The writing was literally on the wall last month at Caribou Coffee's York Road and North Avenue location. Before shutting its doors Oct. 27, some customers expressed their sadness by writing about their fond memories of the past five years. The closing was a shock to many. “All the regulars who I talked to every morning are really sad about it,” said Kaitlyn Brebner, shift supervisor. “A lot of us are really sad. Everyone who works here is close-knit. We hang outside of work and we talk all the time. We all get along very well.” The Minneapolis-based company closed its Elmhurst location …

The popular saying, “When one door closes, another door opens,” is literally true as businesses come and go in a stubbornly depressed economy. Bob James Magic Shop, at 131 W. First St., closed in 2010. This year, Silvia Maino takes over that spot with a European, full-service floral and gift shop. Topiary Floral Designs opens Dec. 1. Maino, an Indian Head Park resident, explained how Topiary’s roots lie in Europe. “Centuries ago, when Europeans started gardening, they didn’t have much land and they did topiary landscape designs,” Maino said. They would grow their trees against walls and hand …

Patch is inaugurating a new series called "Dispatches: The Changing American Dream." National media is full of stories of dreary unemployment statistics and sluggish economic recovery, or no recovery at all. And, there are stories about how American families, businesses and neighbors are adjusting to these trying times. So many changes are happening so fast that it's dizzying. National debates about unemployment, foreclosures, debt, religion, government and private enterprise all are tethered to one common concept: the American Dream, and how it's been appropriated, adapted and transformed by…