Mayor Rahm Emanuel showed up in blue jeans, navy sport coat and a light-blue open collar dress shirt Friday for the opening of SPINS LLC’s new corporate headquarters in Chicago.
The casual look has become more and more common for Emanuel, who frequently ditches the necktie and wears blue jeans on Friday.
The mayor was asked whether it was “jeans day.” That’s a joking reference to Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown’s much-ridiculed and now abandoned practice of charging employees for the privilege of wearing blue jeans to work.
“I am wearing blue jeans today because this is my 20th or 30th high-tech announcement,” the mayor said.
“I was tired of coming to these events dressed like Charles [Thomas, ABC-7 reporter] and being the [odd] guy out. Nobody seemed to appreciate wearing a suit and tie. So, I’m not doing it anymore.”
Asked whether he was ditching neckties and suits forever, Emanuel said, “That’s a commitment I’m not ready to make.”
SPINS bills itself as a “leading information and service provider for the natural and specialty products industry.”
The company moved its corporate headquarters from Schaumburg to Chicago, relocating 150 employees with plans to add more than 100 new jobs over the next two years.
The new headquarters, which coincides with the company’s 20-year anniversary, is located in 22,000 square feet of space on two floors at 222 W. Hubbard.
