New downtown business opens Cooks looking for special olive oils and vinegars with an infusion of flavor now have a new option in Glen Ellyn. Olive ‘n Vinnie’s Market has opened it’s downtown location. Gary and Karen Evensen, who live in Glen Ellyn, own the shop. This is their third location. The couple have two Olive 'n Vinnie's Market shops in Wisconsin. The announcement that the store was opened was made on the Downtown Glen Ellyn Alliance website Monday. Olive ‘n Vinnie’s allows customers to taste a variety of oils and vinegars from around the world before purchasing. It offers extra-…

Debbi Daniel-Wayman first started shopping at the Ten Thousand Villages Glen Ellyn store 25 years ago. She registered for her wedding at the store, which at the time was known for its baskets, coffee and chocolates. More important than what the store sold, was what it offered to help others earn an honest living and that is what made Daniel-Wayman a supporter first, a volunteer second and the store’s assistant manager today.  Ten Thousand Villages is celebrating its 25th Anniversary in downtown Glen Ellyn and will hold a special event Saturday to celebrate. And, the anniversary celebration …

UPDATED: July 28, 1 p.m. A father and son team is opening a new Jersey Mike’s Subs *Aug. 8 in Glen Ellyn. As part of the sub shops grand opening celebration the Jersey Mike’s will be doing a free sub fundraiser in support of Glenbard South and Glenbard West high school boosters. Bud and Raj Patel own several Jersey Mike’s locations around the western suburbs, including locations in Lombard, Bolingbrook and Oswego. The newest location is at 711 E. Roosevelt Road. During the grand opening, from Aug. 8 - 12, the sub shop will be circulating 20,000 coupons throughout the community, according to …

As a local legend says goodbye to Glen Ellyn by passing her coffee shop onto new owners, Metra commuters can expect more local fare at Next Stop Coffee Shop. Remember Glen Ellyn's bike billboard guy? Craig Yerly and his wife, Joy, recently purchased the coffee shop inside Glen Ellyn's Metra station from longtime owner Dotty Flicek. They know they have some big shoes to fill but they're excited to bring more options and local favorites to commuters during the early morning rush.  Commuters can now nibble on muffins, scones and breakfast bars from Honey and tea from Serene Teaz located in …

A "fast, casual" pizza joint is opening in downtown Wheaton. Bricks Wood Fired Pizza & Café, second to the original store in Lombard, will open in the former Squire Tailor space at 103 Front Street in September. Known for its wood fired brick oven pizzas ($9-$11), Bricks also serves sandwiches baked in the wood fired oven, including a signature Chicken Pesto ($7), soups, salads, some appetizers and desserts. Keep up with Wheaton news by following Wheaton Patch on Facebook, and by signing up for our free daily newsletter. Owner Bill Wilson opened Bricks in 2005 after visiting Sammy's Woodfired…

Ten years ago, two Carleton Avenue families--and best friends--had to say goodbye after many memories of raising children together on the same block. A new job was pulling the Pollock family away from Glen Ellyn to California. Now that the children are grown, the couples are ready to write a new chapter. "On Jan. 15, I got a call from David, 'What do you think if we go ahead and pursue a dream of ours?'" Without a reason to say no, Jim Campbell said yes, which meant his wife, Debbie, would have to quit her job as a school technology aide and Jim would have to leave a corporate job and pack up…

Ann Bridgman is the lady to call when a drab home needs an upgrade and for less. About ten years ago, Bridgman found herself needing a refresher. After working in corporate America, Bridgman developed an interest in home decorating and staging when she was at home with her kids. Looking to channel her creative talents, something not commonly rewarded in her previous field, Bridgman began sprucing up her friends' homes. When one friend offered to pay her for her work it was then that Bridgman realized she was an entrepreneur and started her own company.  It started out slow, a one-hour per …

Harbor Express Café, downtown Wheaton’s one-of-a-kind, quick service coffee shop and breakfast café, has celebrated its one-year anniversary After a year of experimenting ways to make a quick service version of a Wheaton staple for breakfast food, Harbor Express Café has celebrated its one-year anniversary after seeing “serious growth” in recent months, a manager told Patch. Hamco, Inc., the owner of Egg Harbor Café restaurants, opened its first quick service location last year, when a vacancy in the First Trust Bank building in downtown Wheaton presented an opportunity, Ryan McGuire, Harbor …

Most kids are still in school when they reach the age of 21, even fewer own a business by 22. Danny Glover is different than most. He's young, ambitious and owns two businesses, all of which came before the age of 25. While most of his friends were busy partying and attending college, Glover was on the fast-track to chasing down his American dream.  In the summer of 2011, Glover opened the Glen Ellyn location of Skuddlebutts Pizza & Catering, originally of Downers Grove. At age 15 the west suburban native begin bussing tables at the Downers Grove location, the same place where his mom worked …

When Jamie Jones's father passed away last October, she had a garage full of his Armani suits, Hugo Boss pants, Christian Dior neckties, Ralph Lauren shirts and shoes that cost up to $500. She didn't want to give away the expensive, high-end wardrobe, but after multiple consignment shops rejected her items because they had little interest in men's clothes, she thought, "Why not open up a consignment shop just for men?" Jones opened Billy's Closet at 117 Main Street in downtown Wheaton about three weeks ago. With the help of a retail grant from the City of Wheaton, she has been able to …

