Introducing Small Business Patch

The newly launched site offers tips, info and digital know-how for small business owners.

SkinnySweet Frozen Yogurt: Local Business Spotlight

SkinnySweet opened it's doors last year and offers self-serve frozen yogurt.

Name: Marianne Cielak Company: SkinnySweet Frozen Yogurt Title: Owner Location: Glen Ellyn Founded: 2012 We were traveling on the west and came across a similar establishment. Always in search of healthy alternatives for ourselves and three children, we fell in love with frozen yogurt and the self-serve concept. We knew we wanted to develop our own concept and brand and that was how we came up with SkinnySweet, a family-owned, small business. This is our only store, we are not a chain. Glen Ellyn is great community that has tons of families and kids. We felt this type of community would love to have a healthy alternative to treat themselves too and have a lot of fun while doing it. There wasn't anything like our concept in Glen Ellyn and …

•  3 Comments
• Photos (1)

Local Business Shout Out: Elite Eyewear

Elite Eyewear opened in downtown Glen Ellyn in the fall of 2012.

Name: Andy Hortatsos Company name: Elite Eyewear Title: Owner Location: Glen Ellyn Founded: Fall 2012 Andy Hortatsos has been in the optical business for more than 15 years, serving as the exclusive importer, distributor and online retailer of Vuarnet sunglasses and owning and operating several other eyewear oriented websites. In fall of 2012 he decided to expand his business into retail and opened Elite Eyewear in downtown Glen Ellyn. The Hortatsos family are long time residents of Glen Ellyn and have a love for the small, close-knit community. They chose downtown Glen Ellyn because of its charm and its need for a specialty sunglass retailer in the area. Elite Eyewear offers one of the widest selections of name brand sunglasses, goggles, …

•  1 Comment
• Photos (4)

Local Business Shout Out: Glen Ellyn Youth and Family Counseling Services

The Glen Ellyn Youth and Family Counseling Service was founded in 1981. No one who seeks services with the counseling service is ever turned away for inability to pay.

Name: Don Hane Company Name: Glen Ellyn Youth and Family Counseling Service Title: Director/Lead Therapist Location: Glen Ellyn Founded: 1981 The Glen Ellyn Youth Services Bureau was incorporated October 17,1981 under the direction and at the initiative of a group of local, community minded citizens who formed the original GEYFCS Board of Directors. The name was changed to the Glen Ellyn Youth and Family Counseling Service, October 14, 1981 per an amendment to the Articles of Incorporation. While non-affilliated our office has been located at the First Congreagational Church of Glen Ellyn since approximately 1978. The provision of our service, past and present, is possible because of a local, active volunteer Board of Directors, who …

• Photos (1)

Do You Want Your Business Featured on Patch?

We'll give a "shout out" to local small businesses who fill out the form below and upload a picture or logo in our gallery.

Please be sure to submit your responses above before attempting to upload a photo of your business by clicking the "Add Photos and Video" button attached to this article. If you didn't see a submit button and click SUBMIT your form will not be sent. Make sure to scroll down and complete the form.

•  6 Comments
• Photos (40)

Holiday Gift Guide: Marcel's Culinary Experience

Still looking for that perfect gift? No worries. Patch has you covered.

Are you still searching for a gift to give the cook in the family? Head on over to Marcel's Culinary Experience in downtown Glen Ellyn. Longtime Glen Ellyn resident Jill Foucre recently opened her specialty store that offers cooking classes, fine cookware and specialty foods. In this video Foucre shows us some gift ideas for the chef in your home. 

• Videos (1)

Holiday Gift Guide: Jeans & A Cute Top Shop

Still looking for that perfect gift? No worries. Patch has you covered.

You still have time to find a gift for the lady in your life. Today, Patch heads to Jeans & A Cute Top Shop in downtown Wheaton. Jill Card shows us the store's most popular items that would make for a great gift. Card gives us a rundown of numerous gift ideas that range in prices. Check out the video to see what's hot in her store. 

• Videos (1)

Holiday Gift Guide: Paper House

Paper House has a few ideas for last minute gifts.

Paper House, 124 Hale Street in Wheaton sells everything from cards and scented candles to coveted collectibles. It's the perfect place to shop when you have a long list of hostess gifts, stocking stuffers and simple greetings to find.

• Videos (1)

After the Election, Local Businesses Take a Wait-And-See Attitude

Local business owners hope the re-election of the president has at least provided consumers with the certainty they need to start spending again, while the "fiscal cliff" leaves the future economy in doubt.

The election is now decided but the “fiscal cliff” is looming.  And, that has some local business owners taking a wait-and-see attitude toward the future of the economy.  The cliff could mean impending tax increases and government spending cuts, if the President and Congress don’t come to a resolution once the Bush-era tax cuts expire at the end of the year. As a result, some local business owners remain cautious about what the next few months might mean for business.  Local entrepreneur Shaun Emerson, founder of Project Boost, said he thinks it is still too early to know what the election results will mean for business, but he believes that politics will come into play. “I think there are some things definitely clearer, the repeal of the …

•  5 Comments
• Photos (1)

Indies Only

Doug Herwaldt: A Knack for Business, a Love of Shoes

Doug Herwaldt has owned Paul's Shoe Service for 31 years. The business is in the process of celebrating its 60th anniversary.

Reminiscing about the days when as a tot he spent time in his father’s shoe repair shop, Paul’s Shoe Service, Doug Herwaldt remembers it wasn’t unusual for his dad to send him up the street to pick up lunch or run small errands. Times were different then. It’s not hard to imagine the downtown Glen Ellyn of old, where as a four-year-old Herwaldt ran errands. Herwaldt grew up at the shoe repair shop and started working there in the seventh grade.  As if out of the movie, It’s a Wonderful Life, Herwaldt faced a twist of fate when during his senior year in high school his father died of a heart attack. The next year, while Herwaldt was studying at the College of DuPage, his mother became ill and died. Herwaldt and his brothers had taken on the…

•  1 Comment
• Photos (2)