What should I do? -- Andres
A...Read more
Mies van der Rohe's workhorse tower gets a vibrant remake as a dorm at Chicago's Illinois Institute of Technology
CHICAGO -- The pandemic. The unrest that followed the killing of George Floyd. Rampant looting in downtown Chicago. Against that chaotic backdrop, it was moving earlier this week to experience the profound calm that characterizes the architecture of master modernist Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.
On the first floor of a newly renovated building at ...Read more
Post-riot landscape of rubble persists as Minneapolis demands taxes in exchange for permits
MINNEAPOLIS -- On a desolate lot in Minneapolis where Don Blyly's bookstore stood before being destroyed in the May riots, two men finish their cigarettes and then walk through a dangerous landscape filled with slippery debris and sharp objects. The city won't let Blyly haul away his wreckage without a permit, and he can't get a contractor to ...Read more
Beach home sales at the Jersey Shore are surging during the coronavirus outbreak
For some employees given the option of working from home during the coronavirus pandemic, the workplace expanded from the city office to the beachfront condominium.
A picturesque scenario. If a Shore house is even available.
Sales are so strong that buyers should "make a very, very strong offer and don't hesitate. Don't wait three weeks to ...Read more
REI to sell its never-used Bellevue headquarters and shift office work to multiple Seattle-area sites
SEATTLE -- In yet another sign of COVID-19's disruptive impact on business, REI is abandoning its nearly completed corporate campus in Bellevue, Wash., and spreading headquarters operations to multiple sites across the Seattle area.
The outdoor retailer said it is in talks with "multiple interested parties" to sell the never-used 400,000-square...Read more
Carla Fried: 3 essential financial moves in your 20s
If you're the type of 20-something who wants to take a deep dive into personal finance, God bless. There are plenty of great websites and books to immerse yourself in. But if that is so not you, no worries. You can build a fantastic foundation for financial success by focusing on just three key goals.
-- Pay your bills on time. Sounds obvious, ...Read more
Carla Fried: 3 essential financial moves in your 30s and 40s
In your 30s and 40s making smart money decisions requires deft juggling skills. These are typically years when your income is growing as you enter your career sweet spot. At the same time, you may be settling into family life with a partner and kids, developments that can pull you in a gazillion expensive directions.
How you deploy your growing...Read more
Carla Fried: 3 essential financial moves in your 50s and 60s
With the finish line near in the insane race known as retirement planning, your focus may be on stuffing your 401(k) and IRA with more money. Nothing wrong with that. Just add these three moves to avoid costly mistakes.
--Stress-test your assumptions. Start with your retirement portfolio. By now you've taken a few spins through a retirement ...Read more
Former Tronc CEO Justin Dearborn moves into the Hollywood Hills
LOS ANGELES -- Former Tribune Publishing chief executive Justin Dearborn has been in buy and sell mode of late, divesting himself of a home in Encino and buying one in the Hollywood Hills for $4 million, records show.
His new place sits behind frosted glass fences and gates in the Mt. Olympus neighborhood. Designed by architect Gus Duffy and ...Read more
Amid COVID-19, she reinvented her boutique as a houseplants shop. Business is booming
LOS ANGELES -- Pico Boulevard has been quieter than usual since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, but Amorette Brooms' Queen Boutique, a tiny storefront west of La Brea Avenue, has been busy.
The self-proclaimed "Mid-Wilshire girl" grew up in the neighborhood and has sold fashion accessories at her boutique for more than a decade.
But...Read more
Social Graces: Someone you know has recovered from coronavirus and wants to hang out. Here's how to handle it.
Q: You heard that someone had COVID-19, but now you've been invited to that person's backyard to socialize. What do you ask the host to make sure it's safe?
A: The pandemic has changed the ways we socialize. Gone are the days where we just pop in for a quick visit with someone - even close friends. Many of us have businesses or work that ...Read more
Thousands of online listings are violating LA's new short-term rental law
LOS ANGELES -- Tenant activists celebrated when Los Angeles ushered in new rules to clamp down on renting homes for short stays, saying the city needed to stop landlords who were running apartment buildings like hotels.
But more than a year after that law went into effect, many rental hosts appear to be ignoring it. Thousands of illegal rentals...Read more
Hot Property: Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli sell the big house in Bel-Air
LOS ANGELES -- Actress Lori Loughlin and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, have one less thing to worry about as they await sentencing for their role in the college admissions scandal. The pair have sold their Bel-Air estate to Tinder co-founder Justin Mateen for $18.75 million -- or about half the $35 million they had asked for ...Read more
Tribune Publishing in talks to leave Prudential Plaza offices
CHICAGO -- The Chicago Tribune's offices could be on the move for the second time in less than three years, as the newspaper's parent company seeks an exit from Prudential Plaza amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Tribune Publishing is in talks with Prudential Plaza owner Sterling Bay for a buyout of its approximately 137,000-square-foot lease in ...Read more
Rural tenants, already delaying rent, face pinch without relief
WASHINGTON -- The impasse between the Trump administration and congressional Democratic leaders in negotiations over a COVID-19 relief package worries both advocates for rural low-income housing and owners of Department of Agriculture-financed rental properties.
Advocates and landlords say the now-expired federal $600 a week add-on to state ...Read more
Real estate Q&A: What to do when application of the rules becomes an impediment?
Q: My tenant is not allowing me in his unit to perform maintenance even after I gave plenty of notice. What should I do? – Rita
Q: My condo board is not approving my buyer because they do not allow emotional support animals. What should I do? – Sam
Q: Our community has an owner who will not stop running a business out of his apartment, ...Read more
US household debt falls for first time in 6 years
Americans cut back on credit cards and other types of consumer borrowing in the second quarter as the pandemic froze the economy, sending overall household debt down for the first time in six years even as mortgage loans continued to rise.
Total debt declined 0.2% to $14.27 trillion, from $14.3 trillion in the first quarter, the Federal Reserve...Read more
Inga Saffron: Convention centers drive urban economies. Will we ever meet there again?
PHILADELPHIA -- President Donald Trump may have given up on holding a convention in the midst of a pandemic, but not Mark Yuska.
A professional meeting planner, Yuska is so convinced that convention centers can be made safe that he decided to organize a gathering for the people who manage the world's conferences and trade shows. His company, ...Read more
Popular Stories
- Carla Fried: 3 essential financial moves in your 20s
- Jeff D. Opdyke: Rent vs. buy calculators — with rates so low, they might be useless
- Real estate Q&A: My landlord is making it harder to leave lease early. What are my options?
- Post-riot landscape of rubble persists as Minneapolis demands taxes in exchange for permits
- Beach home sales at the Jersey Shore are surging during the coronavirus outbreak
Comics
