Market shopping in Illinois
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Kane County Flea Market
True antique-o-philes will want to make the pilgrimage to suburban St Charles, about 45 miles west of Chicago, to the Kane County Flea Market, where hundreds of dealers sell everything from junk to books to rare curios.
reviewed
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A
Maxwell Street Market
Every Sunday morning hundreds of vendors set up stalls that sell everything from Jesus statues to 10 packs of tube socks to power tools. Don’t let the name mislead you: the market is not actually on Maxwell St, though it was for decades until gentrification forced it onward. It has become a hot spot for foodies craving homemade churros, tamales, gorditas and other Mexican noshes, and for folks seeking cheap clothing, electronics and junk galore. The city now runs the market, and it’s supposed to be bringing back live blues bands, which were a feature back in the old days.
reviewed
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B
Randolph Street Market
This market, which styles itself on London’s Portobello Market, has become quite the to-do in town. It takes place inside the beaux-arts Plumbers Hall, where more than 200 antique dealers hock collectibles, costume jewelry, furniture, books, Turkish rugs and pinball machines. One of the coolest facets is the Indie Designer Fashion Market, where the city’s fledgling designers sell their one-of-a-kind skirts, shawls, handbags and other pieces. In summer the action spills into the street. A free trolley picks up patrons at Water Tower Place hourly. Note there are no markets in January, April, October and December.
reviewed
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C
New Maxwell St Market
Every Sunday morning hundreds of vendors set up stalls that sell everything from Cubs jerseys in the wrong colors to tube-sock 10-packs to tacos for $1. Don’t let the name mislead you: the market is not actually on Maxwell St, though it was for decades until the ever-sprawling University of Illinois at Chicago campus forced it to relocate. Also, it’s not really ‘new’ anymore, since the move happened in 1994. Still, it’s an entertaining place to nosh with abandon, pick up a new stereo or buy hubcaps (legitimately obtained, versus the days of yore, when odds were they’d be fresh from your own car).
reviewed