Inside Groupon’s 2-year-old headquarters on the 25th floor of the Leo Burnett Building in downtown Chicago, a giant cat in a spaceship with flashing lights greets visitors in an otherwise staid office tower.

Here, the quirky e-commerce startup once dubbed the fastest-growing company ever, amid Super Bowl ads and ubiquitous media coverage, is quietly executing a turnaround after years of downsizing and red ink. Groupon is trying to become the next big thing once again. It happened once before.

New CFO Rana Kashyap stands in the Groupon office on Wacker Drive in the Loop on Dec. 9, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)

“We’re at a point now in our journey where we have some victories, we have some things to look at, some proof points,” Groupon’s chief financial officer, Rana Kashyap, said during a recent tour of the newly expanded headquarters. “And everyone loves a comeback story.”

In 2023, Groupon, whose daily deals platform made it the startup star of the post-millennium Chicago tech scene, was teetering on the brink of insolvency.

A groundbreaking unicorn that once spurned a $6 billion takeover offer from Google on its way to a $25 billion valuation, Groupon had fallen to a fraction of its previous worth amid dramatic downsizing and sharp revenue declines.

When Dusan Senkypl, a Czech investor and the company’s largest shareholder, took control of the struggling e-commerce site and announced a turnaround strategy, Groupon issued a “going concern” warning to investors in May 2023 that the company could be out of business within a year.

“It was not a great situation for the business,” said Kashyap, 43, a New York-based former hedge fund investor who joined Groupon in January 2023 under Senkypl’s leadership. “Things were pretty grim.”

Groupon’s turnaround strategy included cost-cutting measures, such as breaking the lease on its massive River North headquarters at 600 W. Chicago Ave., once teeming with thousands of millennial employees. In January 2024, Groupon moved downtown to sublease a 25,000-square-foot floor of the Leo Burnett Building at 35 W. Wacker Drive, with a local workforce that had dwindled to 150 employees.

Like an expiring deal for a mani-pedi, Groupon itself seemed to be running out of time. But two years later, Groupon is still there and the turnaround is gaining traction, Kashyap said.

Once called the fastest-growing company in history by major media outlets, Groupon became a cautionary tech rise-and-fall story. Some analysts thought an epitaph was in the works. But last year, the company resolved its going-concern issues through belt-tightening measures, and is now ready to write a new chapter.

The downsizing is done and the focus has turned to growing revenues and expanding its reach, with the Chicago market providing a model for making the Groupon name relevant again in the competitive world of e-commerce it once pioneered.

The Chicago headquarters has more than doubled to 377 employees, including sales, finance and other roles. Most work two to four days a week in the busy office, which added a second floor this year to accommodate the increased activity.

Kashyap, who joined Groupon as senior vice president and head of transformation, was elevated to chief financial officer in September, filling the role vacated by Jiri Ponrt, a partner with Senkypl in Prague-based Pale Fire Capital, Groupon’s largest investor, who moved up to chief operating officer.

Ponrt relocated to Chicago, grabbing an office to oversee operations at Groupon’s new headquarters, where he has been commuting to work each day in a Chevy Suburban. Meanwhile, Kashyap remains New York-based, with plans to be in the Chicago office 100 days next year in his new role as CFO. Both see 2026 as pivotal for Groupon 2.0.

“There was lots of work here internally to put processes in place and also cut the cost, and now we are focusing purely on revenue,” Ponrt said.

Groupon the Cat, a whimsical giant cat in a spaceship that hung from the fourth-floor atrium at the old headquarters, also made the move downtown — at new CEO Senkypl’s urging — stationed at the modest entrance to the 25th floor.

While it is getting busier and bigger, the downtown office tower is still a long way from where Groupon was as a stratospheric tech startup in the early days of e-commerce, with an origin story made for the new millennium.

In 2007, Andrew Mason, then a recent Northwestern University music grad, started a website called The Point with $1 million in seed money from tech entrepreneur Eric Lefkofsky. The initial concept was to catalyze support for common causes, but the mission soon pivoted to a daily deals retailing site.

Andrew Mason, founder and CEO of Groupon, at his office in Chicago on July 21, 2009. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)

Groupon launched in 2008, creating its own e-commerce niche with heavily discounted daily deals on everything from manicures to meals, blasted out to subscribers via email. It exploded in popularity and employment grew from a handful to more than 11,000 worldwide as the company’s valuation blossomed into the billions.

Google tried to purchase Groupon for nearly $6 billion in 2010, but Mason and his investors said no deal.

By 2011, Groupon was flying high, generating billions in annual revenue and cultivating a quirky culture that drew thousands of millennials to its new headquarters in the former Montgomery Ward catalog warehouse, a collegial frat house of a workplace that became the mecca of the burgeoning Chicago tech scene.

Groupon went public in November 2011, raising $700 million and reaching a market valuation north of $17 billion on its first day of trading.

For investors — and the company — it’s been mostly downhill from there. Operating losses, management missteps — including a disastrous 2011 Super Bowl ad — and a rapid post-IPO decline in valuation led to the 2013 ouster of Mason as CEO.

