Wednesday, February 20, 2013
The Calla Lily Cafe off Orchard Road opened in December.
During these winter months there’s nothing like a steaming hot breakfast to start the day off right. And with the opening of Calla Lily Cafe, 1055 Station Drive, a breakfast like that is on the horizon. The breakfast and lunch café opened in mid-December 2012, replacing the previous Flappy’s restaurant, which closed right before Thanksgiving. “It was always our dream to own a restaurant,” said Montgomery resident Dee Lopez, who owns the Calla Lily with her husband, Pedro. Lopez said her family owns many restaurants and bars in California and she had always wanted to try something similar. She previously owned and managed Precious Moments Daycare in Montgomery for 10 years, giving her the business know-how on how to run a restaurant. Calla …
Monday, December 10, 2012
New location at 310 South Fifth Street will open on Tuesday, Dec. 11.
Azza Salon and Day Spa is leaving its Mason Square location. But they aren’t going too far. Owner Lynda Vena said the salon is moving down the road to 310 South Fifth Street, right next to the Petsmart off of Route 34. Vena said they were very sad to leave their Mason Square location, 1152 Douglas Road, of six years due to a foreclosure of the property they were renting. “With that said, we are excited to continue to serve Oswego at the new location,” said Vena. “We are working hard to improve on the high standards we have already set in place,” said Vena. The new location will officially open on Tuesday, Dec. 11.
Friday, December 7, 2012
Jean Reese, owner of BootSweet, created a design to benefit a little Oswego girl and help with Cystic Fibrosis research.
There might not be any snow on the ground yet, but it’s never too soon to start looking for that new pair of go-to boots to warm your feet for the winter season. But more than just warming your feet, one Oswego woman’s business is warming hearts as she works to raise money for a little Oswego girl fighting Cystic Fibrosis. Jean Reese, owner of BootSweet, “bedazzles” boots with hundreds of designs that she hand paints on each pair of boots. Want free local news in your inbox every morning? Sign up for our newsletter. And in honor of almost 2-year-old Makinlee Thomas, Reese has created a design of a purple rose to decorate the boots, for which all profits will go to the Miracles 4 Makinlee for their annual walk for Cystic Fibrosis research …
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Dawn Barr, creator of Iron Star Soap, sells her homemade, organic soaps online and at the Village Grind in Oswego.
Oswego resident Dawn Barr’s house smells delicious. It’s not the smell of fresh baked apple pie, or chocolate chip cookies. It’s not even one discernable scent. It’s the smell of around 20 different flavors of homemade, organic soaps that Barr makes for her small business Iron Star Soap out of her farm home. Barr said she began her hobby when she moved to Oswego about 10 years ago onto the little hobby farm. “We wanted to get goats,” said Barr. She and her family currently have five goats as pets. Their goat quest led them to a woman who made all-natural soaps from her goat’s milk and Barr was very intrigued by the idea. “I found out how she was making it and I’ve been doing it ever since. It’s evolved a lot as a figure what does and doesn…
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
No, there's not a catch. SCORE's experienced mentors will help you take your business to the next level.
When it comes down to it, behind just about every small business is an entrepreneur hoping to turn their passion into a paycheck. But, as many wise business advisers have noted: Hope is not a strategy. Business owners need support to turn dreams into reality. That's why Patch is pleased to announce a new partnership with SCORE, a nonprofit organization with 12,000 business experts nationwide who provide free mentoring to small business owners. The partnership makes sense because we believe that when local commerce grows, the whole community gets stronger. Patch already provides free listings for local businesses and other tools to help build local brands. Whether you're a 10-year-old jewelry designer or a 79-year-old who carves wood knives…
Friday, July 27, 2012
The president's small-business comments upset many people and gave Republican Mitt Romney a point of attack. But Barack Obama said the comments were taken out of context. What do you think? Take the Patch Poll.
