Suburban businesses offering liquor seeking classy, cozy atmosphere
A Batavia jewelry store, Brown's Chicken in West Dundee and Wheeling's only funeral home may not have much in common, but one factor unites them, and other suburban businesses.
They all serve, or are hoping to start offering, alcohol to their customers.
Wheeling's Kolssak Funeral Home surprised the local business community in December when it became the first funeral home in the area to offer alcoholic beverages as part of its services.
The funeral home is one of a growing number of nontraditional businesses trying to attract customers with a comfortable setting, where having a glass of wine with your girlfriends while jewelry shopping, or being able to raise a toast to a departed loved one, adds a celebratory element.
Adult painting studios, coffee shops and a fitness center also are among the nontraditional holders of liquor licenses - usually for wine and beer only.
Jon Kolssak, owner and funeral director, said he's gotten interest from families even though the bar is yet to be installed, and he promises the funeral home will handle the addition of alcohol out in a “very classy and dignified manner.”
He said the business was responding to a market where more people burying a loved one are looking for “life celebrations” over the traditional wake and funeral.
The funeral home's beer, wine and cocktail packages - which also must include food, as per village ordinance - range from $650 to $1,300 for a set number of drinks, tips included. Once the allotted number - 100 drinks for up to 50 people and 200 for 75 to 100 people - runs out, attendees can purchase additional drinks for $5. The family hosting the event, however, can cut anyone off, in which case Kolssak's will refuse them service.
Ten Friends Salon CEO Cathleen Stoelting said patrons can have a glass of wine along with their shampoos and blow-dries at locations in
Deer Park, Hinsdale and Glenview.
“It's a place to have women gather and laugh and talk and relax, so we offer a glass of wine to add to the experience,” she said. “From a hospitality standpoint, we just want to pamper them.”
Stoelting said the salons stock craft beers, but most customers opt for one of the 10 varieties of wine, served in crystal stemware.
“Everyone has a glass of something,” she said. “It's just that warm cozy feeling here that you get when you're visiting a friend's house.”
Customer Jean Heraty agreed. “What more could a girl want than a glass of wine while being pampered in such a fun place?” she said.
Batavia's K. Hollis Jewelers began serving patrons wine and beer in 2015.
Owner Rob Hollis said about 10 percent of his customers in the evening or on weekends opt for a drink while browsing - mostly couples and girlfriends shopping together.
Over imbibing is not an issue. “Anybody who's looking to go out drinking, this is not where they're going to go,” Hollis said.
Hollis said having a liquor license also has made it easier to hold fundraising events for charities, which used to have to approach the city for a one-time license. He uses money from wine and beer sales to cover the cost of paying employees to work the events and doesn't charge the organizations to use the space.
Obtaining the license was a bit of a challenge as the business didn't fit into any of Batavia's existing liquor classifications. “So we worked with the mayor and the chief of police to create a new class,” Hollis said.
Groups that monitor alcohol consumption in the U.S. are keeping an eye on nontraditional sales, but aren't sounding the alarm.
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Director George Koob said while easy access to alcohol is a concern, “I really don't see a funeral home becoming a source of binge drinking.”
Rita Kreslin, executive director of the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists, said many municipalities have started to make liquor licenses available to nontraditional businesses because it helps them keep a handle on where alcohol is being served. Some businesses, like hair salons, have been offering complimentary glasses of wine or champagne for years without a license, she said.
Business owners don't always realize that generosity has liability, she added.
In Illinois, any establishment serving alcohol is required to have a liquor license, and businesses are required to charge for it. Licensing helps guarantee that rules are followed and employees are properly trained. “Being safe should always be the goal,” Kreslin said.
The Illinois Liquor Commission last year issued 36,642 licenses. That's up 40 percent from 10 years earlier, but it's hard to tell how much of it is due to nontraditional businesses holding licenses. The increase is “most likely attributable to the increase in video gaming establishments ... as well as the increase in special event/special use permits, winery shippers, Class I & II brewers and craft distillers,” spokesman Terry Horstman said in an email. The state had 3,253 video gaming establishments in December 2013, compared to none a decade ago.
Nonetheless, even some Starbucks stores are getting in on the trend. The one at the Streets in Woodfield was among the first in Illinois to launch “Starbucks Evenings,” designed to boost nighttime business by offering beer and wine along with lattes and frappuccinos. Locations in Buffalo Grove, Algonquin and Hoffman Estates are among others that have since added the evening program.
Also growing in popularity are wine and paint evenings. Places like
Bottle and Bottega in Arlington Heights and Glen Ellyn invite patrons to bring their own bottles to drink while they are given painting lessons.
And patrons have been able to drink at the Glass Court Swim and Fitness Club in Lombard since it opened in 1977 as a racket club, later adding swimming pools, basketball courts and an indoor track. President Dan Jaskier said the bar makes it unique among DuPage County health clubs.
“Sometimes they want to have a nice cold one when they're done playing,” Jaskier said. “They'll come in and buy their opponent a beer.”