Listed are some of the coolest independent shops in Chicago.

To begin, select a neighborhood and/or tag from below.

The stores associated with your selection will appear right here and on the map.

Aiko's Art Materials

Aiko's brought Japanese papers to the US in 1955, a few decades before the American public at large began to appreciate their beauty. Today,...

Apartment Number 9

If there's anything you'll learn from Apartment Number 9, it's that laid-back, casual clothing doesn't have to look messy. For...

Chicago Comics

Chicago Comics is a shop for comic lovers, be they superhero comic fans, European comic fans, zine fans or Manga fans. The peppy shop loves comics...

Contacts and Specs

Reader Suggested: In business sings 1982, we take the eyewear shopping experience to a different level. We offer hand picked eyewear collections in our beautifully...

DvA Gallery

Anyone that can appreciate a well-constructed pop song can also appreciate the so-called pop art at DvA gallery. The bright art gallery deals in...

Endo-Exo Apothecary

Endo-Exo is a modern apothecary carrying select brands. Instead of carrying every blush on the market, they pick the ones they think are best for...

Epicene

There's one sure advantage to not opening shop in an uber-hip neighborhood: the cost of rent is not carried over to the product. In this case...

Eskell

The clothing at Eskell is the best combination of vintage and modern clothing. The dresses, trousers and jackets don't look dated in the...

Eye Spy Optical

Huge luxury labels treat their eyeglass business as an easy way to pad their profit margin based on their "brand identity". There are no...

Flight 001

These days where every train station and airport have become bastions of legalized assault, it's nearly impossible to be a fashionable...

Gem

The jewelry of Laura Kitsos can be a simple as a set of dangling pearl earrings or as exotic as a necklace made of a string of multi-colored,...

Greer

No matter how many "stationery" designs e-cards offer, they never, ever match the feel, the class and the style of paper. In Greer, we...

Haberdash

The name Haberdash hints at a bygone time, where distressed jeans and neon sneakers were not part of men's wardrobes. Instead the store...

Habit

We're all for supporting independent designers and everything but there are so many of them and honestly for every one we love there are five...

Hejfina

Hejfina has elegant modern living down pat. For clothing expect avant-garde Japanese brands, ultra-exclusive New York brands, next to creative...

Helen Yi

From the outside looking in, Helen Yi appears to be a Chicago boutique only a New Yorker could love--what with the white walls, the loft-like space...

I.D.

In a intriguing symbiotic retail relationship, ID carries beautiful, artful home accessories and one side of the store and a wall of eyeglasses to...

Ikram

While you await for Chicago's first Yohji Yamamoto store (don't hold your breath), Ikram is the one and only place in the city where the...

Isabella Fine Lingerie

Isabella Fine Lingerie may be a young store, but it feels as if it has been in Chicago forever. Perhaps this is because the store embodies the...

Isabella Fine Lingerie

Isabella Fine Lingerie may be a young store, but it feels as if it has been in Chicago forever. Perhaps this is because the store embodies the...

Jake

There are surely some who will sneer at the prices Jake asks for it's selection of casuals--denim, T-shirts, button-downs and sweaters. But if...

Jake

There are surely some who will sneer at the prices Jake asks for it's selection of casuals--denim, T-shirts, button-downs and sweaters. But if...

Jake

There are surely some who will sneer at the prices Jake asks for it's selection of casuals--denim, T-shirts, button-downs and sweaters. But if...

Josephine

Shoes as architecture, shoes as art, shoes as weapons--Josephine is a celebration of the women's shoe and all the forms it can take. A sleek...

Language

San Francisco funky, New York hip, Los Angeles cool, these are among the style dialects that Language speaks. The boutique has done a remarkable...

Lenny & Me

Reader Suggested: I like your two picks in chicago (Silver Moon and Una Mae's) Lenny and Me is also amazing! Great selection of vintage clothes and...

Modern Times

Modern Times: because someone has to fill all the posh lofts and condos being built in Chicago. The vintage furnishings store is rife with...

Myopic Books

There's something lovingly old school about how Myopic Books keeps its space. The several floors of used books. The people reading and...

Orange Skin

In other modern furniture stores we seen shelves lined with miniatures of classic modern chairs. At Orange Skin we saw the same thing, only in the...

Pagoda Red

The thin long passage into Pagoda Red is a coy introduction into what is a rather grand showcase of Chinese and Asian antiques and artifacts. The...

Penelope's

A shop that looks a bit folksy at first glance turns out to be quite the stylish outpost. Whether browsing women's clothing, men's...

P.O.S.H.

Think back to all the once grand hotels in America and Europe that have been mothballed or even demolished. Wouldn't it be fun to bring a bit...

Powder Room

If the baby blue and the pink doesn't make it clear enough, Powder Room is indeed a girly haven of cosmetics. The airy boutique leaves widely...

Quimby's

Before every high school and college student had a blog, zines were a favored form of expression for young people. At Quimby's, the zine gets...

Raizy

Sought after cosmetics and bath products, boutique lingerie brands and an in house make-up artist: it doesn't get much more girly than this...

Robin Richman

Other than a giant hanging ball of tumbleweed, Robin Richman looks like any other boutique in the boutique-laden neighborhood. So how are you...

Rotofugi

The toys at Rotofugi certainly wont propagate body image issues, unless little girls wishing they looked more like red troglodytes becomes a...

Silver Moon

The era that begot unforgettable music and historical political movements didn't exactly have timeless fashions. Silver Moon is one vintage...

Soutache

Go to Soutache for both the ingredients and the inspiration necessary for your art and craft projects. Whether sewing a new dress or putting...

Spare Parts

The world has long claimed that great leather goods can only be produced in Italy or Spain. So, we're glad to have found a store that focuses...

Sprout Home

Sprout Home finds its inspiration in the garden. The shop carries unique plants as well as gardening supplies, including a great selection of items...

St. Alfred

A lot of sneaker shops are busy building out ambitious, almost avant-garde spaces to accompany their wares. While those are nice, at the end of the...

Stitch

In Stitch we find a style that seems uniquely well-fitted to Chicago. Furniture like a sleek, straight-forward platform beds and handsome leather...

Svenska Möbler

In case you were wondering, Swedish furniture was just as cool way back when as it is now. Svenska Mobler displays a whole studio full of Swedish...

Symmetry

Asian and modern furniture stores usually occupy diametrically opposed areas of the home design landscape. Symmetry effortlessly marries the two...

The Bookworks

In the shadow of historic Wrigley Fields, The Bookwooks offers other forms of history. Foremost are tens of thousands of books of the used and...

Tula

Reader Suggested: Located on the burgeoning Southport Avenue, Tula carries more obscure lines in comparison to its neighboring shops. Wood floors, stark white walls...

Una Mae's Freak Boutique

If you enter a vintage store and the music is blaring and one of the salespeople is wearing a boy scout uniform, that's usually a good sign...

Wildflowers

Considering the shop sells elaborate, luxurious lingerie it's rather appropriate that wildflower is a pretty, gem of a store hidden behind a...

Willow

As the name suggests, there's a definite organic, natural vibe to the tableware, home accessories and jewelry at Willow. Candlesticks might...

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