Glen Ellyn businesses offering more 'survival kits' after initial success
How's this for a day in quarantine? Catch up on some spring yardwork, write a note to an old friend, keep your mind sharp with a puzzle game and then indulge in some Dutch chocolate.
Anyone who snaps up the latest edition of a Glen Ellyn "survival kit" can spend the time in isolation with those healthy distractions.
After the first round of kits sold out in just a day and a half of preorders last month, the Glen Ellyn Chamber of Commerce is putting together more totes of self-care essentials and accoutrements. Online sales for the new survival kits start today.
"We did it on a very quick turnaround time," chamber Executive Director Dawn Smith said ahead of the initial effort. "The businesses were very excited and happy to be included."
The survival kits support local restaurants and retailers adapting to dine-in closures, curbside pickups and deliveries under a stay-at-home order extended through May 30.
By selling all 100 of the original $100 kits, the chamber was able to redistribute $10,000 back to 10 businesses.
The latest installment promotes different merchandise and some new stores.
Liz Mager, the owner of a downtown chocolate boutique, has again contributed a sweet treat, this time a four-piece box of chocolates from Chocolaterie Stam, named after the family that opened its first chocolate store in the early 1900s in Amsterdam.
"After all, chocolate makes everything better, so stay home, stay safe and eat chocolate," Mager said in a video for the kits.
Marché, a downtown gourmet cheese shop and sister store to Jill Foucré's flagship Marcel's, has provided assorted fruit preserves from local or regional producers such as American Spoon in Michigan and Rare Bird in Oak Park.
The village once more has bundled three yard waste stickers along with hand sanitizer for each kit, an added incentive for doing spring chores around the house.
Other items include a pack of notecards from the Glen Ellyn History Center; an IQ twist game from Learning Express Toys; a face mask from Re:new Project; bourbon honey from Olive 'n Vinnie's; a paint-by-sticker book from The Bookstore of Glen Ellyn; a microwave bowl towel from Shawn Sargent Designs and a choice of one howler beer from Two Hound Red.
The chamber will take preorders for the $100 kits, inclusive of taxes, through its website, glenellynchamber.com, or by phone at (630) 469-0907. Customers will schedule a curbside pickup time at Two Hound Red between noon and 5 p.m. May 14 and 15.