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Funding and advertised pay are reported in USD; filed accounts retain their stated source currency and basis.

Exchange-rate basis

Indicative conversions use ECB reference rates dated 2026-09-14, applied consistently across all periods. They are not historical exchange rates. Indian rupees may use crore (1 crore = 10 million); other currencies use K, M and B. CSV downloads, source documents and quoted news headlines retain their original currencies.

THE CHICAGO EDITION 2026

Chicago’s
retail industry,
in focus.

The companies, capital and talent shaping retail in Chicago. Find the leaders. Understand the segments. See where the activity is.

Explore in Radar Read the key signals
Snapshot: Funding in USD
Illustrated cover for Retail Industry Landscape of Chicago
US
COMPANIES · CAPITAL · TALENT

An industry ecosystem,
measured in context.

Retail illustration
Companies tracked 744Retail ecosystem in Chicago Disclosed funding $3.94B114 companies · all recorded rounds Companies hiring 51With open roles at the snapshot Tracked open roles 1905 employers posted in the preceding 30 days
MEET THE COMPANIES

Explore Chicago’s retail leaders

24 featured companies from the funding, hiring, revenue and team-size leaderboards.

Expand panel +
Explore the full landscape
Retail company highlights in Chicago, snapshot 1 September 2026
Company
Groupongroupon.com$950M—1,582$498.42MFYFY2025 filing
ShipBobshipbob.com$332.7M13 roles1,338—
Veranoverano.com$229.09M—3,780$821.5MFYFY2025 filing
GTIgtigrows.com$224.73M—4,600$1.18BFYFY2025 filing
Raiseraise.com$198.67M—74—
Cameocameo.com$193.71M—301—
Numeratornumerator.com$174.5M12 roles1,200—
Proviprovi.com$140.11M—249—
NielsenIQnielseniq.com—13 roles2,911—
Circanacircana.com—12 roles6,400—
AKIRAshopakira.com—11 roles583—
Foodafooda.com—11 roles223—
Cresco Labscrescolabs.com—10 roles2—
Sittercitysittercity.com—10 roles38—
BRADbradsdeals.com——74—
Boka Restaurant Groupbokagrp.com——1,512—
Fine Art Americafineartamerica.com——109—
Hanahana Beautyhanahanabeauty.com——6Financial figure available in RadarView in Radar
Neopendaneopenda.com——14Financial figure available in RadarView in Radar
Notrenotre-shop.com——32Financial figure available in RadarView in Radar
Nurture Lifenurturelife.com——50Financial figure available in RadarView in Radar
PersonalizationMall.compersonalizationmall.com————
SPINSspins.com——328—
Sunnysidesunnyside.shop——90—
24 featured companies

Locked revenue figures are available in Radar; the eight company financial previews stay the same throughout this page. A dash means the figure is outside these featured lists. Revenue years vary by company; the figures are not a like-for-like revenue comparison. Compare annual accounts ↗

Company discovery

Recorded evidence only

Explore the live startup set in Radar

No company example met every recorded classification, independence and public-profile gate in this snapshot. The live directory may have newer qualifying companies.

Explore classified startups in Radar ↗
THE KEY SIGNALS

Retail industry KPIs in Chicago

A few useful ratios bring the size of this ecosystem into perspective.

1 September 2026
Hiring participation6.9%

51 of 744 tracked companies have open roles.

Funding participation16.5%

123 of 744 tracked companies have a recorded round.

Top 3 funding share38.3%

Share of disclosed capital received by the three largest recorded recipients.

Median disclosed round$2.5M

Midpoint of 209 rounds with a disclosed amount.

Scale is concentrated. Opportunity is broader. The three largest funding recipients hold 38.3% of disclosed capital, while 83.5% of tracked companies have no recorded funding round.

Explore the segments →
CAPITAL & COMPANY FORMATION

How Chicago retail has grown

Recorded company formation and disclosed funding across the complete annual series shown.

Expand panel +
2016 — 2025

Disclosed funding by year

Sum of recorded funding rounds · USD

Chicago retail
$0$163.83M$327.67M$491.5M$655.34M2016: $91.34M20162017: $158.81M20172018: $458.34M20182019: $229.51M20192020: $290.29M20202021: $574.86M20212022: $234.22M20222023: $76.26M20232024: $64.81M20242025: $100.6M2025
View the numbers
Annual retail funding and company formation in Chicago
YearFunding (USD)FoundedRaising
2016$91.34M3416
2017$158.81M4921
2018$458.34M3420
2019$229.51M3715
2020$290.29M3718
2021$574.86M2817
2022$234.22M2824
2023$76.26M1716
2024$64.81M1210
2025$100.6M410
WHERE CAPITAL SITS

Funding concentration

Share of all disclosed company funding.