Early on, the business model expanded to include stocking and shipping products, which put it in direct competition with online retail giant Amazon. While Groupon Goods grew to become the lion’s share of the company’s revenue, it proved less profitable than the local third-party deals on which the company was established.

Gross billings peaked at $7.5 billion and revenue topped $3 billion in 2014. By 2019, the last prepandemic year, billings had fallen to $4.6 billion and revenue was $2.2 billion.

During the pandemic, billings plummeted and downsizing accelerated amid operating losses and dwindling cash reserves. By the time Czech investor Senkyl took control of Groupon in 2023, billings had fallen to $1.65 billion, while revenue dropped to about $515 million. A global workforce that once topped 11,000 was down to 2,213 employees, including 229 in Chicago.

At its 2023 nadir, a company once worth $25 billion had a market cap of about $100 million.

Billings bottomed at $1.56 billion, while revenue dropped to $492 million in 2024. But this year, both numbers are on the rise, with projected billings of $1.6 billion and $500 million in revenue. Kashyap said the company has reached positive free cash flow for the first time in years, and the turnaround is finally taking hold, with the Chicago market leading the way.

During the third quarter, billings growth across North America was up 18% and Chicago, Groupon’s largest and fastest-growing market, nearly doubled the national rate. A supply-driven business, Groupon is finding success by offering more local third-party deals that resonate online with customers, Kashyap said.

Meanwhile, the company has shifted away from its goods business, ceding that turf to a plethora of online competitors that have sprung up since Groupon launched 17 years ago.

Things To Do is Groupon’s largest category, offering experiences like boat tours, museums and other activities with a strong value proposition. Groupon also does brisk business in the Beauty and Health category, a core offering since inception.

King Spa & Sauna in northwest suburban Niles, for example, has been using Groupon for 15 years. The current offering is a 38% discount on admission to the “largest Korean-inspired spa in the U.S,” featuring sauna rooms, thermal pools and revitalizing treatments.

Groupon is looking to build up its offerings in other categories as well, including food and drink, hotels and live events, Kashyap said.

Charged with recruiting those deals for multiple markets, new hires are undergoing sales training in the Chicago office to reach local merchants and get them on the platform.

Sales director Sarah Neligan, who has been with Groupon for 12 years, moved from Ireland to the Chicago office a year and a half ago to head up new business development for the eastern half of the U.S.

“What Groupon does for local merchants is even more required now than it ever has been,” Neligan said during an impromptu stop-and-chat. “All local merchants are competing against these bigger players in the market, and we really do offer them a solution for smaller businesses with no upfront costs on how to grow their business.”

Neligan helped develop the new local market sales focus in Chicago, creating a playbook that Groupon plans to roll out in other cities.

As the company shifts from cutting costs to growing sales, Groupon has also recently ventured a modest return to TV advertising, something the startup once tried in a very big way.

Groupon aired its first Super Bowl ad in February 2011 — four months before the company filed for its IPO. The irreverent spot — a faux public service announcement for the endangered Tibetan people that shifted to a deal on fish curry — landed with a thud, precipitating a downward spiral that led to a rapid decline in valuation, the 2013 exit of Mason and a series of shifts in the business model.

Groupon’s 2018 ad campaign featured Tiffany Haddish. During an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” she told a story about taking Hollywood power couple Will and Jada Pinkett Smith on a Cajun swamp boat tour she purchased on Groupon. (ABC)

In 2018, Groupon returned to the Super Bowl with a new TV ad featuring actress Tiffany Haddish, and a renewed focus on its daily-deals roots, but the company essentially went dark as business declined during the pandemic.

The new 30-second commercials are airing in Chicago, New York and Madrid, promoting generic discounted experiences such as spa days and date nights, while urging viewers to “Turn Life On With Groupon.” The essentially identical spots are customized for each market by dropping in a few landmark shots, such as The Bean in Chicago.

Groupon ran its first ill-fated Super Bowl ad three years after launching and Kashyap said the company is thinking like a startup again. But getting back to the Super Bowl may take some time for Groupon 2.0, he said.

“It’s not going to be next year,” Kashyap said. “From where we are today to the ultimate of TV advertising, the Super Bowl, there’s a long way from where we are to that. But we like to believe that that’s in the realm of possibility here.”

rchannick@chicagotribune.com

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/27/groupon-turnaround-chicago-office/ 

We must end 2025 with a final farewell in the world of books.

Rest in peace, mass market paperbacks.

As reported by Publishers Weekly, book distributor ReaderLink will “stop distributing mass market paperback books at the end of 2025 … the latest blow to a format that has seen its popularity decline for years.”

There are several causes of death for the mass market paperback. One is the reduced cost of designing and producing books in the now ubiquitous trade market format. The cheaper price point for a mass market book is no advantage when it isn’t also cheaper to manufacture.

The reduction in places where books — primarily mass market books — were sold is also a major factor. Those distinctive wire racks capable of holding hundreds of books were ubiquitous at newsstands, drug stores, grocery stores and elsewhere. The arrival of e-books, which allowed for easy purchasing of popular genre novels, was, if not the final nail, the definitive point of no return for mass market copies.

