Broadway near Leland Avenue in Uptown. Photo: Warren LeMay from Chicago, IL, United States / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Businesses that missed the first round of Uptown’s street banner program have more time. The second wave of orders has been extended to Oct. 31, with the goal of getting the new banners hung on the neighborhood’s light poles before the end of the year.
The banners carry a business name or web address printed on the lower portion of both sides. Buyers can request specific locations and choose among the available banner designs, which means a shop can put its name on the poles right outside its own front door.
The pricing
The program uses volume pricing, so the per-banner cost drops as a business buys more. Members of the local business association in good standing get an additional $50 off each banner. A chart with the full pricing and the list of available locations is part of the ordering packet.
Why banners
Light-pole banners are one of the oldest tools for commercial districts. They mark the edges of a shopping area, give a sense of identity to blocks that might otherwise blur together, and remind people passing through by car, bus or train that there are businesses worth stopping for.
For Uptown, the stakes are practical. Thousands of people move through the Broadway, Lawrence and Wilson corridors every day on their way to work, concerts and the lakefront. A banner with a shop’s name puts that business in front of commuters who may never have walked down its block.
Timing
Orders placed by Oct. 31 are meant to go up before the holiday season, when foot traffic and spending in the neighborhood tend to peak.
Marcus Hadley covers business, transit and real estate in Uptown.