  • Groupon24.1%
  • ShipBob8.4%
  • Verano5.8%
  • Other companies61.7%

Funding by stage

235 recorded rounds since 2016

NUMBER OF ROUNDS
Seed & Angel79 33.6%
Series A–B77 32.8%
Series C+ / PE28 11.9%
Grants, debt & other51 21.7%

Recent recorded rounds

Latest recorded rounds · USD
1 rounds

Swipe or scroll horizontally to browse.

Largest and notable recorded rounds

Each card is one recorded round
10 cards

Swipe or scroll horizontally to browse.

Series C10/2018
Veranoverano.com$120M

Backed by Serruya Private Equity and Scythian Biosciences.

Series C03/2021
Cameocameo.com$100M

Backed by Headline and United Talent Agency and others.

Series C09/2021
Proviprovi.com$75M

Backed by Bessemer Venture Partners and Nosara Capital and others.

Series D02/2025
Raiseraise.com$63M

Backed by Haun Ventures and Amber Group and others.

THE BUSINESS BEHIND THE ACTIVITY

Revenue, profitability & financial strength

Annual accounts for reporting companies linked to this landscape, on like-for-like currency and reporting bases.

Expand panel +
USD · millions · consolidated

Display conversions use the dated reference rates above. Where a verified rate is unavailable, figures retain their source currency. Each reporting cohort keeps its currency and accounting basis separate.

FY2025 · company accounts; aggregate reporting threshold not met · 3 reporting entities from 3 eligible matches.

Revenue in covered accounts—

Sum of reporting-entity revenue; not Chicago market sales.

Net profit / loss—

Combined result for the same cohort.

Aggregate net margin—

Combined net income ÷ combined revenue.

Median company revenue—

The middle covered reporting entity.

Profitable entities—

None of 3 covered entities.

Top-five concentration—

Share of covered revenue from the five largest entities.

Annual account trend

Reported cohort totals by year; coverage is stated for every period.

Bar height shows revenue. Changes in coverage can affect totals.

Profitability has two perspectives

FY2025 · 3 reporting entities

Open the company accounts

Up to eight fixed company previews show financial amounts. Search and sort the wider company list, then continue in Radar.

3 reporting entities
Continue your financial research in Radar

Explore full company accounts and filings.

View financials in Radar ↗
CHICAGO · INDUSTRY COHORTS

How does retail compare?

Each pair uses the same year, currency and reporting basis. Cohort overlap is disclosed.

IndustryCovered / eligibleRevenue totalMedian revenueNet profit / lossAggregate marginProfitable shareOverlap

Available-account cohorts are not estimates of whole industries. Overlapping entities can occur in more than one cohort; do not add cohort totals.

Coverage, calculations & financial sources

Filed annual accounts for exact designated national identifiers. Every aggregate and peer pair uses one fiscal year, source currency and reporting basis; periods, coverage and overlap are explicit; 2026 partials are excluded.

The same up to eight reporting entities remain open across years, filters and sorts. Other company figures are available in Radar.

Source currencies and accounting bases stay separate. Missing accounts are excluded rather than treated as zero. Exact reporting periods appear on company previews. Annual totals can change with coverage and do not measure growth of a fixed company cohort.

DIGITAL FOOTPRINT

Web traffic, app reach and release cadence

How the Chicago companies on this page show up online: the sites people visit, the apps they install, and how often those apps ship.

Busiest websites

33 of the 744 companies on this page carry a measured traffic record (4.4%); these are the largest of those, by monthly visits. The median among them is 303,984 visits.

CompanyMonthly visitsAuthorityMobile
Groupongroupon.com22,719,8537675.7%
BRADbradsdeals.com6,393,1384981.6%
AKIRAshopakira.com3,331,2375291.8%
Fine Art Americafineartamerica.com2,645,5436154.6%
Cameocameo.com2,429,2015870.5%
PowerReviewspowerreviews.com2,219,5774094.8%
Sunnysidesunnyside.shop1,415,4774483.7%
Threadlessthreadless.com1,381,3344755.3%
ShipBobshipbob.com1,323,8414964%
NielsenIQnielseniq.com1,202,1554964.3%

Visits and authority are third-party web estimates, not company-reported figures.