The disappearance of the format is probably only distressing to those of us of a certain age, as the rise and now fall of the format has happened essentially over the course of my lifetime. The bookstore my mom co-founded in 1971 (Northbrook’s The Book Bin) established almost an entire section dedicated to mass market paperbacks when the store doubled in size in the mid-’70s. I can still picture the racks of Peter Benchley’s “Jaws,” featuring a cover modeled after the iconic movie poster. That edition reportedly sold 11 million copies in the six months after the movie’s release.

The “Choose Your Own Adventure” books, which I devoured the moment a new edition dropped, were mass market books.

Mass market paperbacks were primarily positioned as portable, even disposable, low cost and even lowbrow as they were significantly the realm of bestsellers, mystery, romance, Louis L’Amour Westerns and movie novelizations. Designed for consumption, boy, were they consumed! Dozens of publishers specializing in the format — Ballantine, Bantam and Signet among them — filled the demand. A book getting a mass market edition following a hardcover run became a badge of honor and a route to an almost eternal presence where books were sold.

Things have changed. Increasingly, many books released in hardcover that fail to meet particular sales thresholds are never seeing a paperback release. These shifts in distribution and format have much larger effects than we might initially recognize.

While the physical format of a mass market paperback was designed for disposability, copies remain remarkably enduring. As a college and then graduate student, the mass market format, particularly used, was my strong preference because of both its low cost and its extreme portability. I still have the row of paperbacks from my “history of the novel” class where I acquired 12 of the titles I needed — “Vanity Fair,” “Tristram Shandy,” et al. — as mass market copies in a New Orleans used bookstore for the grand total of $28.

Yes, over time, the pages dry out and take on the texture of vellum and the glue on the books’ spines gives in. I have a copy of “Portnoy’s Complaint” held together with a rubber band because very few of the pages remain secure, but I cannot let go of the underlines and the notes I made in the margins.

It may take some time, but like the rebirth of vinyl in recent years, someday I think we will see the return of the mass market paperback as an object of interest and utility.

They’re simply too good to be gone forever.

John Warner is the author of books including “More Than Words: How to Think About Writing in the Age of AI.” You can find him at biblioracle.com.

Book recommendations from the Biblioracle

John Warner tells you what to read based on the last five books you’ve read.

1. “Memorial Days” by Geraldine Brooks
2. “107 Days” by Kamala Harris
3. “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind” by Yuval Noah Harari
4. “The Satanic Verses” by Salman Rushdie
5. “Playground” by Richard Powers

— Jennifer P., Chicago

Since Jennifer doesn’t seem to mind some fantastical events in her fiction, I’m recommending “Exit West” by Mohsin Hamid.

1. “Life After Life” by Kate Atkinson
2. “The Searcher” by Tana French
3. “Down Cemetery Road” by Mick Herron
4. “The God of the Woods” by Liz Moore
5. “We Solve Murders” by Richard Osman

— Blaze T., Homewood

Lots of “smart” mysteries in here. I’m going to lean in there and recommend the smart and funny “Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone” by Benjamin Stevenson.

1. “Hamnet” by Maggie O’Farrell
2. “Demon Copperhead” by Barbara Kingsolver
3. “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy
4. “My Friends” by Fredrik Backman
5. “Atmosphere” by Taylor Jenkins Reid

— Jill M., Urbana

I’m hoping that Jill has not yet read Sally Rooney because I think it’s a great fit. I’ll go with her most recent, “Intermezzo.”

Get a reading from the Biblioracle

Send a list of the last five books you’ve read and your hometown to biblioracle@gmail.com.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/27/biblioracle-mass-market-paperbacks/ 

Chicago’s mayors have been the subject of Tribune editorials for pretty much this newspaper’s entire 178-year history. But few of the city’s chief executives have made as many appearances on the editorial pages in a single year as has Mayor Brandon Johnson, whose 2025 was filled with conflict, ending with a grand December debacle at the City Council over the city’s budget.

As part of our annual year in review, here’s a revealing look back at 2025 editorials featuring Johnson.

Jan. 8.  The editorial board laments Johnson lobbying state lawmakers to not take action against unregulated purveyors of potent hemp products.

In a statement Tuesday, Johnson said he wanted to balance “concerns related to minor consumption” with supporting “entrepreneurs and municipalities” and that he was in favor of regulation of some sort. Eventually. Translated, Johnson’s neutral-sounding language really amounted to something along these lines: I’ve got the city of Chicago’s budget to manage, and shutting off one of the few areas of higher taxation available to me takes precedence over all else. Including the health and safety of children. In 2023, five students at Uplift Community High School in Uptown were hospitalized after ingesting gummies from a neighborhood smoke shop. Well over a dozen states have banned delta-8 THC. What are you waiting for, Mr. Mayor? A teenager to die?

Jan. 24. The board wonders if Mayor Johnson would join Chicago Teachers Union members on a picket line, should the union strike.

