The Bears fired coach Matt Eberflus on Friday, marking the first time the franchise has ever dismissed a coach during a season.

The big picture: Eberflus left a trail of historic futilities after his three dismal seasons attempting to lead the team through a rebuild.

By the numbers: Under Eberflus, the Bears were 14-32, good for a .304 winning percentage and the third-worst record in the franchise's 105-year history.

• Eberflus holds the record for the longest losing streak in franchise history (14 games).
• He was 5-19 in one-score games, good for the worst in NFL history.

The latest: The Bears have accrued several last-minute losses this season, leading fans and analysts to accuse Eberflus of making terrible decisions down the stretch.

• On Thanksgiving, the Bears had a chance to beat the Lions late in the game but did not call a timeout to stop the clock, which ran out before they could attempt a field goal.

In other words: Epic fail.

Reality check: The expectation for the third year of the rebuild was a playoff appearance, so the team's 4-8 showing so far is a major disappointment for both Eberflus and Bears general manager Ryan Poles.

Zoom out: Shield your eyes, Bears fans. Since the team fired Lovie Smith in 2012, their record is 75-116, and they've only appeared in two playoff games.

• Fans may not be looking forward to an exhaustive head coaching search when the last four hires were Marc Trestman, John Fox, Matt Nagy and Eberflus.

Yes, but: This new hire will be the first under team president Kevin Warren, who was hired in 2023.

Between the lines: The Bears are reportedly looking for a strong leader, regardless of their offensive or defensive specialty.

• Potential head coach names include Detroit offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, Washington offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury and former Tennessee head coach Mike Vrabel.

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The Chicago area's retail landscape is improving with fewer vacant spots as new construction slows in the city and the suburban market pops.

The big picture: Retail vacancy is declining and hit a six-year low in mid-2024, commercial real estate firm Marcus and Millichap reported.

• There's growth in the big suburbs like Naperville, Schaumburg and Aurora, but also more openings at the Oakbrook Center and Old Orchard.

Dig in: Some new openings, announcements and relocations in the region:

Silver Room Design Lab: The Chicago institution that's part store, part art gallery, part events space has expanded beyond its Hyde Park location to a new spot at 900 North Michigan Shops.

• Owner Eric Williams is known for selling the work of great local designers and curating the store to feature one-of-a-kind, Chicago-centric gifts.
• Take a peek at the new location.

🛋️ Not your Dad's old recliner: La-Z Boy has built out the brand with a new store in Lincoln Park, with designs that fall under new themes like "Urban Modern," "La-Z-Girl," and "Gamer."

📚 Passages Wine and Books is coming along with its new store in West Town. The book side is up and running, but the owner is awaiting licensing for the wine sales.

• A little west in Ukrainian Village, longtime gift shop Komoda moved to a new spot at 2448 W. Chicago Ave.

🧶 The Dropped Stitch yarn store opened mid-November in Andersonville. The owner used some of her winnings from "Jeopardy!" to help fund the store, Block Club reported.

More openings

The high cost of homeownership has made single-family rental homes a hot commodity among would-be buyers.

The big picture: The lifestyle of renting is attractive, too. Roughly 19% of single-family home renters plan to continue doing so for the foreseeable future, according to a Point2Homes survey of 1,509 U.S. respondents from July 31 to Aug. 31st.

Zoom in: In the Midwest, garages, patios/decks and parking are among the amenities included most often in listing descriptions for single-family home rentals.

• As opposed to out West, where the three top amenities are patios/decks, yards and pools.

The bottom line: Landlords are using specific amenities trying to win over their next tenants, Point2Homes communications strategist Sabina Boboc says.

🚨 The city's overnight winter parking ban is now in effect until April 1, prohibiting parking on 107 miles of streets between 3-7am. Vehicles parked during that time will be towed. (Sun-Times)

🚔 Illinois State Police seized over a thousand pounds of cocaine during a traffic stop on I-80. (Fox 32)

🏆 Bulls star Zach LaVine now holds the franchise record for most 3-pointers, surpassing former guard Kirk Hinrich. (Tribune)

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How does award-winning Chicago crime writer Tracy Clark unwind after a day of writing about murder and mystery?

Reality check: It's not rom-coms.

The big picture: Tracy Clark is the author of the Cass Raines "Chicago Mystery" series about an ex-cop turned private investigator, and the "Detective Harriet Foster" series about a homicide detective.

• Clark's stories are based in her hometown, where she still lives in South Shore. They feature smart, Black women navigating the male-dominated world of crime fighting.

The latest: Her latest book "Echo," out tomorrow, follows a murder on a Chicago college campus that has striking similarities to an unsolved crime at the school decades earlier.

• Clark will talk about the book Thursday at 7pm at the Book Cellar in Lincoln Square.

What they're saying: "Every writer has their niche, mine is crime and murder (cue ominous voice here)," Clark tells Axios.

• "Not so strangely, when I read, watch television, or go to a movie, I prefer my entertainment be accompanied by a healthy dose of fictional homicide, and murder most foul can never be foul enough for me."

Dig in: We asked Clark when she's not writing whodunnit crime novels, what she watches and reads.

Read Clark's mystery recommendations