Four fresh shops for fall in downtown Naperville
Some storefronts in downtown Naperville are getting a fresh look this fall with new shops that include boutiques, a craft gallery and a bakery.
A boutique focused on jewelry, handbags and accessories opened Oct. 10 at 17 W. Jefferson St.
A women's clothing boutique is opening Thursday along Main Street in the new section of Main Street Promenade.
A studio craft gallery now fills a space along a Washington Street alley that formerly housed the NaperBridge teen center.
And the former Sugar Monkey Cupcakes on Chicago Avenue has been re-imagined as Mo's Bake House.
Katie Wood, executive director of the Downtown Naperville Alliance, said the new retailers are setting up shop just in time to hit the holiday gifting season and to give the city's commercial core a boost.
The boutiques, bakery and studio join other recently opened stores including Athleta, Banana Republic, Erehwon Mountain Outfitters and Snap Kitchen.
"We're thrilled with all the new businesses," Wood said. "They're all getting situated for the holidays."
Here's a look at the four newest additions.
Artezenato
Artezenato Studio Craft Gallery emerged from Naperville resident and Japan native Motoko Izumi's passion for the traditional crafts of her homeland and other countries.
The small shop at 231 S. Washington St., tucked back from the streetscape along a brick-lined alley, sells mainly crafts such as teaware, bowls, baskets and weavings produced by artisans Izumi knows in Japan and in Brazil. She became interested in Brazilian culture when she studied Portuguese in college. Some wool, knit and tweed items come from the Scottish heritage as well.
"My goal of the business is to help the artists and craftsman who are doing traditional or heritage crafts so I can educate the people in this area about the arts, history and culture," said Izumi, who moved to the Naperville area 15 years ago when her job transferred her from Tokyo.
The shop is open 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday.
bevello
Featuring "beautiful, effortless everyday style" for women, bevello will open its third Illinois location at 10 a.m. Thursday.
The shop also has locations in Deer Park and Lincoln Park in Chicago.
A grand opening is scheduled for 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 29, to celebrate with a DJ.
Wood said the store offers apparel, accessories, shoes and jewelry.
edie boutique
When Amy DeGrazio of Park Ridge opened edie boutique this May in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, suburban customers who were visiting the lakeside resort town for weekend trips kept asking if she had another location a little closer to home.
So on Oct. 10, DeGrazio opened her second location of the boutique bearing her grandmother's name in downtown Naperville.
"Lake Geneva is a destination," she said. "Naperville is its own destination just by what it offers."
With the combination of shops, restaurants and festivals in the area, DeGrazio said her new location is a perfect one to attract customers to browse jewelry, handbags, scarves, sweaters and other tops produced by the brand she owns, New Prospects, and other lines such as Mystery, Hem & Thread, Ya Los Angeles and Free People.
Mo's Bake House
The small white and blue house on the south side of Chicago Avenue that used to sell Sugar Monkey Cupcakes now is the home of Mo's Bake House.
"It's just an expansion of that business into more bakery items with a new name," Wood said.
Brownies, doughnuts and cakes were tantalizingly displayed one recent afternoon, while the bake house's website says it also specializes in pies and kolaches to break the "Mo-notony" of the same old cookies and treats.