The prospect of the former CTU organizer taking the side of striking teachers even as he holds the office of mayor of Chicago isn’t unimaginable. Given what we’ve seen from him to date — multiple appointed school boards trying at Johnson’s behest (and failing) to force Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez to cave to the union, the hiring of a high-priced, taxpayer-funded law firm to try (and fail) to force Martinez out of his job immediately and advocacy for hundreds of millions in new junk-rated CPS debt at nosebleed interest rates — it’s the logical next step.

Feb. 9. Mr. Johnson goes to Washington to testify before Congress. The editorial board has some advice.

Johnson’s best defense won’t be to take the bait, or ignore the questions, or yak away on his usual themes of Black liberation theology. Rather, he’d be better advised to remind the panel that Chicagoans of all political stripes take pride in our long history of welcoming and championing law-abiding immigrants. And in our creating the kinds of opportunities that have allowed them to make great successes of themselves.

He could quote that Republican favorite, Mark Twain: “It is hopeless for the occasional visitor to try to keep up with Chicago—she outgrows his prophecies faster than he can make them. She is always a novelty; for she is never the Chicago you saw when you passed through the last time.” Our immigrants have been part of that, he could say. Or he could bring up major league baseball’s William Hulbert: “I’d rather be a lamppost in Chicago than a millionaire in any other city.”  Or even the actor Michael Douglas: “Hollywood is hype, New York is talk, Chicago is work.”

Feb. 28. Mayor Johnson struggles to win approval Wednesday from the City Council to float $830 million in bonds to finance infrastructure work. He casts the tie-breaking vote but the board worries about the consequences.

Hey, Mr. and Ms. Bond Investor, this mayor and council — you know, the ones asking you to invest in the future of Chicago — aren’t willing to pay a nickel during the remainder of their terms to cover any part of what the city will owe you over the next 30 years. But surely some future mayor and aldermen will step up. Worry not.

This isn’t to predict that the mayor’s finance team won’t ultimately find takers for this wheelbarrow full of debt. Most everything that’s for sale can be offloaded at some price.

But we expect investors will demand higher interest rates than Johnson administration officials now anticipate. As it stands, this repayment structure will end up costing taxpayers $2 billion for an $830 million loan.

March 6. The editorial board thinks Johnson did well at the sanctuary cities hearing in Washington.

Mayor Brandon Johnson answers questions before the House Oversight Committee on March 5, 2025, during a hearing on Capitol Hill about sanctuary cities and immigration policy. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

Johnson’s primary job as the Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee attacked him (and fellow Democratic Mayors Eric Adams of New York, Mike Johnston of Denver and Michelle Wu of Boston) was to keep his cool. First, do no harm. In that we believe Chicago’s mayor succeeded, and for that we are glad.

It took self-discipline not to rise to the bait when performative GOP Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina barked at Johnson, “This is why you have a 6% approval rating — because you suck at answering questions,” or when Republican Rep. Brandon Gill of Texas asked Johnson about recent revelations regarding gifts he’d accepted as mayor and declared, “This raises serious ethical concerns.”

April 13. An alderman suggests to the mayor that widespread disdain for Donald Trump will work to Johnson’s advantage. We beg to differ.

Even though President Trump undoubtedly remains as deeply unpopular in Chicago as he was in his first term, that doesn’t mean voters suddenly will change their minds about the shambolic management of this city. There certainly remain progressives in Chicago who back Johnson’s leftist aims. And there’s also a sizable minority in Chicago who are Trump supporters, which some forget. In between is the vast center-left and center-right that currently isn’t represented by either. Aldermen (and state lawmakers) increasingly are figuring that out.

How about you, Mr. Mayor?

April 23. The mayor announces a budget working group to come up with ideas. We have some ideas of how to do this. The mayor does not listen.

Mayor Brandon Johnson speaks with chief of staff Cristina Pacione-Zayas in an elevator between meetings with lawmakers April 30, 2025, at the Illinois Capitol building in Springfield. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

Forming a working group of representatives from all the affected constituencies is a reasonable strategy for building consensus. But it won’t work without far more assurance from the mayor than we got on Monday that this effort isn’t all about forcing residents and businesses to pay more without rethinking the services the city provides and how it provides them.

Equally as important, the working group’s membership must include people who aren’t part of Johnson’s usual circle — particularly when it comes to the business community. Johnson routinely turns to two or three businesspeople who’ve been supporters when he claims Chicago’s “business community” writ large backs some mayoral initiative.

The truth, of course, is that the business community in Chicago generally believes the administration’s policies are stifling growth in the city. Many to whom we speak simply are counting the days until the next mayoral election and seeking to muddle through until then. In addition to ensuring this group includes Johnson skeptics (outright critics would be even better), the mayor must be clearer about what options are on the table.

May 7: Mayor Johnson wants it both ways when it comes to migrant busing.

Not long ago, when busloads of migrants were arriving in Chicago from Texas, Mayor Brandon Johnson denounced the move as “evil.”

Fast forward to 2025, and Johnson is now touting population growth as a sign of his administration’s success — growth made possible by the very migrant arrivals he once condemned.

