ShopInPlaceChi.com Helps Chicagoans Track Local Small Businesses Offering Essential Products

CHICAGO—A brand new website, www.ShopInPlaceChi.com, is offering Windy City consumers a place to find neighborhood small businesses that are still selling products essential for residents sheltering at home. The website is currently live and welcomes new submissions from Chicago small businesses selling products in categories such as bath and cleaning products, books, educational supplies, games and toys, and food.

The website is free to the public courtesy of the Institute for Justice Clinic on Entrepreneurship at the University of Chicago (IJ Clinic). The IJ Clinic provides free legal assistance, support and advocacy for low-income entrepreneurs in Chicago.

“Chicagoans are doing their part to stay safe by staying home, and Chicago small businesses want to help them by selling products they need,” said IJ Clinic Director Beth Kregor. “Chicago is rich with innovative small businesses that provide the things we need to keep our bodies healthy, our stomachs happy, our homes clean and our kids learning. Windy City residents who want to shop local and support their neighborhood businesses can visit ShopInPlaceChi.com today.”

Businesses interested in being listed on the website should visit shopinplacechi.com/submit-your-business/ and fill out a short form with information about the products they offer, their neighborhood locations, and how consumers can safely purchase their products through delivery or curbside pickup. Listings will be added after a review by IJ Clinic staff and volunteers.

The IJ Clinic also has a webpage with information on changes to Chicago’s local business laws and regulations during the COVID-19 outbreak, federal legislation, and links to other resources at: staging.ij.org/COVID19resources. According to Kregor, “Big businesses get legal updates from big law firms on a daily basis, and we want to make sure that smaller, local businesses get the information they desperately need too.”

IJ Clinic Director Beth Kregor is available for interviews via phone or teleconference. Contact Andrew Wimer, IJ Assistant Communications Director, at awimer@ij.org or (703) 298-5938 to arrange.