Lucky #13
ENJOY, AN URBAN GENERAL STORE opened in Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood in July 2005. Through a bit of luck and a lot of hard work, we are happy to be celebrating our 13th birthday.
Yes, we're a teenager!
A lot has changed for us in those thirteen years but what hasn't changed is great customers like YOU. |
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| As our gift to you, get 13% off any online purchase now through Friday, August 24, 2018. Just use coupon code "LUCKY13" at checkout. |
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13 years of fun, funny, and functional gifts—same as it ever was and constantly changing.
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Then...
Our very first product ordered was from Minneapolis based Jane Jenni. Jane's colorful pictogram personality mugs were an instant hit. Today, they remain a best seller.
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and Now
Jane Jenni (the artist) has retired. But we're restocked with all her remaining mugs. So order your favorite mug today as quantities are limited.
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Then...and Now!
Blue Q's Carpe Diem sock is our best selling sock. Sometimes you just have to say "F' it" and seize the day. Available in Mens and Womens sizes. |
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Then...
We were excited to be a featured stop in CITY WALKS CHICAGO. The new edition has been updated to include 50 places to explore on foot in the city of Chicago. |
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and Now.
In the past five years, Chicago has created more than 200 miles of on-street protected, buffered and shared bike lanes. The Chicago Slap Map, a slap bracelet with a foldable Chicago map, is the perfect accessory for exploring by bike! |
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| In December 2018, we opened a sock pop-up shop in Lincoln Square because socks really are the perfect stocking stuffer! We are currently offering 100's of styles of FEETured socks online and in store. If there's something you like, there's probably a sock of it. |
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We thank you for your business and for shopping at an independent, women owned and managed small business.
We are grateful for your support.
#lucky13
Happy Lunar New Year!2018 is the Year of the Dog. May your year be filled with health, happiness, prosperity, and friends ( furry and otherwise). 
Share photos of you and your cute dogs (or not dog or hot dog) with us with hashtag #urbangeneralstore on Instagram or Facebook.
Huge fall clearance. Savings up to 60% off.
100's of Items on Sale
We're making room for exciting new items before the holidays and a website relaunch this fall, so we're having a huge Virtual Sidewalk Sale at Urbangeneralstore.com! 100's of great gifts on sale–most items at 60% off. Supplies are limited. Flat-rate shipping of just $6.95 per order (free for orders over $100), so stock up now on gifts for every occasion. All sales are final. No exchanges or refunds.
SHOP NOW
Canvases, Frames, Art Prints, Giclees, Sculptures and more!
Plates, Sippy Cups, Swaddles, Tee Shirts, Socks and more!
Candles, Notebooks, Kitchen Items, Office Supplies and more!
Socks, Bags, Necklaces, Umbrellas, Scarves and more!
Games, Toys, Candy and more!
Books for all ages!
ENJOY, AN URBAN GENERAL STORE and Urbangeneralstore.com are donating 10% of the proceeds of the sale of our Chicago Flag T-Shirts, Bibs and Onesies for men, women and children to The Friendship Center in Lincoln Square. Your purchase of the t-shirts and accessories supports their ongoing operations to feed our neighbors in need.
The Friendship Center is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization operating two food pantry locations on the north-side of Chicago. More than 1,400 individuals are served every month. They are supported almost exclusively by donations from individuals and partner organizations.
In celebration of #GivingTuesday, ENJOY, AN URBAN GENERAL STORE and Urbangeneralstore.com are donating 10% of the proceeds of the sale of our Chicago Flag T-Shirts, Bibs and Onesies for men, women and children to The Friendship Center in Lincoln Square. Your purchase of the t-shirts and accessories supports their ongoing operations to feed our neighbors in need.
The Friendship Center is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization operating two food pantry locations on the north-side of Chicago. More than 1,400 individuals are served every month. They are supported almost exclusively by donations from individuals and partner organizations.
Check out Jonas Friddle & The Majority TONIGHT at the Lincoln Square Ravenswood Summer Concert Series and stop by ENJOY, AN URBAN GENERAL STORE. We'll be open late until 9pm.
Lincoln Square Ravenswood Summer Concert Series Tonight featuring Jonas Friddle & The Majority
Giddings Plaza - 4731 N. Lincoln Ave Thursday, August 6, 6:30pm-9:00pm
Chicago-based band Jonas Friddle & The Majority, who met one another through Windy City institution The Old Town School of Folk Music, take full advantage of their city's rich and diverse musical scene on their third album, Use Your Voice. The seven-member group plays what they've come to describe as "orchestral folk," along the lines of Joy Kills Sorrow or Lake Street Dive, incorporating trumpet, trombone, drums, and keyboard alongside traditional acoustic instruments. The result is an irresistible.
Concerts run from 6:30 - 9:00pm every Thursday June through August. For the entire Summer Concert Series Line Up, click here for the Lincoln Square Ravenswood Chamber of Commerce site.