It can’t be both, Mayor Johnson. Was the mass busing of migrants from Texas an unconscionable humanitarian disaster, as you once claimed — or a population boost worth celebrating? It can’t be both. This kind of rhetorical whiplash doesn’t sit right. We remember how forcefully Johnson denounced the busing in 2023. And we remember it so well because we wrote several times that we agreed with him.

June 7: Mayor Johnson turns to taxing groceries. We think it an odd match for his progressive ideals.

A shopper exits the Jewel-Osco supermarket at 550 N. State St. in Chicago on June 3, 2025. Mayor Brandon Johnson had been pushing aldermen to add a city grocery tax in Chicago. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)

Mayor Brandon Johnson has positioned himself as a champion of working families and the poor. But his messaging is getting complicated as it collides with the city’s difficult fiscal reality.  “You all know my position. The ultra-rich continue to get away with not having to put more skin in the game,” he said at a Tuesday news conference.

But at the same time, Johnson is pushing for a grocery tax that will disproportionately hurt families at the checkout line as they try to put food on the table. His administration is taking an obfuscational messaging approach to explain its position. Johnson insists this isn’t a new tax — it’s merely a local continuation of a state tax being phased out. But for struggling families, the semantics won’t matter. Higher grocery prices are higher grocery prices.

July 31. Mayor Johnson offers multiple ideas for scaring businesses out of Chicago.

As a matter of public policy, the city ought to be in the business of encouraging the private sector to employ more people, not giving businesses more reasons to reduce their head count.

In 2025, the issue is starker than it was more than a decade ago. With the rise in artificial intelligence, companies nationwide already are laying off workers who are performing functions corporate leaders believe AI can do instead. If Johnson truly wants to jump-start AI-induced white-collar employment losses in Chicago, there are few more effective ways than bringing back the head tax.

Oct. 13. At a public event, Mayor Johnson is strikingly honest about being a socialist and says the quiet part out loud about CTU. We appreciate that. 

Mayor Brandon Johnson greets Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, at an event Oct. 9, 2025, at Funston Elementary School in Logan Square. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

We’re all for Johnson being candid. Might as well be honest. But it hardly gives us hope that Johnson might moderate his socialist views in favor of the pro-growth agenda Chicago so badly needs to raise its hopes or merely to broaden his perspective as mayor. This matters now, of course, because the mayor’s self-definition isn’t about the past — it’s a declaration of how Chicago is being run today: not by consensus, but by a single, ideologically driven machine.

We hope for better.

Oct. 31. Mayor Johnson claims a victory in gun legislation. Editorial board says his taking credit is fully deserved.

Johnson administration lawyers seem to have contributed to making Chicago’s streets a little safer in the future. “We know that Glock switches have been used in the vast majority of mass shootings in our city,” Johnson said in a release. “They have taken far too many lives and caused tremendous pain and suffering in our communities.”

We’ve criticized this mayor on many occasions, but credit is due here. It’s difficult to make much overall progress when seizing illegal Glocks with switches, as Chicago police have been doing in concert with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, when new ones can so easily take their place.

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/27/2025-year-review-mayor-brandon-johnson-editorial/ 

Light is on the way: That’s the message of the celebrations we hold in the dark of winter. Plants already know.

Whether it’s a bare elm or oak standing gray and stark against the sky, a pine or fir still cloaked in green or merely a skein of roots curled in the soil beneath a blanket of snow or fallen leaves, every plant is preparing for spring.

“The signs are there, even if they’re hard to see,” said Sharon Yiesla, plant knowledge specialist in the Plant Clinic at The Morton Arboretum in Lisle. “Our trees and other plants have been living through cold winters for millions of years, and they have developed a lot of ways to handle it.”

Leaves and flowers are so last year. Since they fell to the ground in autumn, they have already begun to decay and become part of the soil. Meanwhile, most trees and shrubs already have buds for the new year’s blooms and leaves. As the days grow longer and springtime approaches, those buds will begin to swell.

Beneath the soil, the daffodil and tulip bulbs planted in fall already contain leaves and flowers, packaged neatly with a food supply, waiting for their cue to unfurl.

Perennial plants abandoned their stems and leaves and retreated to their roots last autumn so they could shelter from winter’s blasts beneath the soil. Like bare trees, they’re dormant, snoozing, waiting for the biological alarm clock to go off. Other plants simply turn things over to a new generation, waiting out the winter safely inside a seed.

Evergreens are slightly less sleepy. They’ve slowed down, but they’re not entirely dormant. Their leaves — often thin and needle-like, to present as little surface area as possible to the drying winter wind — are still green, full of chlorophyll. “On a day that’s not too cold, they may even undertake a little photosynthesis,” Yiesla said, turning energy from thin winter sunlight into food.

These plants’ midwinter green is what has made them sacred to many cultures as a symbol of fertility, a reminder that even in cold, dark times, life goes on and spring will come. The signal that means spring is different for every kind of plant and is usually a combination of factors. One is the lengthening of days (or, actually, the shortening of nights), which ticks reliably as a clock. Another is the warming of the soil, which is far more variable and less reliable.

