Lake Forest Draws in More New Businesses

Despite the fluctuating economy and many businesses struggling or going under, Lake Forest has seen a reawakening, of sorts, with new businesses moving in and others planning to open.

Why Lake Forest? What many business owners say is they like the sense of community they find here.

For Lake Forest resident Megan Stockton, helping establish a business co-op at and a background in graphic design gave her the idea to branch out into business herself.

She decided that there's no other place she wanted to do that but at home. Her eclectic store, Gifted, 840 S. Waukegan Road, Suite 111, celebrates its one-year anniversary this month and has a staff of nine.

"It's the town I grew up in and it's where we all live, my kids go to school here," she said. "I wanted to support local, too."

Besides offering a mix of Fair Trade goods, Stockton, who "always loved the crafts side of things," offers unique locally made products and nicer gifts priced under $15.

"I do a lot of custom stuff, like custom jewelry," she said. "Our big seller is custom-monogrammed candles. Being local, the tax dollars stay in the community. I found a lot of people were interested in fair price goods; a lot are made locally."

The sense of community drew Caribou Coffee, 620 N. Western Ave., too.

"We're big on community, and Lake Forest being a tightknit community, was attractive to us," said manager Tom Skowron of Caribou Coffee, which opened Nov. 7. The store, part of a chain with more than 60 locations across the state, has 15 types of coffee, free WiFi, and a menu with breakfast and lunch sandwiches.

Another part of the success may be due to the city's interest in keeping the business community vibrant by seeking resident input, identifying community needs and helping business owners get the word out.

"The city council put in place a coordinated effort working with property owners, residents and business owners to basically identify what types of businesses Lake Forest needs, and what would complement their businesses and draw foot traffic," said economic development coordinator Susan Kelsey, who began in the new independent contractor position four years ago. "They saw the economy was starting to change and needed to be proactive. The city's perspective is that our job is to diversify the tax revenue" base.

Whether it was launching a new farmers' market last year or holding special community events in Market Square, such as visits with Santa from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Saturday in December, or bringing in Santa's reindeer on Dec. 10, the idea is to have businesses and residents connect.

It must be working, since Kelsey said the city has added 22 new businesses in the last few years, and has had an average 6 percent to 7 percent store vacancy rate, based on square-footage.

"It looks like we have some vacant windows, but historically, it has been lower than any other community," she said. "Highland Park was reporting an 11 to 12 percent vacancy."

Some of the new businesses recently opened or opening soon include:

• UB Nail, 709 Forest Ave.

• Lake Geneva Pie Company, 297 E. Illinois Road

• Jos. A. Bank, 240 E. Deerpath

• Caribou Coffee, 620 N. Western Ave.

• Megan Winter Design, 675 Forest Ave.

• Douglas Vacuum & Allergy Relief store, 825 S. Waukegan

• Grand Cru Wine Merchants, 840 S. Waukegan

• @ properties, 600 N. Western

The location also made it an easy choice for Jennifer Klemke to open the new Lake Geneva Pie Company outlet on Nov. 16. "We have a lot of people who come to Lake Geneva for our pies," she said.

When the space became available, Klemke said it seemed a perfect place to offer a variety of fresh-baked pies and cookies made from scratch at their Lake Geneva bakery.

"We had always kind of talked about opening another one," she said. "A lot of people know about us already and it seems to be a close town. A lot of people like that homemade, family kind of thing."

Kelsey said the city continues to develop programs as part of its goal to attract new businesses and promote local shopping. Recently launched is a new smartphone app promoting Lake Forest businesses called "Live, Work, Play Lake Forest."

It is available in the app store for Android, iPhone and Blackberry. Read more about it at http://cityoflakeforest.com/cs/ocm/cs_ocm2e.htm.

New promotional events being planned so far for 2012 include a Girls' Weekend event and a women's bike race.