Most-installed apps

44 of these companies (5.9%) publish at least one Android app — 55 apps in all, carrying 124.1M installs between them.

AppInstallsRatingStore category
Groupon – Deals & CouponsGroupon115.9M4.4Shopping
Cameo - Personal celeb videosCameo2.1M4.8Shopping
Love NudgeThe 5 Love Languages2.1M4.3Lifestyle
Brad\'s DealsBRAD982.3K4Shopping
Groupon MerchantsGroupon909.4K2.6Business
GCX - Discounted Gift CardsRaise811.1K1.9Shopping
FoodaFooda332.7K4.5Food & Drink
Raise: Cash Back & Gift CardsRaise267.3K2.8Finance
Farmer’s FridgeFarmer\'s Fridge157.3K3.1Lifestyle
Tovala - Rethink Home CookingTovala125.2K3.2Food & Drink

Installs are lifetime totals to date at the June 2026 store reading — a measure of reach, not of people using an app today.

App reach by segment

The busiest app inside each of this page’s own segments, with the quarterly release trend behind it (2023Q2–2025Q4).

SegmentAppsInstallsLeading appRelease trend
Horizontal E-Commerce5116.9MGroupon – Deals & Coupons 115.9M
Online Gifting33.2MCameo - Personal celeb videos 2.1M
Retailers22.2MLove Nudge 2.1M
Food Tech5625KFooda 332.7K
Local Services4344.7KPremium Home Service 10.5K
B2B E-Commerce3335.5KSurplus Record 2.3K
Online Grocery2157.8KFarmer’s Fridge 157.3K
Consumer Electronics E-Commerce4125.6KTovala - Rethink Home Cooking 125.2K

A company can carry several segment tags, so these rows overlap and should not be added together. Trend lines are zero-based and share one quarter grid, so a flat line is a quiet segment, not a missing one.

Release cadence by quarter

New apps published, beside apps whose most recent update landed in that quarter — the second bar is how much of the shelf is still being maintained.

2022Q4: 32022Q4: 02022Q42023Q2: 12023Q2: 02023Q22023Q3: 12023Q3: 12023Q32023Q4: 12023Q4: 22023Q42024Q3: 12024Q3: 12024Q32024Q4: 12024Q4: 12024Q42025Q2: 12025Q2: 32025Q22025Q3: 42025Q3: 32025Q32025Q4: 32025Q4: 52025Q42026Q1: 22026Q1: 82026Q1

Darker bars are new releases, lighter bars apps updated. 54 of 55 apps carry a release date. The series ends at 2026Q1, the last quarter that closed before the June 2026 reading.

INSIDE THE INDUSTRY

The Chicago retail market map

Explore the segments behind the headline numbers.

Expand panel +

Where companies are building

Rank segments by scale, hiring or disclosed funding.

Consumer digital342
B2c e-commerce314
Internet first brands160
Enterprise tech160
Enterprise software106
Commerce enablers104
B2c fashion e-commerce96
Internet first fashion brands71
Marketplaces67
Saas66
Retail saas55
Beauty e-commerce45

Companies can sit in several segments. Counts and funding overlap.

SEGMENT TO EXPLORE

Consumer digital

The largest measured segment in this report snapshot.

342companies
5.6%have hiring activity

19 companies hiring · $1.89B disclosed funding

Explore in Radar

How companies make money

Common revenue models; a company can use more than one.

E-commerce - product440
Subscription199
E-commerce - service190
Commission on transaction114
Advertising112
Physical commerce100
Fee-for-service44
Sponsorship7
THE COMPANIES IN MOTION

Who is listing, hiring leaders, launching and winning work

Recorded corporate activity linked to companies in this landscape.

Expand panel +
Recent corporate headlines 10 dated reports
Funding roundsverano.com ↗

Verano Holdings Corp. secured a $195-million senior secured term loan under a new credit agreement led by Needham Bank and Chicago Atlantic Financial Services LLC.

Funding roundsspun.com ↗

SPUN, an Indonesia-based travel ancillary startup building artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled visa infrastructure, has closed a seed funding round to a total of $1.8 million, to support initial expansion into key Southeast Asian markets, as visa processes remain complex and fragmented across the region.