Longer days generally mean more sunlight to warm the soil. Ideally, the soil would warm up just enough to signal plants to sprout at the perfect moment, when the danger of frost is past and the days are long enough to give them the energy they need to grow.

Chicago weather laughs at such notions. It can bring a frost in May or a 65-degree day in January, far too early for most plants to safely sprout. Plants whose roots are safe under an insulating layer of mulch, the puffer coat of the garden, are less likely to be tricked into sprouting too soon.

Some kinds of plants, such as most fruit trees, spring bulbs and native perennials, actually need the cold. They have a chilling requirement, a certain period of time that their roots or seeds must spend in cold soil before they know it’s spring. “They’re counting down the cold days,” Yiesla said. “If the winter is too warm, they may not meet the requirement.”

It’s hard to grasp this after a bitter cold spell, but warm winters are becoming more common. Chicago weather is getting more volatile as the global climate changes. Even native plants may not be ready for what it brings every year.

Still, most plants will cope. “They’ve had a long time to figure it out and develop a margin for error,” she said. “Every year, the plants that can handle it will. We just have to have faith.”

For tree and plant advice, see the online resources of The Morton Arboretum at mortonarb.org/plant-care, or submit your questions online at mortonarb.org/plant-clinic or by email to plantclinic@mortonarb.org. Beth Botts is a staff writer at the Arboretum.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/27/plants-are-looking-for-the-light/ 

Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on Dec. 27, according to the Tribune’s archives.

Is an important event missing from this date? Email us.

Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago)

High temperature: 61 degrees (2008)
Low temperature: Minus 10 degrees (1950)
Precipitation: 1.74 inches (2008)
Snowfall: 10.1 inches (1894)

1929: The Chicago Bears introduced Ralph Jones, of Lake Forest Academy, as their coach.

From George Halas to Ben Johnson: What was said about every Chicago Bears coach when they were hired

“We believe our hope for development of a winning team would be increased if we could turn the squad over to a professional coach,” Bears co-owner George Halas said. “Neither Ed (Sternaman) nor I had time to coach the Bears. Last season, the worst since we entered professional football with the old Staleys, the coaching responsibility was divided between us and Ralph Scott. As a result our offense was ragged and by midseason the team had lost its morale.”

Jones had a 24-10-7 (.706) record during the 1930-32 seasons.

Soldiers carry Sewell Avery, chairman of the board of Montgomery Ward & Co., out of the building on April 27, 1944, after he was removed from his own office by the army on instructions of Atty. Gen. Biddle. Avery had defied the department of commerce when it tried to take over the huge plant. (Fred Giese/Chicago Tribune)

1944: Eight months after Sewell Avery, chairman of Montgomery Ward & Co., refused to renew a union contract on orders of the War Labor Board — and the feds moved in, literally, and moved Avery out — President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered another seizure of the company.

The National Guard has been activated to Chicago 18 times from 1877-2021. Here’s a breakdown.

The company fought the government takeover, saying its goods were not related to the war effort, but it lost its battle in the courts.

Avery didn’t get his company back till 1945. Then, fearing a postwar depression, he refused to expand along with his competitors, and Wards hopelessly lost ground.

One survivor of a North Central Airlines plane that crashed into a hangar and exploded at O’Hare International Airport on Dec. 27, 1968, told the Tribune how he escaped from the aircraft. “I popped open the emergency window, said ‘Let’s get out of here,’ and jumped,'” said U.S. Air Force Sgt. Carl Tessmer. (Chicago Tribune)

1968: Buffeted by wingtip turbulence from a jet that had just taken off, a North Central Airlines Convair 580 lost control while taking off and hit a hangar at O’Hare. Twenty-eight died and 27 others were injured, including several people on the ground.

Vintage Chicago Tribune: Plane crashes that stunned our city

This crash and others prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to require a greater interval between jet aircraft on takeoff and landing.

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https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/27/chicago-history-december-27/ 

Today is Saturday, Dec. 27, the 361st day of 2025. There are four days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Dec. 27, 1932, New York City’s Radio City Music Hall opened to the public.

Also on this date:

In 1831, naturalist Charles Darwin set out on a round-the-world voyage from Plymouth, England, aboard the HMS Beagle.

In 1904, James Barrie’s play “Peter Pan: The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up” opened at the Duke of York’s Theatre in London.

In 1945, the International Monetary Fund was formally established as its first 29 member countries ratified its Articles of Agreement; the IMF began operations in 1947.

In 1968, the Apollo 8 capsule splashed down safely in the Pacific, completing the first crewed mission to orbit the moon.

In 1979, Soviet forces seized control of Afghanistan. President Hafizullah Amin was overthrown and executed and was replaced by Babrak Karmal.

In 1985, American naturalist and conservationist Dian Fossey, 53, who had studied mountain gorillas in Africa for nearly 20 years, was found murdered in her cabin in Rwanda. No one was arrested for the crime.