After recently tying the knot, Craig and Joy Yerly found themselves buried in their cumulative college loan debt. Wanting to get out from under the monthly payments so they could start a family, the two began brainstorming creative ways to curb spending while boosting their income.  After deciding to make some sacrifices a year ago, the two can now say they hacked away a majority of their debt. But the path back to black meant trading in Craig's car for a black and blue mountain bike.  Fortunately for Craig he and his wife live in Carol Stream along the Prairie Path, about a mile from where …

When Dick O’Gorman moved to Wheaton in 1959, his parents attended wakes at the funeral home at 120 Hale Street. More than 50 years later, as O’Gorman celebrates the anniversary of the opening of Ivy, the restaurant he opened at 120 Hale Street three years ago, he wishes his parents were alive to see what’s going on. “I think they’d be amazed to know I was here running a business in the old funeral home,” O’Gorman said. After 30 years of owning Shell gas stations, O’Gorman and his wife, Carole, opened Fox Fire in Geneva, which they sold before opening Ivy with chef Brian Goewey March 2, 2009. …

Tucked away in an alley off Duane Street in downtown Glen Ellyn is the warehouse for an online greeting card business that caters to customers around the globe.  11 years ago, PJ Cardona's close friend asked her to design her son's birthday invitations. As a creative and computer savvy lady, Cardona gladly accepted. Overly pleased with the results, Cardona's friend casually said, 'you could turn this into a business.' That little suggestion planted a seed in Cardona's mind and soon enough her business plan grew and she opened up shop on the World Wide Web, first selling personalized cards …

McChesney & Miller Grocery & Market will reach an impressive milestone this year by staying in business for 150 years. Withstanding many changes, the store owes its success to continuing the family legacy by providing personalized customer service. During this rough economy, many grocery stores are vying for shoppers' dollars. To compete, Glen Ellyn's independent grocer relies on its customer base to come in for its highly-regarded meats and fishes, all while trying to find new ways to attract new clientele. Changing With the Times Rumors have been swirling that the oldest grocer in DuPage …

Tucked away in the retail spaces sitting on the corner of Main Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in Glen Ellyn are fond family memories for Kathryn Hudson. Her mother owned a gift shop on that corner for 15 years prior to opening a lingerie boutique. Hudson spent many hours as a teen, and as an adult, helping her family's stores become successful--it was a labor of love. Her mother sold the lingerie shop in 1999 to retire with her husband and Hudson pursued other interests. One day, Hudson was walking by the old lingerie shop and saw the doors were shuttered. The owners were out of business and …

With an eye for design and a love for adding a colorful punch to resale items, two Glen Ellyn residents are attracting more and more customers of varying financial means to their vintage shop. Buying vintage has become fashionable in this depressed economy, according to Julie Spiller and Jessica Moran, owners of Gather and Collect. The two recently open their own resale shop in downtown Glen Ellyn and have carved out a niche for unique home decor on North Main Street.   “We're not a typical antique store,” Moran said. “ We've thrown in a lot of color. You walk into a lot of antique stores and…

A former Glen Ellyn resident has been walking around in his father's size 9.5 work shoes since 1982. Thanks to Doug Herwaldt's longtime Glen Ellyn business Paul's Shoe Service, Jim Holland's black wing-tip dress shoes, circa 1950, are still fit for use. For 60 years, customers have traveled from all over to visit Paul's Shoe Service in downtown Glen Ellyn for shoe fixes and other services. Some might say Herwaldt comes from a shoe family dynasty.     Doug's grandfather David, who came to the United States from Germany, settled in Maywood and opened his own shoe repair shop. His son, Doug's …

Armed with a keen business sense and out of the box thinking, the late Herb Menke established a solid foundation when he created Five Corners Cleaners, 818 N. Main Street in Glen Ellyn. Lee Turley, Menke’s grandson and the store’s owner, is continuing a family tradition that has taken the cleaners into 52 successful years of existence. The store dry cleans items from everyday clothing to rugs and purses and offers tailoring. This wasn’t Menke's first enterprise. Always an active Glen Ellyn entrepreneur with ideas, Menke created a dog kennel servicing wealthy clients and later a pet service …

Gerardo “Jerry” Hernandez, owner of Ellyn’s Tap & Grill, is familiar with hot spots—ones that lie in his busy kitchen and ones he faced over seas while serving as a Marine. Hernandez almost lost his life during one of his two deployments to Iraq, and he says it's those experiences that have shaped him into a successful restaurant owner here in Glen Ellyn.  Hernandez is no stranger to working in restaurants. From an early age he began working at his family's Mexican restaurants, Los Burritos Tapatios, including the one in Glen Ellyn.  Wanting a different path for himself, Hernandez enlisted as…

Walking into the Busy Bee Barber Shop is like going back to a simpler time. The shop literally buzzes with electric clippers or the rapid snips of scissors and with conversations about the Glenbard West's football team, The Hilltoppers, homecomings and other village happenings. The barbershop has been a fixture in the community since 1922. Located at 417 N. Main St., the shop promotes a hometown community spirit with pictures on the walls of the village’s Little League and T-ball sports teams on its walls to the more than 100-year-old cash register and the hellos, handshakes and walks to the …