Indie Shops Land on Chicago's Gold Coast For even the hardiest shopper, browsing through the name-brand luxury goods in the glossy Gold Coast stores in downtown Chicago can elicit a been-there-bought-that ennui. Recently, though, several homegrown stores with a more indie aesthetic have taken root in the district, providing rare finds and little-known labels. Even though some of these new shops are high-end outposts of stores that got started in scruffier parts of the city, all of them have helped lend a neighborhood feel to a shopping mecca that had previously lacked it. Left: Independence, which sells men's clothing.