Chicago Quirk's Favorite Things: Merz Apothecary

Before there was GNC or CVS there was Merz Apothecary. Nestled in the absolutely adorable Lincoln Square (a very underrated neighborhood), this is one of my favorite places for my all natural beauty needs.



Image via The Scoop

 I've been visiting this store for 10 years now, and I'm endlessly baffled by all of the stuff they sell: soaps, teas, lotions, homeopathic cures, candles, baby items, aromatherapy, vitamins, all from around the world. My husband isn't one for speacialty products, but he buys the snootiest shaving stuff from Merz. (It got him to start shaving everyday so I'm very happy.) I think it's so much fun just to sift through all of the different items they have.

Photo Via Second City Style

Photo Via Second City Style

Did you know that Merzs Apothecary has been around for 136 years! It was founded in 1875 by Peter Merz, a Swiss pharmacists who opened his store in German Town. (Now called Lincoln Square.) An apothecary is actually a modern day pharmacists, minus the hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of education. They answered all of your questions about which medicines to take and how to cure what ails you. The store became extremely popular with its European neighbors, and it remained a family business until 1972 when it was purchased by a Pakistani pharmacists, Abdul Qaiym.

Qaiyum, who heard about Merz from his German in-laws, kept the 'days of yore' atmosphere of the business and expanded to include even more natural products and remedies. Even though it has a new Lincoln Square location, Merz still has the turn-of-the-century European feel of the original store. (Hand-carved wood, tin ceilings, the works.) Even if you don't plan on buying something - and you definitely will - the store itself is gorgeous and worth visiting.

And even if you don't visit the store itself, you can stop by the mini store in the Palmer House Hilton. It used to be located in the State Street Macy's - it's been there since the Marshall Field days - but they moved to the Palmer House last November. I'm not sure why, but the company press release said its because they wanted to partner with another historical Chicago business. (Did you know the Palmer House opened in 1871?!)

Have you ever been to Merz Apothecary?

Your Neighborhood's History

I feel like I'm perpetually apartment/house hunting even though I have absolutely no need (money) to move. For the most part I don't trust any sort of apartment hunting service, but I'm a fan of Domu. I check out the site and follow them on Twitter, but I recently found a bonus on their website; a Chicago History Maps page that points out landmarks and historical sites in every neighborhood.

As much as I love my neighborhood, East Lakeview, I figured not too much history took place here. But I looked it up and found some great tidbits:

The Jamba Juice at the corner of Clark and Diversey was actually a jazz club called The Rendez-Vous Cafe. Famous jazz musicians played here and Louis Armstrong even recorded records in the back room.

The L&L Tavern at Clark and Belmont, a place so divey that even I haven't gone in, was one Jeffrey Dahmer's favorite bars and John Wayne Gacy once stopped by in full clown costume. Is it sick that this place is now at the top of my list?

Apparently Jack's on Halsted used to be the Helmand restaurant, a restaurant owned by Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai in the 1990s.

Check out your neighborhood. Find anything interesting?

By the way, this is my current dream home.