This Week’s Top Story

If your aura needs a burst of fragrance, you can find your fix in the Gold Coast. The Ruby Room (rubyroom.com)—which has a Wicker Park flagship selling crystals, beauty products, and yes, essence sprays—has opened a pint-sized offshoot at 110 East Delaware.

Founder Kate Leydon opened the original Ruby Room 15 years ago as a “spiritual spa.” In addition to its shop, the space offers services such as intuitive healings and massages infused with energy healing.

According to Leydon, her brand’s “first tiny store” is “dedicated to our own favorite Ruby Room products born to keep your energy sparkly and bright.” That includes a table filled with bowls of colorful, healing crystals; a “smudge wall” for sage and Palo Santo, jewelry, detox bath salts, and even CBD oils for pets.

“My company, services, and products are part wellness, part fashion, and part beauty,” Leydon says. “I love to create healing tools which help unlock intuition and inspire people to stay positive, feel beautiful, and live fully.”

To help that process along, the store’s staffers—known as “alchemists”—give free energy readings to each shopper. Based on that reading, the alchemists offer a spritz of flower or gem essence spray aimed at balancing energy.

Top Sales This Week

Rent the Runway (renttherunway.com) is hosting its massive, online-only clearance sale. The sale takes up to 80 percent off the retail price on items from labels like Derek Lam 10 Crosby, Rebecca Minkoff, and Loeffler Randall. The sale runs until August 26—or until all the discounted stock is snapped up.

Nordstrom (55 E. Grand Ave., nordstrom.com) is still holding its Anniversary Sale. The retailer’s largest annual sale offers new merchandise at a discount—but only for limited time. Come August 7, all items will go back up to regular price. Check out Splash’s top picks from the sale here.

Ann Taylor is hosting denim events every Wednesday in August. During the events, shoppers who buy two pairs of jeans get 40 percent off the rest of their purchases. Check out local Ann Taylor locations here—and peep the brand’s jeans styles here.

Pop-Up

So, you don’t have tickets to Lollapalooza—but you’re desperate to score a pastel, tie-dyed T-shirt. Here’s the solution: LollaShop (lollapalooza.com), open at 129 North Wabash Avenue through August 7, has festival merch and is open to the public. The pop-up shop also offers custom airbrushing by local artists, and will host on-site contests and raffles.

Health & Beauty

LillieAnne’s (1260 W. Washington Blvd., Ste. 102, lillieanns.com), a West Loop spa that offers customized services, celebrates its fifteenth anniversary this summer. In honor of the milestone, the tranquil space will take $15.15 off all massage, skincare, and hair-removal services during the month of August. And if that’s not enough of a discount, save the date for August 27. On that Sunday, the spa will offer free, 45-minute massages for new clients. To book the deal, make an appointment on the spa’s website and use the coupon code 15YEARS.

Looking for an alternative to your typical yoga class? Joga is a workout that incorporates yoga-like postures into a session that focuses on understanding body mechanics. Billed as Chicago’s first Joga instructor, Beth Horn now teaches the class at the Spa at JW Chicago (151 W. Adams St., marriott.com) every Thursday at 12:15. The class is open to hotel guests, spa members, and the public, and costs $20 for non-members.

For more ways to mix up your summer workout routine, local Equinox (equinox.com) clubs have introduced three new fitness classes. Best Arms Ever is a 15-minute class that uses dumbbells, loop bands, and resistance tubing for a quick but effective workout. Elevate is a treadmill-incline walking program for people not so keen on running (raises hand). And finally, The Cut: Jump Rope is 30 minutes of high-intensity interval training that promises a scary-sounding but worth-it “cardio sting.” Check out local schedules and club locations here.

Retail News of the Week

  • The Alley 1776, a coffee shop with an upstairs store, will open soon on Belmont. Read more.
  • Rotofugi will host a Blink-182 pop-up shop during Lollapalooza. Read more.
  • Gucci stores will get a wild, animal-theme collection later this summer. Read more.