"We wanted to call it Chicago Business, but another guy came out with a paper with a similar name [which was short-lived]," Yahn said.

"[1] Crain's was originally planned to publish every other week, but with the demise of the Chicago Daily News that year, those creating Crain's decided to make it a weekly publication, using the end of the Daily News for marketing purposes and also drawing on editorial talent from the failed paper.

[1] The first newsstand issue of Crain's Chicago Business appeared on Monday, June 5, 1978, a 46-page edition with an exclusive lead story on how the Marshall Field & Co. department store chain was planning further suburban expansion.

[1] To promote the new paper, Rance handed out free issues to commuters at Union Station during the morning rush hour.

The banner story on August 7, with the headline "Sears slashes TV, print ad budgets," stated that cuts could reach the $100 million mark.

"A young Sears public relations man named Wiley Brooks came to see Rance on a job interview," Yahn said.

Brooks told Rance that our earlier article about Sears's ad cuts was true, that he had the proof, and that there was to be a massive reorganization of the company."

Brooks' proof was a voluminous, secret five-year plan referred to informally at Sears as the "Yellow Book."

[1] In more recent years, Crain's has continued to shift with the ever-evolving publishing world, making a push to an integrated print and digital newsroom.

[3][4] Crain's addition of Chicago sports business news, dining reviews, exercise features, and fashion reports also exemplifies how the paper has progressed as it seeks to compete with other city publications.

[10] He then moved to Bloomberg Businessweek, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn's office and later led the investigative team at Chicago's Better Government Association.

In November 2003, the paper hired Jeff Bailey from The Wall Street Journal's Chicago bureau to be the editor of Crain's.

[11] In February 2005, Bailey left Crain's after just 15 months in the job, telling his colleagues that he and the paper's publisher, David Blake, "did not get along well enough to be a team.

On December 12, 2008, Crain's laid off three editorial staffers, including reporter Bob Tita, a copy editor and an art director.

[15] In June 2010, Brandon Copple, who had been managing editor of Crain's since 2005, left to join Groupon in a similar role.

In February 2015, Crain's laid off five editorial staffers, including Washington, D.C. bureau chief Paul Merrion and assistant managing editor for digital Aris Georgiadis and multimedia producer Jeff Hartvigsen.

[24] In December 2016, Crain's longtime editorial cartoonist, Roger Schillerstrom, left the publication after 34 years on staff.

[25] In July 2017, Crain's underwent more job cuts, which resulted in the departure of executive director of digital product development and innovation Robert K.

[31] In 2014, Crain's received the Jesse Neal Award from the Association of Business Information and Media Companies in the best single article category for "Reckless Abandon", an in-depth examination of the real estate collapse in Chicago.

[32] In 2013, Crain's won an EPPY from Editor & Publisher for best business/finance site in the U.S. with fewer than 1 million individual readers a month.

[41] Crain's 40 Under 40 list, which highlights up-and-coming Chicagoans in several fields including technology, advertising and politics, has featured several notable figures, including President Barack Obama (1993), Oprah Winfrey (1989), Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel (1990), Charlie Trotter (1992), Nate Silver (2008) and others.

[citation needed] The 2013 list included rapper Lupe Fiasco, Divergent author Veronica Roth and filmmaker Joe Swanberg.