Happy St. Patrick's Day

Irish you a happy, lucky St. Patrick's Day!

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Reasons We #ENJOYChicago - #6 The Events

Starting in May, more than 400 neighborhood festivals will take place in the city. But Chicagoans with spring fever can’t wait that long. Luckily, no matter what you like celebrating, there’s likely a special event for it in Chicago—even in March. 

Events pictured above:

Hellenic Heritage Parade (Greek Independence Day Parade)
Saturday, March 29, 2015

Wizard World Comic Con Fan Fest Chicago
Saturday, March 7, 2015 - Sunday, March 8, 2015

International Quilt Festival
Thursday, March 26, 2015 - Saturday, March 28, 2015

Chicago St. Patrick's Day Parade
Saturday, March 14, 2015

Chicago Tattoo Arts Convention (Photo: David Joseph Kline)
Friday, March 20, 2015 - Sunday, March 22, 2015

Bangladesh Day Parade (Photo: Jerry Delaney)
March 28, 2015

Chicago Flower & Garden Show
Saturday, March 14, 2015 - Sunday, March 22, 2015

Southside Irish Parade
Sunday, March 15, 2015

Need more ideas? Check out TimeOut Chicago's 101 things to do in Chicago.

All copyrighted materials or trademarks on this Blog which are not owned by Urban General Store, Inc. are the property of their respective owners, who may or may not be affiliated with, sponsored by, or otherwise connected to ENJOY, AN URBAN GENERAL STORE or Urban General Store.

Reasons We #ENJOYChicago - #7 The Makers

Chicago is a city of Do’ers. The “City That Works” makes a lot of things–both real and virtual–that we and millions of people around the world love. 

Pictured clockwise from left to right:  Lemonhead candy, Card from The Found, Basecamp, Orbitz, GiveForward, Field Notes Brand notebooks, Chicago Skyline Candle from Crash Candles, Daisy Cutter Pale Ale from Half Acre and a tin of Garrett Popcorn Shops popcorn.

All copyrighted materials or trademarks on this Blog which are not owned by Urban General Store, Inc. are the property of their respective owners, who may or may not be affiliated with, sponsored by, or otherwise connected to ENJOY, AN URBAN GENERAL STORE or Urban General Store, Inc. 

7 Reasons We #ENJOYChicago

Happy Birthday Chicago!

In celebration of the great city of Chicago, on the occasion of its 178th birthday (actually, its date of  incorporation March 4, 1837), ENJOY, AN URBAN GENERAL STORE, a specialty gift store at 4723 N. Lincoln Avenue in Chicago’s Lincoln Square neighborhood, will be running a social media campaign and photo contest highlighting the 7 Reasons We #ENJOYChicago. The campaign will start on Wednesday, March 4, 2015, and will run for seven weeks, culminating in mid-April 2015, with the #1 Reason (SPOILER ALERT: our neighborhood, Lincoln Square). 

Each week ENJOY will feature Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter posts that highlight why we #ENJOYChicago. Posts will include links to local businesses, events, attractions, organizations and products. A Pinterest Board will feature items, too.

Musician Laura Doherty (as the Chicago Hot Dog)

Customers and followers will be encouraged to share pictures of why they #ENJOYChicago on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. All photos that use the hashtag #ENJOYChicago and are tagged with @ENJOYChicago will be entered into a drawing to win a Chicago Natives Prize Package (valued at over $100). The winner will be announced in early May 2015, and the winner’s photo submission will be shared via ENJOY’s Instagram, Facebook and Twitter accounts and may be displayed in ENJOY’s shop window. Images tagged with #ENJOYChicago may also be reposted.

Links to products related to the “7 Reasons We #ENJOYChicago” can be found on ENJOY’s online home urbangeneralstore.com.

An in-store display will highlight each of the “7 Reasons We #ENJOY Chicago” every week, and featured “Chicago Natives” (www.urbangeneralstore.com/shop/browse-all/chicagonatives) items will also be on display at ENJOY, AN URBAN GENERAL STORE (4723 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago, IL 60625).

All You Need Is Love (but a card and gift are nice, too)

VALENTINE'S DAY IS THIS WEEKEND

Do you still need something special for your someone special? We have lots of great gift ideas like those in the video. Some are sweet. Some are funny. Some are sarcastic. Some are special. But we're certain that a Valentine's Day gift from ENJOY, AN URBAN GENERAL STORE and Urbangeneralstore.com will be unique–like your love.

Live in Chicago? Shop online and select Free In-Store Pickup as your shipping method and your items will be ready for pickup the next day in Chicago (Monday-Friday) at ENJOY (4723 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, IL 60625).

LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED

But what does your Valentine want?

The Gift of a New Year

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#ShopSmall but #GiveBig on #GivingTuesday

They say "charity begins at home," but we think it can continue to the workplace. We asked the members of our staff what local organizations they support and why.

In support of #GivingTuesday, we will be making a charitable donation to the organizations our employees suggested – Lincoln Square Friendship Center, ONE Northside, The Stone Soup Theatre Project, Growing Home and Funny Bones Improv.

We hope you'll learn more about these great organizations, like them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter and Instagram and subscribe to their YouTube channels. And, most importantly, consider supporting them financially, too.

1) Lincoln Square Friendship Center
The Friendship Center operates two food pantries on the north side of Chicago. North Park Friendship Center - NPFC also distributes free clothing and household goods, offer job training to our volunteer staff, and seek to provide or refer clients to needed services.

2) ONE Northside Violence Prevention Campaign
ONE Northside is a mixed-income, multi-ethnic, intergenerational organization that unites our diverse communities. We build collective power to eliminate injustice
through bold and innovative community organizing.

3) The Stone Soup Theatre Project
The Stone Soup Theatre Project's mission is to offer theater to the communities of North East Chicago providing productions and educational workshops at little to no cost to patrons by enlisting the help of community organizations and local businesses. Stone Soup Theatre Project is committed to building stronger communities and safer neighborhoods by providing access to affordable and relevant theatre, transferrable skills through theatre education, and by taking the stage onto the streets of North East Chicago.

4) Growing Home
Growing Home is a social enterprise based in organic farming that provides employment, training, and community development opportunities to Chicagoans. Growing Home helps people find meaningful careers through skills learned while farming since 2002. Growing Home is Chicago’s leading expert in farm-based training for people with employment barriers.

5) Funny Bones Improv
Funny Bones started with a mission to give the gift of laughter to children and their families while in hospital. Our goal is to provide children with an opportunity to brighten their day, add a smile or a hearty laugh to reduce whatever stress they may face and offer an escape from their worries. Funny Bones performs in Chicago at the Children's Memorial Hospital AND in New Orleans at Tulane Medical and Children's Hospital.