Mergers & acquisitionsspins.com ↗

Private equity-backed Spins has acquired ecommerce and retail data firm MikMak.

Mergers & acquisitionspartstrader.com ↗

Enlyte, a leader in technology, networks and services for the property and casualty industry, announced today it has entered into an agreement to acquire PartsTrader, the industry's leading parts procurement marketplace.

Mergers & acquisitionscameo.com ↗

Cameo has stepped in to acquire Agilitas’ customer base. MD Luke Walker (pictured) said: “We recognise the uncertainty faced by Agilitas' partners and customers during this difficult period. Our acquisition of the maintenance contract base is designed to provide stability, continuity, and enhanced value to our partner community.

Mergers & acquisitionsnielseniq.com ↗

the acquisition of sensory insights platform Gastrograph AI

Funding roundscrescolabs.com ↗

Cresco Labs Inc. today announced the closing of its previously announced refinancing of the Company’s senior secured credit facility.

Funding roundsdudewipes.com ↗

DUDE Wipes, the crew that turned bathroom breaks into bold moves, today announced a strategic growth investment from TSG Consumer Partners, a leading private equity firm focused exclusively on the consumer sector.

Mergers & acquisitionscircana.com ↗

Market research firm Circana has closed the acquisition of NCS, a joint venture between Nielsen and Catalina.

Mergers & acquisitionsnumerator.com ↗

Numerator and Kantar Worldpanel merged together in January this year to form a new global consumer data company.

Full recorded event mix

Top 10 categories among 168 recorded events in the 24-month window.

Earnings
52
Leadership moves
35
Mergers & acquisitions
18
New products
13
Funding rounds
11
Company announcements
10
Contracts
8
Buyback
5
Fundraising
4
Lawsuit
3
6 activity cards

Swipe or scroll horizontally to browse.

Leadership moves

10 tracked people moves

Circana ↗
Hélène Bouffard

Appointment Chief People Officer

Groupon ↗
Amit Shah

Appointment Board Member

Venzee ↗
Ms. Hebe Chen

Appointment Chief Financial Officer

NielsenIQ ↗
Nacho San Martín

Appointment Chief Executive Officer

NielsenIQ ↗
Luis Simões

Departure Previously Director General

Brendan Light

Appointment Chief Market Development Officer

NielsenIQ ↗
Drew Dabbelt

Appointment Vice President of Retail Media

Product launches

Products, platforms and features in the recorded window

Circana ↗
Brainwave™ Solution

Decision Automation

Circana ↗
Emiri™ Agent

AI Agent

Contract wins

3 recorded customer wins

GTI ↗

Customer: agrifyFinance

GTI ↗

Customer: rythmCannabis

Customer: walgreens

Workforce actions

2 companies with reported reductions

Cameo ↗

87 roleshiring too quickly

107 rolesfacility closure

Litigation

4 tracked suits

Company
Italian Revenue Agency v groupon

tax disputeRegulatory · Settled

Company
Vireo Growth v verano holdings

Merger disputeCivil · Settled

Earnings pulse

Reported company results in the recorded window.

4companies
65period observations
3.4%median reported growth

Median across 30 reported growth observations; companies may contribute multiple periods.

Mergers and acquisitions

Company-linked deal reports; status is preserved as recorded.

Acquirer → targetStatusDateValue / context
kantar→Numerator ↗Completed2026-04-17Not stated in snapshot
enlyte→PartsTrader ↗Completed2026-04-07Not stated in snapshot
SPINS→mikmakAnnounced2026-01-14Not stated in snapshot
Verano→cannabistCompleted2025-12-04$105.0M
Cameo→agilitas it solutionsCompleted2025-10-24Not stated in snapshot
NielsenIQ→mtrixAnnounced2025-08-25Not stated in snapshot

A discussion or rumour is not a completed transaction. An unstated value is not zero.

PEOPLE & OPPORTUNITY

The talent market

3,100 postings in the preceding 12 months. The full 6,182-posting snapshot covers 80 employers.

Expand panel +

Most advertised job titles

Mechanic Auto / Diesel / Forklift Technician151
Speech Language Pathologist In Federal Way, Washington $2,690/Week99
Housekeeper (Pt Or Ft)84
Rn House Supervisor In King City, California $2,957/Week71
Rn Telemetry In Bel Air, Maryland $2,000/Week54
Rn Infusion In Glens Falls, New York $2,591/Week51
0 internship postings

13 tracked postings mention remote work.

