SunBerry market coming to Wheeling shopping center

A suburban chain of food markets is set to expand to Wheeling early next year.

SunBerry Orchard Farm Market will occupy a long-vacant storefront at 548B W. Dundee Road, in Lynn Plaza. Prominent tenants in the shopping center include the Carnicerias Jimenez supermarket and Mark Drug Medical Supply.

A large sign advertising SunBerry’s pending arrival hangs in a front window.

SunBerry is based at a 30-acre farm and orchard in Woodstock. SunBerry orchards and markets already operate there and in Lake Zurich, Mundelein and Skokie.

The markets cater to customers seeking Eastern European products, particularly items from Ukraine.

In addition to basic groceries, the Wheeling shop will have a butcher, a deli and a bakery, Becker wrote.

The 7,300-square-foot space has been unused for more than a decade, Wheeling Economic Development Director Len Becker said in a memo. It previously had been a succession of restaurants.

SunBerry began leasing space in Lynn Plaza in October 2024 and initially planned to open this year, Becker said, but the project was delayed.

A March 2026 debut now is anticipated.

The company expects to spend $400,000 to renovate the space.

To offset some of those expenses, the village board on Monday unanimously approved a $50,000 grant for SunBerry. The money will come from Wheeling’s Restaurant, Entertainment & Retail Build-Out program, which reimburses business or property owners for up to half the cost of a renovation or improvement project.

Grants of up to $225,000 are available. They’re limited to commercial buildings within Wheeling’s tax increment financing districts, which use property tax revenue to raise money for public improvements.

Before Monday’s vote, Wheeling Trustee Mary Papantos said she was excited about the project.

“It’s certainly something different,” she said.