Valentine's Day is just around the corner, and you could easily settle for the same old flowers and romantic dinner. It's a winning combination, right? Right, but it may be time to mix things up a bit. Luckily, there are many Chicago startups here to save you from yourself. They've got everything from date ideas to dinner reservations to gift inspiration.
For the food & drink:
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TableSAVVY
A romantic dinner may be all you need, but you should at least try to make a reservation somewhere special. TableSAVVY is a great app to save money (on the sly) and make a convenient reservation at a Chicago Magazine-approved spot. TableSAVVY connects users with unreserved tables at high-end restaurants like Sunda, the Bedford and Roka Akor. For $5, a diner can book the table and receive a 30% discount on their bill — automatically deducted, so no coupons needed.
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Home Chef
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Indulgery
This year Valentine's Day is on a Saturday, so your options really are endless. If you want to get out there and try something new, perhaps showing off your trivia skills or checking out a wine tasting, Indulgery's platform is multi-faceted, allowing users to search for specials, comment on experiences and flip through other interactive features. For example, a user can search using specific criteria like "happy hour + River North + wine." They also offer a custom newsfeed that allows a user to follow favorite establishments for updates and announcements. Indulgery members can also leave reviews, rate experiences and upload photos.
For the gift:
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Resultly
Are you someone who monitors products online like a hawk — just waiting for that pair of shoes to go on sale or for it’s host website to run a 25% off promotion? If you know your significant other has been eying a very nice — but expensive — new watch, Resutly can help. Think of the app as a personal shopper in your pocket. Resultly aggregates products from over 200,000 retailers and boasts over 55 million products. It also brings in top bloggers and fashion-thinkers, known as “Influencers”, to help buyers get inspiration and discover products they'll like. In addition, Resulty has partner stores like Adidas, Ann Taylor and American Apparel - ensuring you get notified when your favorite retailer runs that sale.
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Trunk Club
Need a gift for him? Trunk Club will outfit your man with everything he needs, without having to drag him along to the store. Personal stylists help put together a sample wardrobe based on the your man's likes and dislikes and the clothes and accessories are delivered in a "trunk" right to his door. He can return anything he doesn't like. He'll quickly appreciate how nice it is not to own the same Jcrew shirt as every other one of his buddies.
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PrettyQuick
The local startup's on-demand delivery system has pre-selected items and packages for users to order. They also have a brick and mortar store in Lincoln Park where you can browse lots of locally made goodies like Koval, Chicago Candle Company, Intelligensia and Lillie’s Q. Another plus: they guarantee delivery within one-hour of tapping “Order” in the app.
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Tripnary
For...after:
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Passionly
If you're looking for a little, er, excitement in your night, Passionly might be the app for you. It pairs advice alongside useful mobile-friendly tools inspired by marriage and sex experts. The company even claims that by using it just 4 hours per week, you'll increase the closeness in your relationship.
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Sittercity
SpaceWays introduces the "Ex-Box"