Andrew Zavelson, clad in a plaid shirt and blue jeans, stands inside Chicago Vintage Posters, panning over some of the Lower West Side gallery’s colorful designs for his TikTok feed. On the wall hangs everything from an Indiana Jones movie poster to an ad for a Quebec cruise.  “Please stop in today because these posters look so much better in person than they do online, and I think you’ll agree once you come into our gallery,” he says into a phone camera while a “nostalgic waltz” plays in the background.  It was the second video Zavelson, the store’s owner, ever posted to TikTok, and it went viral. More than 208,000 people viewed the August post, and comments such as “this was so endearing” and “This is perfect. I’m about to decorate my first Chicago apartment, you will be seeing me soon” flooded in. The effect of that post was more than just online notoriety, Zavelson said. He soon had more people — especially young people — shopping at his gallery.  The fate of the popular app now hangs in the balance. On Friday, the Supreme Court will hear arguments over a law requiring TikTok to break ties with its Chinese-based parent company, ByteDance, or face a U.S. ban. Creators and small business owners in Chicago who use TikTok, like Zavelson, remain hopeful, but say they’re bracing for the looming ban which could impact their livelihoods.  Sometimes on the weekends, Zavelson said, no one stepped inside the store, which largely operates via e-commerce. After it “hit the algorithm,” 20 to 30 people visited each day. “It was a bit overwhelming, but in a good way,” he said. “I had been saying for the longest time, I want to get younger people into this form of collecting for a number of reasons, and that’s what happened. It really took off.”  For Chicago artist Helena Kim, restoring vintage leather is a lesson in self-care — and in going viral At the heart of the case is whether the law violates the First Amendment with TikTok, and its creator allies argue that it does. The U.S. government, which sees the platform as a national security risk, says it does not. If the government prevails, as it did in a lower court, TikTok says it would shut down its U.S. platform by Jan. 19, leaving creators scrambling to redefine their futures. Working on a tight deadline, the justices also have before them a plea from President-elect Donald Trump, who has dropped his earlier support for a ban, to give him and his new administration time to reach a “political resolution” and avoid deciding the case. It’s unclear if the court will take the Republican president-elect’s views — a highly unusual attempt to influence a case — into account. Katie Kelly has amassed more than 150,000 followers on her TikTok account, @bitsbitesblog, where she shares food and drink recipes and other lifestyle content. The 31-year-old Roscoe Village resident describes her videos as being “a host without outwardly being a host.”  Growing up in a family that spent lots of time in the kitchen with big, traditional Sunday night dinners, she picked up a love of parties and entertaining. Crafting a midnight kiss martini or sharing her 2025 “Champagne goals” is an extension of her personality, Kelly said. Kelly worked at a digital ad agency after college, and saw firsthand how much money companies were pouring into social media advertising. She then started seriously building up her blog about eight years ago, and said she was able to become a full-time content creator two years ago. She said the growth of TikTok during the COVID-19 pandemic and Instagram’s introduction of Reels — a rival that’s also known for short-video content — helped her “exponentially” and “organically” grow her brand and make the switch. Now she said she makes six figures a year, mostly through sponsored posts.   “The more followers you have, the more engagement you have and the more stats you have to show, you can charge these brands more and just continue to make more and more money,” she said.  Kelly said if TikTok were banned, she worries that there would be less opportunity for virality — and the ability to reach new audiences — on other platforms, and it would cut off an income stream. However, she said she’s followed the advice “you can’t build a brand on rented land.” Her social media accounts feed into her website, which she owns, she said.  “Obviously I’ll have to adjust, but I don’t feel like I’m scrambling at the thought of TikTok potentially being banned,” she said, adding that she’ll probably focus more on YouTube Shorts and Facebook if TikTok goes away.  It’s all in the ratios for one couple searching for the best crab rangoons in Chicago TikTok has grown rapidly in the past few years as a key advertising channel for both large and small businesses across the country, according to Anna Tuchman, a marketing professor at Northwestern University. Part of it has to do with the large audience on the platform, she said. About a third of U.S. adults use TikTok, including about 59% of adults under 30, according to the Pew Research Center. It also allows companies to target advertisements to consumers that they believe are the “niche, relevant audience” for a product, sometimes via influencers like Kelly. TikTok estimates that small businesses on TikTok would lose more than $1 billion in revenue in one month if the ban goes into effect.  “Working with an influencer can help ensure that you’re reaching a target market and you’re sort of guaranteed a certain amount of exposure,” Tuchman said. “Another benefit that many firms hope will kick in is the idea of virality, of a post that they sponsor really going viral and getting shared many, many times, and having there be sort of this multiplicative effect of whatever payment they have.”  After TikTok video on faux Coach purse at Humboldt Park vintage store goes viral, store owners fear for their safety Ali Reff, the owner of Alice & Wonder, witnessed the power of a semiviral moment when the boutique opened its fourth store about three months ago on State Street. Customers began posting their experiences at the store’s “hat patch bar,” showing themselves choosing Chicago-themed patches like a Chicago flag or a Bears helmet that employees pressed on to trucker hats.  That store is now the company’s most profitable, Reff said.  “We are seeing people being driven to this new location because of that experience, and … I’ve had so many customers come up to me specifically and say, ‘I found out about you guys on Tiktok,’” Reff said. “For us, it’s like, yes, we create a lot of TikTok content, but I think what people are seeing is other people’s organic content to come into the store.”  The boutique mainly caters to young professionals in Chicago, Reff said, which made TikTok a great platform to get their name out there. One of their most popular posts is zooming in on people wearing Alice & Wonder hats at a Cubs game, for example.   A couple of years ago, Reff said, the boutique’s Instagram account was hacked, and they were locked out of their account for a “very stressful” two weeks. Sales immediately dropped without the ability to share products, she said, and she expects something similar to happen if TikTok is banned.   “When people aren’t connected to your brand, they aren’t hearing from you, they’re hearing from someone else,” she said. “It’s really hard running a small business and trying to keep your name in the ears of your consumer above so many other retail options and choices that people can choose from today.” The Associated Press contributed.  [email protected]