President Barack Obama's recent comments about small business created a firestorm that could become a focus of the 2012 election — even as Obama and his supporters say his comments were taken out of context. "Look, if you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own," he said during a July 13 speech in Virginia. "If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help ... If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen." Take the Patch poll below: Who plays the most significant role in creating jobs and economic growth? That's not the entire speech, which you can read on the independent FactCheck.org. According to that post, the comments were taken out of context: "There’s no question …
Monday, November 28, 2011
Christmas tree farms aren't as prevalent as they once were, but there's still a handful of southwest suburban spots where you can pick up the holiday's most popular greenery, beyond just your local grocery and home improvement stores.
WHERE: 1500 83rd St. WHEN: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through Sunday, Dec. 18 PRICE AND OTHER NOTEWORTHY NUMBERS: The farm offers 45,000 spruce and pine trees on a 35-acre property spanning Woodridge, Darien and Downers Grove. Trees cost $60 a piece and saws can be rented for $5; no credit cards accepted. MORE INFO: Read a full story about Ide Christmas Tree Farm on Woodridge Patch, visit the farm's website, or call 630-743-4032 WHERE: 13332 Bell Road WHEN: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily through Christmas Eve, Saturday, Dec. 24 PRICE AND OTHER NOTEWORTHY NUMBERS: Since 2004, the five-acre farm has sold fraser firs starting at $38 in price and ranging from 5- to 12-feet-tall in size. …
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Through Personal Creations by Crystal, people can get personalized children’s play capes, blankets, beach totes, aprons and custom name frames.
Growing up, Crystal White knew the difficulty of having an unusual first name when it came to finding monogrammed items. “I could never find it anywhere,” the Montgomery resident said. These days, through her business Personal Creations by Crystal, she is able to personalize, mostly with embroidery, children’s play capes, blankets, beach totes and aprons for those with even the most unusual names. “There are so many names and you can’t always find your name out there,” White said. She started her business about a year ago. “I just keep growing with more products in my line,” she said. “It’s been going really well.” One of White’s most popular items is her custom name frames. “People know me from them,” she said. “I try to focus on unique …
Friday, November 25, 2011
With Small Business Saturday on the horizon, here's your chance to recommend some great small businesses to Patch readers.
Tomorrow is Small Business Saturday, the annual nationwide celebration of our mom-and-pop stores and local businesses. The idea is to keep your holiday money local—instead of heading to a big box store, where there will no doubt be lines stretching on for miles, head to a local retailer, and pump up the local economy. We here at Patch love the idea of shopping local, so we thought we’d give you an opportunity to recommend some places in town (or in surrounding towns) to get great gifts from small businesses. Leave your suggestions in the comments below. And thanks!
Thursday, November 24, 2011
A brief list of village restaurants serving meals today. If you're looking for a stress-free holiday dinner, here's where to find it.
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Thursday, November 24, 2011
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Just in case you missed this earlier in the week, or the turkey goes horribly wrong today and can’t be saved, here is a list of Montgomery restaurants serving Thanksgiving dinner. If you need them (or just want a stress-free holiday meal), here they are. Elmer's Doghouse ADDRESS: 1250 S. Broadway, Montgomery THANKSGIVING HOURS: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. MORE INFO: Visit Elmer's Doghouse's listing in our directory, or call 630-844-1115 Grandma's Table ADDRESS: 1700 Douglas Road, Montgomery THANKSGIVING HOURS: 5:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. MORE INFO: Visit Grandma's Table's listing in our directory, or call 630-892-1100 River View Diner ADDRESS: 1420 SE River Road, Montgomery THANKSGIVING HOURS: 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. MORE INFO: …
Liz Copeland
8:16 am on Friday, March 8, 2013
I wish them luck but they're going to have to improved before I'll go back. It was about 12:30 on a Sunday and not crowded, and lots of servers; however, the service was painfully slow on all accounts. My bacon was thick and tough, not the way I like it, and they forgot the hash browns on a second order, which caused another delay. The fruit looked good, the eggs were so so, and the pancake was … more ›