In 2007, former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in a shooting and bomb attack that killed at least 20 people in the city of Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

In 2022, Adam Fox, co-leader of a plot to kidnap Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, was sentenced to 16 years in prison after being convicted of conspiracy charges. Barry Croft Jr. would be sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison in the plot.

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In 2022, state and military police were sent to keep people off Buffalo’s snow-choked roads after western New York’s deadliest storm in at least two generations; more than 30 people were reported to have died in the region.

Today’s Birthdays: Basketball Hall of Fame coach Nolan Richardson is 84. Rock musician Mick Jones (Foreigner) is 81. Actor Gérard Depardieu is 77. Rock musician David Knopfler (Dire Straits) is 73. Basketball Hall of Fame coach Bill Self is 63. TV journalist Savannah Guthrie is 54. Actor Masi Oka is 51. Actor Aaron Stanford is 49. Actor Jay Ellis is 44. Olympic sprint gold medalist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is 39. Rock singer Hayley Williams (Paramore) is 37. Country singer Shay Mooney (Dan + Shay) is 34. Actor Timothée Chalamet is 30. NFL quarterback Brock Purdy is 26.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/27/today-in-history-radio-city-music-hall-opens/ 

Dear Eric: About 14 years ago our son was seriously dating a woman whom both my wife and I really adored. We both thought she would be a great wife and daughter-in-law.

She became the daughter we always wanted to have.

Then the unspeakable happened. She cheated on him. They broke up, yet remained friends, but she claimed she had adopted us as her parents. She was estranged from her father and rarely spoke with her mother. She would come and visit us on her own.

My son was sort of OK with this and she still came to family dinners, events, even when my son brought a new girlfriend along. Then she moved far away for work, but we kept in touch all the time over the phone and internet.

Then my son got engaged to a wonderful woman, whom we dearly love. But when he found out we were still in close contact with the other woman, he had a raging fit, and all but demanded we drop her.

Now we are so torn apart. After a 14-year relationship, do we just drop this woman who became a part of our lives? It was pretty much only us in her life.

What do we do?

– Second Parents

Dear Parents: The first thing you should do may be the hardest: talk to your son and ask him his honest opinion about the last 14 years. This blow-up didn’t come out of nowhere. You write that he was “sort of OK,” for instance. This raises big questions. How much hurt has he been sitting on all this time? Has he tried talking about this before? What is sort of OK?

Give him space to voice his feelings, acknowledge them, apologize if and when appropriate and then talk about what happens next.

It’s not really fair for him to dictate whom you can and can’t befriend, but he does have a painful past with this person, so more caution and a clearer boundary is going to be necessary.

All of it starts with clearing the air with your son. Simply dropping his ex isn’t going to solve his problem, and it’s only going to cause you and her more pain. But this adopted parent relationship was constructed on a shaky foundation, so you’ll have to dig down before you can build up.

Dear Eric: A beloved member of my close friend group has joined a drum troupe that plays at events through the city. She always group-texts her besties and tells us where she will be and when and urges us to come.

I understand showing up for my creative friends when they are in plays (or write plays!) or play in bands (even mediocre ’70s rock covers). I make the effort to be there to support.

We all showed up when they played at No Kings Day. I thought I fulfilled my obligation, but no. She continues to ask us to come to more of the shows. I am happy for her that she has found something that brings her joy, but it doesn’t bring us joy. Standing around watching a drum troupe doesn’t appeal to any of us. None of us want to hurt her feelings. I feel extra guilty because she has come to a bunch of my storytelling gigs. How should we handle this?

– Super Trouper

Dear Trouper: I don’t think the group should address it at all. There’s no way that it wouldn’t hurt to hear one’s close friends say, en masse, that they don’t want to come to anymore of one’s performances. And there’s no harm in your friend’s enthusiasm. If it needs to be addressed, it should be done individually.

Two big questions here: what is your expectation of yourself with regard to showing up for friends’ events and what is your friend’s expectation of her friends? If, for instance, she’s inviting you because she thinks you’ll enjoy it, there’s a different expectation than if she’s inviting you because it helps her to have a friendly face. Basically, are you there to be a member of the audience or are you there to be her friend?

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Similarly, what do you expect of yourself? Even with the text invites, you’re actually under no obligation to do something you don’t enjoy. There are probably other ways that your friendship flourishes. And if she presses the issue with you, then you can say that you’re happy for her but you’re not the best audience. It might hurt for her to hear that her offering isn’t landing for you the way she wants it to. But this conversation is an opportunity for you to reaffirm that you support her pursuits and remind her that the reason she got into this is because it brings her, and many others, joy.

(Send questions to R. Eric Thomas at eric@askingeric.com or P.O. Box 22474, Philadelphia, PA 19110. Follow him on Instagram and sign up for his weekly newsletter at rericthomas.com.)

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/27/asking-eric-friend-urges-us-to-see-her-play-in-drum-troupe/ 

Photos from the Chicago Bulls’ 109-102 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday, Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center.

