The abandoned Lincoln Mall

[VIDEO] I don't remember the last time being at this Matteson, IL mall before it's closing. Perhaps it was within the last decade and it look largely vacant at the time. In 2015 it was closed and Matteson is charged with finding a new use for the property.

In the meanwhile, this recent video shows us the inside of the mall. The video has an eerie soundtrack to it. The still pics you see at the end makes this abandoned place look even more creepy. I thought they were in there at almost dawn and that would make it more creepy.

Either way seems like a shame this mall lost business to the point where it is now closed.

I long for the return of Marshall Field's

The former Chicago department store has essentially been defunct since 2006. I have shopped there many times since it went defunct, even bought some Frango candy from there recently. Still I have come to one conclusion fairly recently, I'm still not feeling Macy's.

I used to keep track of this website http://www.fieldsfanschicago.org/ that is promoting a boycott of Macy's in hopes that this will force a return of the Marshall Field's name. In recent years it looks like Macy's will stay the course and seemingly there may not be so much outcry for a return of that erstwhile name. Still I'm of that age where I remember the green bags my mother would bring home after shopping there.

While I can accept that Field's is never coming back, I don't view Macy's as a viable alternative.  I do browse there every once in a while even though I rarely buy anything. Before the conversion to Macy's, Field's had stopped carrying some products such as Tommy Hilfiger. That was probably enough to keep me away and Macy's brought them back.

Field's as a name has disappeared from the Chicago landscape for close to 6 years and still if I go to any stores of the former chain wherever they are my first instinct is to call them Field's. Perhaps it still my way of rejecting Macy's. As it seems in a survey from the Field's Fans website there are others who feel the same way.

Well if you're looking for a simple explanation, I simply can't easily provide one. Perhaps I've seen the tail end of a great institution and I've seen what Macy's has brought to Chicago with them. I would personally like to see a return to the green shopping bags and the name and hopefully products that fit the Field's name. Also Field's is something that is distinctively Chicago perhaps tourist need a place or two to visit when they're in town and be sure to bring something back that show's that they've been around town.

Retailers tap into iPad, hoping device will help you buy

Click for iPad website

Talk about the future being now. It used to be old style tubes for TVs on storefront displays now it's an iPad being considered for use in storefronts:

Since Apple Inc. unveiled the iPad in April, a spate of retailers including Burberry, Puma, Things Remembered, Converse and Nordstrom, to name just a few, have rolled out tests of tablet computers at select stores around the country. The move is all part of retailers' response to how consumers are shopping everywhere — online, on their smart phones and in the stores.

Retailers are using iPads as mobile catalogs so sales clerks and shoppers can browse inventory not available on store shelves. They are fastening the tablets to counters so shoppers can design their own products. They are arming sales associates with the electronic clipboards to gathering customer data. And they are testing the device's potential as a portable cash register.

"It is taking retail outside the four walls to where the customers are," said Sandeep Bhanote, CEO of Global Bay Mobile Technologies, a South Plainfield, N.J.-based mobile retail software firm. "You're talking about changing the way you do business. That's what this is all about."

Make Up For Ever, a unit of French luxury conglomerate LVMH, was among the first retailers to give the technology a try. The cosmetic company set up iPad stations in October at its boutiques inside Sephora stores in New York's Soho neighborhood, Costa Mesa, Calif., and Las Vegas.

The iPad is fixed to a gondola and allows shoppers to update their Facebook pages, tweet about their shopping experience and access face charts for browsing makeup combinations. Eventually customers will be able to upload a digital photo of their own faces for a virtual makeover.

Now if Border's had begun using the iPad or at the very least had an online presence to really utilize the iPad or similar tablet devices. Who knows they may be in better shape instead of having to close 30% their stores amidst bankruptcy.

All the same this underscored the conclusion I have about the iPad. It's a luxury item and is being treated as such. A cool device at home that could also have commercial or academic uses in the real world. It's very cool that one could fork up a lot of cash to be able to use such a device at home.

Check out these wallets

This first wallet is from the Chicago Transit Authority's (CTA) Gift Shop:

The Mighty Wallet is printed with the licensed graphics of the CTA and is not only functional for quick transfer info on the go but it also adds a level of stealth that safeguards your valuables from theft. Mighty Wallets have actually evaded theft in real life situations through their uncommon stealthy design.

Made from Tyvek (think express mail envelopes), the Mighty Wallet resists tearing because of thousands of interlocking plastic fibers spun in random patterns giving the wallet incredible strength.

This might be very cool. Such a wallet can foil theft attempts, especially if a potential pickpocket thinks that this is merely a CTA Map.

Also check out this second wallet:

A dot-matrix wallet from ThinkGeek. The description doesn't mention foiling thieves, but it does mention that it's made of a similar material to the CTA Mighty Wallet. The fact that it's a dot-matrix wallet should ring a bell to old-time computer geeks.

Some of the other wallets you might find at ThinkGeek may have some added features that may foil criminals. Although the hazard isn't necessarily to think of actual pickpockets or theft as opposed to a theft of a different type.