Why I Oughta...

That's me and little Lizzie posing in front of the sign that reads: Ned's Corner from the movie Groundhog Day that filmed in Woodstock, Illinois.  Earlier this week,  I posted about how I picked up a jar of Glas club Cheese at the Woodstock Farmer's Market and while we were in town , we walked the square and *had to* stop at the corner that Ned Ryerson made famous in the movie.  You remember the scene, right? If you look closely, you'll see a 'for rent' sign in the storefront.  You'd think that someone with the right sense of humor and right approach to business could somehow capitalize on the whole Ned Ryerson/Groundhog day thing, right?  I guess the whole implosion of retail isn't going to make things easy on main street, but with the right mix of businesses, I would think that a place like Stars Hollow errrrr Woodstock - with their town square and all the charm that comes with it, can survive in some way, right? For the rest of the weekend...

If you walk past Hartmann Jewelers on the east side of York Street - just across the tracks - in the Elmhurst City Centre, you'll see this:  papered up windows.  And a little note that says that they're closed.  The note says that if you left a piece with them, they'll be in touch to get it to you. There were once three jewelry stores in the City Centre.  There's Cottage Hill Diamonds (still there!), plus this place Hartmann and one other.  Can you remember? Well, it wasn't so much a jewelry shop as it was a pawn shop.  Yep, for a sad period of time, we had a "GoldMax" on the west side of York Street in the City Centre.  This was back in 2012 . We've been in Hartmann a few times, but it was ONLY ever on the downtown Trick-or-Treat days when the kids wandered in there to pick up a lollipop or Tootsie Roll.  Oh well, I guess part of why they're closing is the community didn't support them. There was once three.  Now there's just o...

It has been almost a full year since the Elmhurst Olive Oil Company closed it's doors in the spot just north of the York Threatre in the Elmhurst City Centre.  But, if you walk past the store today, you'll see these new signs hanging up in the window that herald a new beginning:  The Gaming Goat store is coming to the City Centre. Going back in the archives, I have this post from January of 2011 when this location hosted a recently-closed business called "Let's Have a Party" .  Remember that? But, what *is* the Gaming Goat?  I can't get to their site for some reason, but the Oak Park Store has a Facebook page and from the looks of things this isn't a video game store.  It is more of a Settlers of Catan-type of store.  Or Magic The Gathering-type of store.  Board and dice games.  The Geeks shall inherit the City Centre, it seems. I am assuming that they're going to hustle to get the store open before the holiday shopping season and I'm g...

All the way back in February, I posted some photos of Polay's moving out of the northwest corner of 1st and York right across the tracks in the Elmhurst City Centre.  Then last summer, the contractors at Meeder Industries moved up the block to be on the other side of the York Threatre.  And then that weird nail salon with the odd fountain setup closed up shop.  And nothing went in the stores. There's been rumors of a Rosebud Restaurant was going to go into all four locations (the old Polay's, the Just for Kids store, Meeder and the weird nail salon). But, then I spotted these plans on the windows of the stores.  It calls for some exterior changes to make the building have a more cohesive look - which is great.  And it looks like the landlord is taking it from four small spots into two larger ones. This is the second major construction project that is taking place on the west side of York in the City Center ( the other being the condo project going up ...

Spotted this "moving sale" sign hanging in the window of Salt Creek Pottery on North York Street in Elmhurst.  Salt Creek Pottery is (currently) located on York Street just north of where the Palmer underpass re-joins York by the Starbucks in the City Centre.  It is one of the very few businesses on the east side of the street between City Hall and the newish Yoga place on the northeast corner of Palmer and York.  The white-brick building is full of vacant store fronts and likely suffers from a lack of street-parking access that would encourage a lot more drive-up/walk-ins. Anyone know where they're moving?  Another location in the City Centre?

There's this weird glass-walled board room in the back of Elmhurst's Cocomera.  What's the story?  The  store is HUGE and this was just a way to make a little private space?  I don't understand why they built it.

Last week as we were walking around Downtown Elmhurst, we spotted a 'opening soon' sign on a new boutique located at 132 N. Addison called " Rouse ".  They're opening up in the space that was at one time a wedding gown boutique.  It is a really neat building (which you can see more of in the photo below) with a big parking lot right south of the store.  That's good news for these new boutique owners.  Not to mention the proposed development right across the street from them that, if built, will bring even more retail, office and parking to the City Center. Based on the signs, me thinks they're going to focus on women and compete with the likes of Enzee.  The one twist appears to be the fact that they're going to offer 'workshops' of some sort.  I'm rooting for them to open soon and to - more importantly for Elmhurst - succeed in a big way!