Huntley aims to open new retail incubators in time for 2025 holiday season

Huntley is planning to open its new business incubator shops in time for the 2025 holiday retail season.

The Shops on Main incubator is expected to kick off with a winter market starting Nov. 1 and stay open through Dec. 21. Stores will reopen May 1, 2026, and stay open through Dec. 20, 2026, for the main season.

Leases then would run from early May to the December holiday season moving forward, Melissa Stocker, Huntley’s development manager, told the village board Thursday.

The Hackett House near the Main Street/Route 47 intersection in downtown Huntley is the home base for the shops. Naturally McHenry County currently is based in the Hackett House but is moving to the Old Courthouse in Woodstock.

In Huntley, four shops and public restrooms will be located inside the Hackett House, while five shops will be located outside, Stocker said.

Construction will start this spring and wrap up this fall, Stocker said.

Once opened, stores will need to operate from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday through Sunday. They generally aren’t allowed to be open outside of those hours, but guidelines stipulate the businesses will need to operate during community events, including the Tuesday Concerts on the Square during the summer months and the Huntley Hootenanny Glow 5K in September.

Proprietors will pay $2,500 for the lease for the first season and also are required to pay a refundable $500 security deposit. Applicants will be on the hook for a $100 nonrefundable application fee, intended to demonstrate serious interest in the program, Stocker said.

Interested retailers also need to submit a business plan that should include current sales and expense information and projected sales and expense information based on running a space in the incubator.

The program strives to give a boost to local businesses and perhaps connect them with a permanent storefront in town, Stocker said.

Entrepreneurs also will have access to business education, networking opportunities and marketing help as part of the program.

“This initiative aims to support local businesses and enhance the downtown experience for residents,” Stocker said.

Each year, the village board will go through and decide which vendors will have a space that season; existing retailers will get the chance to reapply.

Stocker said village officials are not stipulating a maximum number of seasons a business can stay in the shop at this point, noting that other communities have found success allowing retailers to stay in the incubator for two years to gain momentum before moving to a brick-and-mortar storefront.

Trustee Ric Zydorowicz raised concerns over having too many of the same businesses in the incubator. He said trying to limit competition might be the boost small businesses need.

Village President Tim Hoeft said in the real world, CVS and Walgreens often like to be right next to each other.

“Competition is not a bad thing,” Hoeft said, adding “we need variety.”

On Thursday, the village board approved some guidelines for the program.

Businesses must be a local, independently owned retailer. Home businesses, online businesses or existing enterprises from other communities looking to test out Huntley are eligible for the program. Food preparation will not be allowed at the stores. Vendors also have to report all sales made in Huntley.

Huntley is the third town in McHenry County to have an incubator program, following McHenry and Woodstock. Huntley’s setup combines the two other cities’ approaches. Woodstock’s incubator is inside the Old Courthouse, while McHenry’s small Riverwalk Shoppes downtown house the incubator retailers.

Huntley’s incubator project received a $975,000 grant from the office of U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood, who represented much of McHenry County before redistricting.

The grant money must be spent by the year’s end, according to village records.