The seniority mix

1,067 postings specify a level.

unspecified
5,115
manager
605
senior
224
entry
132
lead
89
intern
17

Skills employers mention

Top skills across 6,182 tracked postings in the available jobs snapshot.

Sql
31
Bls
23
Low Code Tools
20
State Certification
16
National Certification
16
Excel
15
Pos System
11
Tv Menu Boards
11
Mobile App Coaching
11
Onsite Technology
11
ADVERTISED PAY$60.0K/ year

Median across 319 postings with pay data, expressed in USD.

Salary by seniority

manager$84.2K/ year52 postings

Advertised posting medians do not describe all employees or roles.

THE PEOPLE BUILDING THE FIELD

Founders and leaders

344 founders and chief executives across 261 companies.

Expand panel +
12 profiles

Swipe or scroll horizontally to browse.

Education networks

47 profiles with education records.

University of Chicago
15
Booth School of Business
11
Kellogg School of Management
5
Harvard Business School
5
Harvard University
5
University of Pennsylvania
4
Columbia University
3
The Wharton School
3

Prior employers

8 profiles with prior-work records.

McKinsey
3
Uber
1
Google
1
Salesforce
1
Goldman Sachs
1
Bain
1

Profiles cover recorded founders and leaders; contact details remain in Radar.

NEWS INTELLIGENCE

How this industry appears in the news

42,117 articles in the measured 12-month window.

Expand panel +
42,117articles in the measured year
4,909articles in 2026Q2
58.0%positive tone in the latest complete year

News volume trends

Retail coverage tagged Chicago · articles per complete quarter

04,9689,93514,90319,8712021Q2: 8,5982021Q22021Q3: 9,4102021Q4: 7,9442022Q1: 9,8962022Q2: 8,7142022Q22022Q3: 8,7072022Q4: 8,4342023Q1: 8,2162023Q2: 10,0232023Q22023Q3: 9,5082023Q4: 9,9762024Q1: 12,8662024Q2: 10,7062024Q22024Q3: 14,9252024Q4: 10,5852025Q1: 17,2792025Q2: 12,7262025Q22025Q3: 15,6652025Q4: 11,4632026Q1: 10,0802026Q2: 4,9092026Q2
View quarterly article counts
QuarterArticles
2021Q28,598
2021Q39,410
2021Q47,944
2022Q19,896
2022Q28,714
2022Q38,707
2022Q48,434
2023Q18,216
2023Q210,023
2023Q39,508
2023Q49,976
2024Q112,866
2024Q210,706
2024Q314,925
2024Q410,585
2025Q117,279
2025Q212,726
2025Q315,665
2025Q411,463
2026Q110,080
2026Q24,909

Article volume measures coverage, not market sales.

Tone of coverage over time

2021
17,187 positive · 281 neutral · 10,330 negative
2022
21,976 positive · 431 neutral · 13,285 negative
2023
23,715 positive · 583 neutral · 13,361 negative
2024
29,331 positive · 618 neutral · 19,052 negative
2025
33,087 positive · 592 neutral · 23,373 negative

Leading coverage topics

Retail coverage tagged Chicago · ranked by full-period article count.

Administrative And Political Subdivisions4,359,391 articles in the full recorded period
929,769 recent · 795,451 prior
Geopolitical Disputes And Contested Areas320,881 articles in the full recorded period
106,784 recent · 82,216 prior
International And Transnational Geographic Entities320,718 articles in the full recorded period
106,734 recent · 82,150 prior
International Political Relations202,879 articles in the full recorded period
52,825 recent · 50,958 prior
Security And Defense Policies143,013 articles in the full recorded period
41,741 recent · 35,009 prior
International Relations And Diplomacy91,526 articles in the full recorded period
21,657 recent · 23,614 prior
Geographic Naming Conventions And Etymology82,179 articles in the full recorded period
44,272 recent · 9,156 prior
Trade Policies And Agreements77,571 articles in the full recorded period
25,098 recent · 34,625 prior
Human Rights Advocacy Reports69,871 articles in the full recorded period
16,517 recent · 22,551 prior
Cryptocurrency Impact On Forex Markets61,042 articles in the full recorded period
17,322 recent · 15,037 prior

Recent and prior counts use the source comparison windows.