Bulls center Nikola Vučević (9) and forward Matas Buzelis poke guard Coby White, left, while he was being interviewed after their 109-102 win against the 76ers on Friday, Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)
76ers guard Tyrese Maxey (0) and Bulls guard Ayo Dosunmu collide in the fourth quarter Friday, Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center. Dosunmu was called for a foul on the play. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)

76ers guard Quentin Grimes (5) scores past Bulls forward Jalen Smith in the first quarter Friday, Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)
76ers guard Vj Edgecombe (77) shoots over Bulls guard Tre Jones in the fourth quarter Friday, Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)
76ers forward Adem Bona, right, goes up for a dunk against Bulls forward Jalen Smith in the fourth quarter Friday, Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)

Bulls coach Billy Donovan points for his players to move in the second quarter against the 76ers on Friday, Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls guard Ayo Dosunmu makes a 3-pointer in the third quarter against the 76ers on Friday, Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)
Chicago Bulls center Nikola Vučević (9) drives the lane against Philadelphia 76ers forward Adem Bona (30) in the fourth quarter, Friday, Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center in Chicago. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)

Bulls guard Tre Jones (30) tries to pass the ball in the second quarter against the 76ers on Friday, Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)
76ers forward Adem Bona (30) reaches for the ball in front of Bulls guard Coby White in the fourth quarter Friday, Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)
76ers center Joel Embiid (21) shoots over the Bulls’ Zach Collins in the third quarter Friday, Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)

76ers center Andre Drummond, left, shoots and misses over Bulls center Nikola Vučević in the second quarter Friday, Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls guard Josh Giddey, center, and 76ers forward Jabari Walker wrestle for possession in the second quarter Friday, Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)
76ers forward Paul George (8) shoots and misses over Bulls center Nikola Vučević in the first quarter Friday, Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)

Bulls guard Josh Giddey (3) drives the lane in the second quarter against the 76ers on Friday, Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls forward Matas Buzelis (14) tries to steal the ball from 76ers forward Dominick Barlow in the fourth quarter Friday, Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls guard Josh Giddey (3) goes up for a layup in the second quarter against the 76ers on Friday, Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)

76ers guard Tyrese Maxey (0) shoots against the Bulls in the first quarter Friday, Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)
The Bulls’ Jalen Smith (25) fouls 76ers forward Adem Bona while Bona went up for a dunk in the third quarter Friday, Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls guard Tre Jones, left, scores on a layup in the fourth quarter against the 76ers on Friday, Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)

Fans dance to music between the third and fourth quarters during a Bulls-76ers game Friday, Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)
Fans cheer for Chicago Bulls forwardJalen Smith (25) as he walks off the court after winning against the Philadelphia 76ers, Friday, Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center in Chicago. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls guard Josh Giddey (3) and 76ers guard Jared McCain collide in the second quarter Friday, Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)

Bulls forward Jalen Smith (25) hits 76ers guard Quentin Grimes in the face while Grimes went up for a layup in the first quarter Friday, Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)
76ers guard Vj Edgecombe (77) passes the ball while falling as Bulls center Nikola Vučević (9) and guard Ayo Dosunmu defend in the second quarter Friday, Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls guard Josh Giddey (3) goes up for a layup in the fourth quarter against the 76ers on Friday, Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)

A fan cheers to get on the big screen in the third quarter during a Bulls-76ers game Friday, Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)
76ers forward Paul George (8) shoots over the Bulls’ Zach Collins in the third quarter Friday, Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls center Nikola Vučević dunks the ball in the second quarter against the 76ers on Friday, Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)

76ers forward Paul George (8) goes up for a layup in the fourth quarter against the Bulls on Friday, Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls guard Dalen Terry hugs Benny the Bull during warmups before game against the 76ers on Friday, Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls guard Tre Jones (30) loses control of the ball in the fourth quarter against the 76ers on Friday, Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)

Bulls center Zach Collins makes a layup in the first quarter against the 76ers on Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls guard Tre Jones makes a layup in the first quarter against the 76ers on Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls guard Coby White makes a layup in the second quarter against the 76ers on Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)

Bulls forward Matas Buzelis (14) blocks Philadelphia 76ers guard Vj Edgecombe’s layup in the second quarter Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls guard Coby White (0) and 76ers guard Vj Edgecombe battle for a loose ball in the second quarter Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls forward Matas Buzelis (14) and guard Josh Giddey slap hands in the second quarter during a game against the 76ers on Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)

Bulls forward Matas Buzelis makes a layup in the first quarter against the 76ers on Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls guard/forward Kevin Huerter makes a layup in the first quarter against the 76ers on Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)
Bulls guard/forward Kevin Huerter (13) tries to block a shot from 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey’s in the first quarter Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/26/photos-chicago-bulls-vs-philadelphia-76ers/ 

9 Signs That Leaders All Over The Globe Have Come Down With A Really Bad Case Of “War Fever”

Tyler Durden
Fri, 12/26/2025 – 23:30

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/9-signs-leaders-all-over-globe-have-come-down-really-bad-case-war-fever 

Eight Killed, Many Wounded, After Sunni Jihadists Bomb Alawite Mosque In Central Syria

Tyler Durden
Fri, 12/26/2025 – 23:00

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/eight-killed-many-wounded-after-sunni-jihadists-bomb-alawite-mosque-central-syria