Last weekend, I walked by the site of the new Halsted Street Deli / Rainbow Cone near the Chicago Theater. On the window was a big sign saying “Closed for private event”. The restaurants hadn’t even opened yet, so I figured they were still working on things, and the grand opening would be a few weeks away.

Was I right about that opening date? Not even close. It turns out it was scheduled to open a couple of days after I passed by. Thus, I’m baffled as to why they put up that private event sign. If the restaurant had never opened, why would customers need to know it’s closed? Why not put up a sign advertising the grand opening date instead?

In fact, the restaurants would have been better off without the event sign. That way, customers would just assume it’s not ready yet, rather than wondering how some mystery event impacts the venue’s status. In cases like these, if you don’t have something relevant to tell prospective customers, it’s better to avoid saying anything at all.