Topics gaining and losing attention

United States comparison coverage

KeywordRecentPriorChange
countries3,9251,959100%
stablecoin fx impact2,9231,63679%
oil price volatility2,7351,132142%
etf trading2,7151,176131%
etfs2,280974134%
sector etfs2,163930133%
symphonic rock pieces2,1281021180%
etf products2,078849145%
etf structures1,983832138%
ncaa updates1,8711,23452%
tariff negotiations13,16422,162-41%
free trade deals5,5449,018-39%
stock price2,7174,098-34%
trade enforcement2,1653,485-38%
economic slowdown1,8513,369-45%

Event and signal lenses

United States comparison coverage

All complete annual cohorts shown
Rising

Regulatory Risk

1,990,330 classified articles

territories, disputed islands, tariff negotiations

38.6% critical · 23.8% positive
Rising

Funding Momentum

363,372 classified articles

inflation reports fx, trade deficits fx, gdp growth forex

39.2% critical · 43.3% positive
Rising

Growth

561,523 classified articles

gdp growth forex, earnings report, inflation reports fx

32.0% critical · 44.3% positive

Retail coverage tagged Chicago. Topic labels describe recorded classifications and can include broad context.

DEMAND, SUPPLY & PLACE

Where demand signals run ahead of mapped supply — Chicago

Compare demand signals in Chicago’s newsflow with the retail categories mapped to each signal.

Expand panel +
HOW TO READ THE GAP

Signal percentile − supply percentile = gap in percentile points. Positive gaps highlight questions to investigate. A high signal can reflect spending pressure or access friction, as well as potential demand.

The comparison is relative to the signal families on this page. A supply percentile of zero means the lowest relative reading, not zero companies. It is a prioritisation clue, not measured market size or unmet demand.

COMPARISON PERIOD2025-05-01 to 2026-05-01Against 2024-05-01 to 2025-05-01Explore the signals ↓

The opportunity, in one view

Signal and mapped-supply percentiles, their gap, and change in the signal’s article share.

Swipe horizontally to compare all columns →

6 Chicago demand signals compared with mapped retail supply
Signal familySignal percentileSupply percentileRelative gapGap (points)Signal share vs prior year
Layoffs & income shocks ↗Spending Pressure65.025.0+40.0+30.0%
Inflation & spending pressure ↗Spending Pressure100.075.0+25.0+144.5%
Highways & expressways ↗Connectivity Build-Out0.00.0+0.0-13.3%
Tourism footfall ↗Demand Driver45.050.0-5.0—
Industrial parks & warehousing ↗Investment Build-Out22.5100.0-77.5+14.9%
Congestion & traffic friction ↗Access Friction67.5—No matching category—+31.4%

Showing all 6 signals. Select a family for its history and mapped categories.

Where the signals are loudest

All 12 city readings for these demand families in the comparison geography. Chicago is highlighted.

Mentions per 10,000 articles

Each city’s reading is a share of its own coverage. Rows cover all of the United States for this page's signal families; Chicago is marked.

St. Louis141.3

Layoffs & income shocks · Inflation & spending pressure · Tourism footfall

Seattle133.6

Layoffs & income shocks · Congestion & traffic friction · Tourism footfall

Milwaukee112.7

Congestion & traffic friction · Highways & expressways · Tourism footfall

Detroit105.0

Layoffs & income shocks · Congestion & traffic friction · Tourism footfall

Denver102.3

Congestion & traffic friction · Layoffs & income shocks · Highways & expressways

Newark99.8

Layoffs & income shocks · Congestion & traffic friction · Highways & expressways

ChicagoThis page97.0

Inflation & spending pressure · Layoffs & income shocks · Congestion & traffic friction

Lebanon96.0

Inflation & spending pressure · Layoffs & income shocks · Congestion & traffic friction

Cleveland94.0

Inflation & spending pressure · Layoffs & income shocks · Tourism footfall

Phoenix93.6

Layoffs & income shocks · Congestion & traffic friction · Tourism footfall

Minneapolis89.8

Layoffs & income shocks · Congestion & traffic friction · Tourism footfall

Philadelphia89.6

Congestion & traffic friction · Inflation & spending pressure · Highways & expressways

Inside the leading signals

Open any signal for its quarterly history
SPENDING PRESSURELayoffs & income shocks+40.0percentile-point gap
THE OPERATING HYPOTHESIS

Layoff cycles can pull discretionary spend back toward value offerings.