Description and image from the Lincoln Square Ravenswood Chamber of Commerce Community E-Newsletter. Sign up today!
The #1 Reason We #ENJOYChicago is...
LINCOLN SQUARE
Call us homers, but we love Lincoln Square. From its namesake president to its German heritage to its ever-evolving culture and endless list of things to do, eat, drink and celebrate, Lincoln Square offers the best of what we love about Chicago—a small town main street in the middle of a major metropolis. ENJOY opened 10 years ago in Lincoln Square. It was where we wanted to be and where we wanted grow. And we still ENJOY it.
Selected items from our Chicago Natives section at ENJOY, AN URBAN GENERAL STORE and online at Urbangeneralstore.com
The city’s ubiquitous deep dish pizza, caramel popcorn, hot dogs and Italian beef sandwiches are ubiquitous because, well, they are delicious! But what makes Chicago a true food town is less about what we eat but how we eat. Chicago LOVES food, CELEBRATES food, IDOLIZES food—and rarely (with the exception of foie gras) do we vilify food. A city that devotes an entire festival to bacon knows that good food (even if it is not always good for you) is great.
Take a moment and think of a cuisine you’d like to eat–we bet you can find it in the city. In fact, you can taste the world without even leaving the neighborhood. But if you do venture out, you’ll find almost anything you’d want to eat. It is the #2 Reason We #ENJOYChicago.
Chicago is a city that can take a possibly pejorative moniker like “Second City” and elevate it to a cultural touchstone. Any city that has only 3 months of nice weather better have a sense of humor and enjoy indoor activities–and Chicago does. Home to sketch, improv and drama giants, New York and Hollywood have been luring away our greats for decades. But like the leaves that must fall for an annual to rebloom, you can bet the next big act is blossoming now... quite possibly right in your neighborhood!
We’ve been counting down the 7 reasons we ENJOY Chicago online and in our store, and every week through mid-April we’ll be highlighting the things that make Chicago great. We thought we’d share some reasons that came to mind but got the big REJECTED stamp—because as Chicagoans, we’re definitely familiar with these daily realities, but we’d have to be FOOLS to love them.
7. [Rejected] Reason - Potholes
The breadth and depth of potholes in Chicago after our Polar Vortices has provided a new medium for artists. As funding for the arts continues to decline, artists who hang their heads in misery need only open their eyes to the asphalt canvas under their feet. A gallery opening is great. An opening in the earth is better!
6. [Rejected] Reason - Polar Vortex 2: Electric Boogaloo
Despite over 30 days of sub-zero temperatures, the Second City was forced to play third fiddle to our Boston brethren's Snowpocalypse. As we watched the Patriots once again win the Super Bowl through the snowscreen of our SuperBlizzard, we were reminded that our football team wasn't there, their former non-World Series winning baseball team has since won the World Series (thrice) and our big Polar Vortex: The Sequel was more "Grease 2" to the East Coast blizzard's "Godfather 2." It seemed familiar but just wasn't as fun. Or exhausting. Or crazy making. Or just plain awful. Why are we always taking sloppy seconds?!?
But, on the bright side, there's always a chance that it will snow in April in Chicago!
5. [Rejected] Reason - Parking Meters and Traffic Control
Are you really a Chicagoan if you haven't gotten a ticket for "Parking in a loading-zone, between 4 and 6 pm, between April 1 and March 31, non-rush hour, residential zone, street cleaning on days that end in -day"? It is a rite of passage for your rights of passage in Chi-town. Chicago even has its own Parking Ticket Geek.
Radical proposal of what to do with the maligned Red Light Cameras: use them as traffic volume sensors to time the lights on major arteries. Maybe then traffic on Western Avenue wouldn't suck so badly.
Hmm. Not likely.
4. [Rejected] Reason - Wildlife
With 2007 the passing of Joseph Zeman, the " Pigeon Man of Lincoln Square," Chicago may have lost the last true lover of Chicago pigeons. In fact, the city has unleashed some bad ol' peregrine falcons to help control our " flying rat" population. Seems we prefer to view wildlife without them carrying entire pizza crusts or chicken wing bones.
And don't even get us started on squirrels.
3. [Rejected] Reason - Politics
Every time we hear "Chuy Rahm" it sounds like a delicious, nougaty, caramelly candy. It's not. But now we're hungry.
Did you know that most people in other parts of the United States don't know what an alderman is? In Chicago, aldermen are such characters that Schadefruede's Justin Kaufmann has spent years portraying a fictional city council member—Ald. Ed Bus of the equally fictional 53rd Ward (the triangle of land at the corners of Belmont, Lincoln, and Ashland). And if his seat was contested, we think he could actually win! Like, in the real election.
