HYDE PARK — Get back to the South Side for Small Business Saturday because there are a lot of deals, and, almost certainly, Valerie Jarrett will skip out of the White House to take advantage of the bargains.
The annual event in which local businesses offer special deals to compete with the shopping mania of Black Friday has been steadily growing on the south lakefront, and, every year, Jarrett takes a break from her job as advisor to President Barack Obama to come back and shop.
In past years, it was easy to catch Jarrett visiting the stores near where she grew up in Hyde Park. But as the retail options have improved on the south lakefront, Jarrett has been spotted in Bronzeville and maybe South Shore this year as more pop-up shops move south on the lakefront.
Bronzeville will be the center of activity this year, with carolers going from business to business from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. and Santa will camp out for cocoa and cookies from 1-3 p.m. at the North Kenwood Daycare, 516 E. 43rd St.
South Shore is gearing up this year, too, with two pop-up shops at 1735 E. 71st St. and 1900 E. 71st St. now through Dec. 24 and a special free trolley on Saturday to take shoppers between shops like Chez Vous Boutique, Scentuary and Red’s Next Generation.
We’ll see if Jarrett comes back to Hyde Park this year or strays farther to explore Bronzeville or South Shore’s shopping options.
Either way, she will have a lot more time to check out all of the South Side’s new stores since she left for a job in Obama’s White House in 2009.
Jarrett has not yet said what she will do after leaving Washington, D.C. Before she joined the Obama administration she was CEO of the Habitat Company and served on the boards of the University of Chicago, the university’s medical center and the Museum of Science and Industry.
The South East Chicago Commission, Quad Communities Development Corp. and the Planning Coalition have full details of all the businesses participating this year.
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