18.75mentions per 10,000 articles+30.0%share change vs prior year

Mapped retail categories

  • Internet First Brands160
  • Marketplaces67

Companies can appear in multiple categories; these counts are not a unique-company total.

Quarterly share of Chicago coverage

Mentions per 10,000 articles · zero baseline

091726342024Q3: 52024Q32024Q4: 292024Q42025Q1: 152025Q12025Q2: 82025Q22025Q3: 282025Q32025Q4: 262025Q42026Q1: 122026Q1
View quarterly signal counts
Layoffs & income shocks in Chicago coverage
QuarterMentionsPer 10,000 articles
2024Q3115.64
2024Q43829.94
2025Q13215.37
2025Q2118.41
2025Q35428.62
2025Q44026.43
2026Q11812.94

Where this signal concentrates in the comparison geography

Seattle97.5 / 10,000
St. Louis66.7 / 10,000
Minneapolis47.4 / 10,000
SPENDING PRESSUREInflation & spending pressure+25.0percentile-point gap
THE OPERATING HYPOTHESIS

Sustained price pressure can shift spending toward value formats.

23.14mentions per 10,000 articles+144.5%share change vs prior year

Mapped retail categories

  • B2C E-Commerce314
  • Marketplaces67

Companies can appear in multiple categories; these counts are not a unique-company total.

Quarterly share of Chicago coverage

Mentions per 10,000 articles · zero baseline

091928382024Q3: 42024Q32024Q4: 122024Q42025Q1: 92025Q12025Q2: 172025Q22025Q3: 322025Q32025Q4: 332025Q42026Q1: 212026Q1
View quarterly signal counts
Inflation & spending pressure in Chicago coverage
QuarterMentionsPer 10,000 articles
2024Q384.1
2024Q41612.61
2025Q1209.6
2025Q22317.59
2025Q36232.86
2025Q45033.04
2026Q13021.57

Where this signal concentrates in the comparison geography

Lebanon70.3 / 10,000
New York City40.6 / 10,000
Cleveland37.5 / 10,000
CONNECTIVITY BUILD-OUTHighways & expressways+0.0percentile-point gap
THE OPERATING HYPOTHESIS

Corridor build-out can collapse travel time, widening every catchment.

10.11mentions per 10,000 articles-13.3%share change vs prior year

Mapped retail categories

  • Commerce Enablers104
  • Marketplaces67

Companies can appear in multiple categories; these counts are not a unique-company total.

Quarterly share of Chicago coverage

Mentions per 10,000 articles · zero baseline

05914192024Q3: 72024Q32024Q4: 102024Q42025Q1: 162025Q12025Q2: 82025Q22025Q3: 102025Q32025Q4: 112025Q42026Q1: 142026Q1
View quarterly signal counts
Highways & expressways in Chicago coverage
QuarterMentionsPer 10,000 articles
2024Q3147.18
2024Q41310.24
2025Q13416.33
2025Q2118.41
2025Q31910.07
2025Q41711.23
2026Q12014.38

Where this signal concentrates in the comparison geography

Austin27.9 / 10,000
Newark26.3 / 10,000
Milwaukee25.5 / 10,000
DEMAND DRIVERTourism footfall-5.0percentile-point gap
THE OPERATING HYPOTHESIS

Visitor flows can convert into discretionary spend where they land.

12.16mentions per 10,000 articles

Mapped retail categories

  • Internet First Brands160
  • B2C Fashion E-Commerce96
  • Internet First Fashion Brands71
  • Beauty E-Commerce45

Companies can appear in multiple categories; these counts are not a unique-company total.

Quarterly share of Chicago coverage

Mentions per 10,000 articles · zero baseline

04812162024Q3: 42024Q32024Q4: 142024Q42025Q1: 52025Q12025Q2: 82025Q22025Q3: 92025Q32025Q4: 92025Q42026Q1: 52026Q1
View quarterly signal counts
Tourism footfall in Chicago coverage
QuarterMentionsPer 10,000 articles
2024Q394.62
2024Q41814.18
2025Q1115.28
2025Q2118.41
2025Q3179.01
2025Q4149.25
2026Q185.75

Where this signal concentrates in the comparison geography

Portland18.3 / 10,000
Phoenix16.6 / 10,000
Cleveland16.5 / 10,000
INVESTMENT BUILD-OUTIndustrial parks & warehousing-77.5percentile-point gap
THE OPERATING HYPOTHESIS

Parks and warehousing can add the jobs and fulfilment capacity that reach depends on.

