Diane Wilber
Signs and Closures
Chicago Locations April - May 2020
Beginning top row, L-R closure notices and blocked entrances:
Lake Michigan Chicago Park District beaches and bike trail entrances (top row); Greek Orthodox School, Kindred Nursing Home, Sheridan & Granville; Church at Berwyn and Kenmore; Mas Alla Del Sol Restaurant; Loyola University campus; Edgewater Cultural Center, Saint Ita's Catholic Church; Foster Beach entrance blocked; Out my window, Sheridan Rd.
May 17, 2020. Uptown Chicago Target store shelves empty. Employee told me there are usually 500 cans of soup stocked. There were only two cans left. May 11, 2020, Picture Framing Shop on Broadway in Edgewater Chicago, closed after 43 years. May 6, 2020, Chase Bank Edgewater Chicago closed.
June 4 -6, 2020. Edgewater, Uptown and Rogers Park, Chicago. (L-R).Antique Mall; Broadway and Devon; AT&T, Loyola Redline; Five Guys, Loyola Redline; Gino’s Pizza, Broadway and Bryn Mawr; Potbelly, Loyola Redline; Vet’s Office, Broadway and Granville: Target, Sheridan and Devon; Uptown Recording Studio (stickers Black Lives Matter and front entrance); Aldi, Wilson and Broadway; Target, Sheridan and Devon; Care for Real People pantry. Sixty people in line two hours before opening, Sheridan Road; Boost Mobile “No Phones.”
Rogers Park, Chicago, Park District signs, June 2020.
9/16/20 All Chicago locations, Magnificent Mile, North Michigan Avenue.Stuart Weitzman. High End Boutique. Open by appointment Only. 8/31
Entrance to Stuart Weitzman, 8/31
Brooks Brothers. High End Boutique. Appointment Only. 8/31.
Entrance to Brook Brothers, wood door with a pad lock.
Disney Store. Limited hours. 8/31
Neiman Marcus. Michigan and Superior. Chicago. Every window is boarded up. Limited Hours. Well-dressed Guards everywhere. 8/31.
Tiffany's Mag Mile. Appointment only. Completely boarded up. No idea how people get in to store. 8/31.
Victoria Secret. Mag Mile. Closed until further notice 8/31.
Saks - Mag Mile. Limited hours. Completely boarded up. 8/31
T Mobile Store. Mag Mile. I believe there are no phones in the store. They over-night them to customers. I am not sure if that is true. 8/31.
Brooks Brothers in the background. Police on median strips in the streets on most blocks of North Michigan. 9/15.
Zara store on Mag Mile. No signs or entrance as of 9/15.
Rolex Store. Mag Mile. Very scary, well-dressed security guard out in front. 9/15.
Completely boarded up. Hours by Appointment. Security Guard would not give me any information. I guess I did not look like a Rolex Customer 9/15.
Cartier Store. Mag Mile. By appointment only. Another well-dressed Guard. He told me to move along. 9/15.
Marriott Hotel Entrance. Mag Mile Closed until further Notice. 8/15.
September 14-16, 2020
Marriot Hotel, Michigan Avenue entrance, closed until further notice.
Charles Schwab Investment Company, Michigan Avenue entrance. Not just retail are boarded up. This is just a small area of the building windows. The wood goes up probably 25 feet from the sidewalk. No entrance. North Bridge on Michigan Avenue near Tribune Tower.
Ulta, completely boarded up no entrance or sign. Many stores don’t know if they are coming back, so I was told. North Bridge, Michigan Avenue and the River.
Barricade on almost every corner. 1PM.
Nordstrom Rack, Chicago and Rush. Mag Mile. The store was overcrowded although cashiers were wiping down surfaces after every customer.
All the windows at Timberland are boarded around the building. Small door for entrance.
This is a Salon on Rush Street. Mag Mil. One of the few open entrances.
Kaliflower, North Bridge, Michigan Avenue and the River.
Entrance (3 photos) to “After School Matters,” closed since March 15, 2020. On Washington between Michigan and Wabash. Very sad. 3/31, 8/31, and 9/14.
Starbucks in the Chicago Pedway. Only three businesses remain open. Originally there were twelve businesses between the Red and Blue line trains.
Pret a Manger. My favorite breakfast location. Also closed in the Target Store at State and Madison. I am so sad.
Staples Store at Washing and Wabash. Completely boarded up except for a small wood dorr.
This is Dearborn street at 1PM between Washington and Madison. Very creepy.
These are pictures of the entrance to the Daley Enter. I couldn’t get any information but I don’t think Court is in session.
All the windows at Timberland are boarded around the building. Small door for entrance.
The Wit, a boutique hotel at State and Lake. No signs of reopening.
State Lake totally boarded up, no one remembers what was here.
One of the few Salons open.
Police on the street Median, just about every Mag Mile.
I think the Pandemic brings so many emotions — fear, anxiety, grief and mourning front, and center. I think this is pretty typical of most people. I don't like being typical.
I fear that the economy may collapse. Food will be scarce, lines for groceries will be 100's deep. Banks will close. In my community, there are lines for everything, grocery stores, pharmacies, even hardware stores. Our local bank branches are closed. The ATMs are available although most stores discourage cash or will not take cash at all. I have the same $20 in my wallet I had in mid-March. Most people adhere to physical distancing (I hate the expression Social Distancing) but definitely not everyone. I do not enter many stores anymore for fear of exposure, but I do walk around my neighborhood early in the morning. People start lining up hours before the stores open. This is frightening. By the time people get into the stores, the shelves are empty.
I am in the high-risk category. I have COPD and am over 60 years old, so I only go out early in the morning, when few people are out. Many people are compliant. Still, there are those that are not. There are many runners on Sheridan Road that do not wear masks or wear them around their neck. Some get way to close, as far as I am concerned. This is both frightening and makes me extremely anxious. I do not fear death, as much as getting sick and dying alone. I am beginning to get anxious about money. My partner and I need both our incomes to live. We are still waiting for his government assistance.
So many people do not have anyone to turn to in this crisis. I must have faith that everything will be okay. I don't believe the virus will go away until we have a vaccine. Life will never be the same. I think what separates me from many, is that I am not living alone, and I have emotional support whenever the fear or anxiety gets to be too much. I know so many people that are alone and afraid. My heart breaks for them.
Finally, I am very good at refusing to dwell on tomorrow. I focus on getting through today. I am so grateful, for all that I do have, and I fear for those that do not have any food, shelter, or faith in God. My deepest fear is that I will leave this earth without doing anything significant. Will the world be a better place because I was in it? I fear not. The gravity of the Pandemic has been numbing. I simply do not allow myself to panic about tomorrow. I must trust in God.