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Lake Barrington strip mall doubles in size, adds wine bar

A previous version of this story erroneously referred to the Pepper Park of Lake Barrington strip mall as the "Shops on Pepper Road." The Shops on Pepper Road is a term that references all of the commercial property on Pepper Road in Lake Barrington.

Work to nearly double the retail area of the Pepper Park of Lake Barrington strip mall is complete and businesses are beginning to move into the new space.

Kathleen Scott, the director of business development for Pepper Park, said three of the five retail spaces in the new building at 22000 N. Pepper Road, just north of Route 14, are being rented, and there has been some interest in the remaining spaces.

"We were in talks with a couple of microbreweries," Scott said. "If Pepper Road had a wine bar and a microbrewery, that would be fantastic."

When the sun goes down

The wine bar Scott referred to is the newly opened Pepper Park After Dark Wine Bar that operates out of the Pepper Park Coffee Shop on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings, after the coffee shop has closed.

Scott, who also is the general manager at Pepper Park Coffee, said her staff transforms the coffee shop into a wine bar by pulling a room-dividing drape in front of the coffee counter, dimming the lights and flipping on blues music.

"We at first were thinking about opening up a stand-alone wine bar but then we thought 'What does a coffee shop do after dark, really?'" Scott said.

The wine bar had its first day of operation last Thursday.

Also coming soon

The other new businesses moving in are Barn Blvd, a home decor store; Salon Ten, a spa; and Health in Motion Physical Therapy.

Scott said another business, RSVP Party Rental, is moving from the original strip mall building into the new space this weekend and should be open at their new location by Monday. Salon Ten and Health in Motion Physical Therapy will likely open on Jan. 1, and Barn Blvd is aiming to open the week before Christmas, she added.

The new retail space makes up around 6,500 square feet of the strip mall's total 14,000 square feet. The mall is the first divisible retail space to come to Lake Barrington since the 1970s.

"The Shops on Pepper Road will help anchor new business development and economic growth for our village by both providing high-end products and services to our residents and drawing people from around the region to our community to experience all that Lake Barrington has to offer," Lake Barrington village President Kevin Richardson said.

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