2. [Rejected] Reason - Lake Michigan and the Chicago River
Sure, they're pretty. And provide water. Or in the river's case "water." And being one of only a few major metropolitan cities on such a large body of water is nice. But Lake Michigan has seriously put Chicago at a disadvantage—we only have three sides! Since the founding of the city over 175 years ago, have there been any plans to expand the East Side of Chicago? Why not a new agency—the Land Reclamation from Water Reclamation Department? Or maybe George Lucas should forget the museum and focus on a new underwater neighborhood called "East Atlantis."
And we love the Chicago River. Except on a warm day when it smells like it needs to wash.
1. [Rejected] Reason - Pizza P.I.E. (Pizza Inferiority Effect)
Why must we always defend our pizza? Yes, sometimes we cut it in squares. Yes, a single deep-dish pie can weigh up to 25 lbs. And, if you can forgive the double negative, it's NOT not as good as New York style pizza, it's DIFFERENT. And if you don't like it, we know a squirrel who will happily take a crust off your hands. (After all, who hasn't seen a Chicago squirrel carrying a piece of pizza larger than its entire body in its mouth?)
To quote (ahem) Chicagoan Vince Vaughn in Wedding Crashers, "It's a great band, it's a bad band, it's like pizza, baby. It's good no matter what."
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Huge fall clearance. Savings up to 60% off. 100's of Items on Sale We're making room for exciting new items before the holi...
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Summer Festival Season in Chicago continues. Thank you to all who visited our inaugural ENJOY Andersonville booth at Midsommarfest in Ander...
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ARRGH. Yes, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow (or, wait, didn't see his shadow). Either way, the thermometer agrees with that East Coa...
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![[Rejected] Reason - Potholes](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_v_8MHj2la9WmGz-m6t-aghdBmHiO7dJbq18KJMT4SymWLikTR8-XlW8xk-daSrQ6b1ZVJau-zUJFPLXd1W-36mPE9_r9pwO4spUWU-3Ah0qrR7JWXRulkNC1k0XbL_F-XZx0r7uvY0I7tHW5K_M8sl4kn71nxSXeUapEVPOBoWoQ=s0-d)
![[Rejected] Reason - Polar Vortex 2: Electric Boogaloo](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_sStiGxynOzRvFJ4DvHm1gGWRDebfPimdwQIes2GtCMtygo482nRSy_c7lPZCBYgxrGX4ebXBv0yxzdmctprb12HJnSN5cU2m3wFQEveN9mkSNd2SMvfq8kV82_RA-Q3p_xzz95X4WG8eCQ-nZUo2F8ALCqo55u4Ny4B8cyYjfosw=s0-d)
![[Rejected] Reason - Parking Meters and Traffic Control](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vC23vd0-thGK5-DJftScmdgdcRLNQgIyrunhuLInUIop6iOaZVlr8T3H3SuiXp5WVulB_PrwhhG4UNjekVCjyLW6WFbWXC4OGWTt33GyR5DK7HzlDt7U3K4qfv3YSqdUbHZqBpZqSTuwNxEMKW0VmFowKXcTTEmaPBvgjCOavUHjU=s0-d)
![[Rejected] Reason - Wildlife](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vgIV8qYVubDWhL-WNQ3XK8eBXrRmVA4UrzXx3O0ogQEgpkkbW3JXLh89XHqSrAz4kGcgk7ZgYN2F0PW9TgsVi_clV6Zu5fAxwSD_PJBCzdk-faV_I6Aq3yAh_XHXKOTJex6AOqW_vO0dGTtRoflM7rMSoyLPgOkla7M3IJ1Z_kFa5D=s0-d)
![[Rejected] Reason - Politics](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vdtUgBBZtCtXjbA-2jFYjcG6DCA1EqLBLpeeHcDg6bWa24BBO7c9tsKRjzPypu-ey6RYIghiqvrbjPNPCoN-PyuWtLNJuGyfmkyksXDndEQF2MHucWw5Cjx-c7BJDaG8wW8r4oINtx4-DSL4aHnhYjWBQdU3a4gt1wEsEIyoSd0-M=s0-d)
![[Rejected] Reason - Lake Michigan and the Chicago River](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vM1FldT9pzVh1Yv0R2llM7MgPSkDmcdA2uppZCs2ezDJhcp4w2TviRxZVR7jvUXirn-orIihzrP-BGsxWADom6MTwDOMEY9Gd38wEgwNZ1fyd1jo6VYWFhYSWfoBVnGCuIQrDi7CUVB7NxVBCO9NghvexKA9cXUwkv7FVUThvuLXw=s0-d)
![[Rejected] Reason - Pizza P.I.E. (Pizza Inferiority Effect)](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vhYrjNT_ghPYXpXIERCOBWcAHhnPMZXWkHWv1Nzl18jUc863vfVd3jM0wFG_RjmWtTxX3WJN5dbQzaYHqlWrxF5NyUXaELYxf8FGGoRfS8OzUIUGV4LOU4-we_R6SGPRKlejedxmMx7p_yVAPmZpsP5kJkr2vfmdxBl5UXKjWnQQ=s0-d)