11.72mentions per 10,000 articles+14.9%share change vs prior year

Mapped retail categories

  • B2C E-Commerce314
  • Commerce Enablers104
  • B2C Fashion E-Commerce96
  • Beauty E-Commerce45

Companies can appear in multiple categories; these counts are not a unique-company total.

Quarterly share of Chicago coverage

Mentions per 10,000 articles · zero baseline

051015212024Q3: 82024Q32024Q4: 162024Q42025Q1: 82025Q12025Q2: 142025Q22025Q3: 92025Q32025Q4: 72025Q42026Q1: 172026Q1
View quarterly signal counts
Industrial parks & warehousing in Chicago coverage
QuarterMentionsPer 10,000 articles
2024Q3178.72
2024Q42116.55
2025Q1178.16
2025Q21914.53
2025Q3189.54
2025Q4117.27
2026Q12517.97

Where this signal concentrates in the comparison geography

Phoenix13.3 / 10,000
Denver12.9 / 10,000
Houston12.2 / 10,000
ACCESS FRICTIONCongestion & traffic friction—supply not mapped
THE OPERATING HYPOTHESIS

Congestion friction can push footfall toward nearby formats and toward delivery.

16.84mentions per 10,000 articles+31.4%share change vs prior year

Mapped retail categories

This signal has no matching category in the page’s retail market map, so no supply percentile or gap is assigned.

Quarterly share of Chicago coverage

Mentions per 10,000 articles · zero baseline

091726352024Q3: 52024Q32024Q4: 182024Q42025Q1: 122025Q12025Q2: 182025Q22025Q3: 92025Q32025Q4: 302025Q42026Q1: 152026Q1
View quarterly signal counts
Congestion & traffic friction in Chicago coverage
QuarterMentionsPer 10,000 articles
2024Q3115.64
2024Q42418.91
2025Q12612.48
2025Q22418.36
2025Q3189.54
2025Q44630.4
2026Q12115.1

Where this signal concentrates in the comparison geography

Milwaukee57.3 / 10,000
Denver45.7 / 10,000
Cincinnati33.5 / 10,000
RESEARCH & CHANGING CONVERSATIONS

Related research and changing coverage

Chicago retail coverage

Expand panel +
RESEARCH CONTEXT · 2019

Uniform Pricing in U.S. Retail Chains*

The Quarterly Journal of Economics

391 citations in the snapshot

RESEARCH CONTEXT · 2018

The Unequal Gains from Product Innovations: Evidence from the U.S. Retail Sector*

The Quarterly Journal of Economics

241 citations in the snapshot

RESEARCH CONTEXT · 2017

The Next-Generation U.S. Retail Electricity Market with Customers and Prosumers—A Bibliographical Survey

Energies

81 citations in the snapshot

RESEARCH CONTEXT · 2020

The Pass-Through of Minimum Wages into U.S. Retail Prices: Evidence from Supermarket Scanner Data

The Review of Economics and Statistics

71 citations in the snapshot

What is growing in this coverage

the United States coverage of this page's demand families

KeywordRecent articlesPrior articlesShare change
patent infringement394241923.3%
cyber liability254251152.2%
privacy policies20724963.0%
arbitration clause17022852.3%
ip litigation54772836.3%
antitrust investigations63587799.5%

Share changes describe coverage in the stated comparison periods, not search demand or market size.

UNDERSTAND THE LANDSCAPE

Retail in Chicago: key questions

Clear definitions for making better comparisons.

What does this landscape measure?

It measures the tracked company ecosystem, recorded funding, hiring and other available evidence. It is not a market-size estimate.

Can segment counts be added together?

No. A company can belong to several segments, so segment counts and funding can overlap.

What does a missing figure mean?

A dash or unavailable panel means the current reviewed source snapshot does not support that figure.

KEEP EXPLORING

Put Chicago in context

All landscapes ↗

Company ecosystem snapshot: 1 September 2026. Funding is recorded in USD; filed accounts retain their stated currency and reporting basis. Each section identifies its own coverage. The news and research behind these sections is explorable in Prism.

Canonical landscape ↗
Coming soon