Where to find moderately priced souvenirs for friends & family in Chicago?

I'll be staying at Hotel Monaco for a couple a days and want to pick up some nice souvenirs for my friends and family. Not really sure what I want to get them yet. I'm very open to suggestions of places to look. I have a feeling there are better places than the overpriced museums to find neat items.

Where to find moderately priced souvenirs for friends %26amp; family in Chicago?
Go to the Chicago Cultural Center located directly across the street from Millenium Park. There's a small shop inside that sells "authentic" Chicago stuff, not just a bunch of crappy T-shirts or sweatshirts that just say "Chicago" on them, which are churned out by the millions. This story has cool real Chicago items that are either used by Chicagoans or are authentic parts of the city. There are authentic Chicago police and fire department t-shirt, pins made out of the old bus and train tokens, books about specific neighborhoods in the city, things made only in Chicago (like Frango mints), or things that are made by people who live in the city. It's not the usually tourist souvenier crap like a shot glass with a picture of the Sears Tower. These are REAL Chicago things.





Or you can go to local stores on a street like Belmont and Clark. The shops there don't sell stuff with "Chicago" plastered on them, but they all sell stuff that is unique, and the fact that it actually COMES from Chicago should be good enough. For instance, there is a shop on west Belmont called Uncle Fun which sells weird old toys, books, etc. (http://www.unclefunchicago.com/). The place is a Chicago institution.
Reply:Believe it or not, some dollar stores sell souvenirs. You might wanna try Jewel Osco, its a large chain of grocery stores and they have a little souvenirs cart, it might be cheaper than the vendor.
Reply:Go to the official City of Chicago store for a great selection of the usual things plus surplus and out of use objects. Go online:





http://www.chicagostore.com/browse.cfm/2...





or at the shop in the Cultural Center...78 East Washington Street
Reply:Go to Walgreen's they have all that stuff, tshirts, mugs sears tower statuettes, also shot glasses etc
Reply:Frago mint from Marshall Field or


There is a Hershey Store close to the water tower


You can also buy frozen Dish Dish Pizza, so your friends can Java a taste of Chicago!
Reply:If you walk into any local Chicagoland Walgreen's, you will see that they have a section at the store where they sell all kind of souvenirs from the city at moderate prices.





They have tee-shirts, tequila shot glasses, snow globes, etc., every souvenir with the word CHICAGO emblazoned on them





Good luck and have fun!