I am interested in opening a homebrew supply shop in Evanston IL, or the very northern part of Chicago. Do any of you guys in the area ever find yourself wishing there was a homebrew supply shop close by?
I might stop by since I’m in Evanston every now and then. I live in Oak Park and work in the Loop so I often go to Brew and Grow by Racine and Madison. Good luck.
You might be locating a little close to the competition. Brew & Grow Chicago, 3625 N Kezie Ave, & Brew Camp, 2039 W Belle Plaine Ave, aren’t that far away. I vaguely recall reading once that a population of around a half million is necessary to support one LHBS. You might need to be further north to avoid competition for your half million.
I didn’t know about Brew Camp (must be new?), but when I lived in Chicago my experiences with Brew & Grow were not positive. Add to that that they’re in the middle of nowhere as far as transit goes… Where in Evanston are you planning on putting this thing? As a Loyola alumni who treked to Evanston every weekend (Loyola red → Howard → Purple) you would really need to be within easy easy walking distance of the Purple line, and preferably not further north than Davis. Remember there’s also express yellow line service that could serve people coming from the loop as well.
Let me know if you end up opening the shop, I’ve got a few friends I can send your way.
Phil - Brew Camp is new. Maybe a year or two.
Brew & Grow has expanded and has more locations, but none of them are particularly convenient for me. Never had a bad experience there.
Thanks all, I too am a little concerned about the competition.
I am considering a spot that is close to the Howard St station (where the purple, red and yellow lines meet).
Phil, I will let you know if and when I get this thing open…
I never went to the old B&G downtown, as I heard too many bad things about it. The new store in the West Loop is pretty good, but not convenient.
The south 'burbs are dying for a good LHBS, but that’s probably nowhere near the OP’s home. There’s nothing south of Beverly and as nice as those (unnamed) guys are, I don’t shop with them as they’re always out of stuff.
I might be worried about how close Evanston is to Libertyville. There’s a great homebrew store up there called Perfect Brewing. They’re about a minute off of I-94, and only a few exits up from Evanston/Skokie. That said, if you are closer to the lake and Northwestern, you should have a good basis for customers.
I would think about establishing and/or pairing up with a local homebrew club, and teaching a bunch of the students how to brew on a semi-regular basis if you go with Evanston.
You should give PB a try, regardless. They share space with a local woodworker, and often have carvings and furniture for sale in the same showroom as all the brewing ingredients.
If Howard St is still as ghetto as it was when I was at Loyola, I would be careful expecting students to come out if it’s too much of a walk from the station. I remember though that there’s a Target and a bunch of other stuff west on Howard, that seemed like an OK area.
I live in Glenview and am currently traveling to Libertyville for my supplies, I would love something closer to me but, honestly, Evanston is more difficult to get to, for Libertyville I just pop up 294 and I’m there in about 15-20 minutes. I know there are quite a few of us Home brewers on the Northshore so you might want to think about a little further north…like Glenview! ;D
Hey, I spent the first 8 years of my life in Glenview. We were one golf course away from the Naval Air Station, so fighter jets used to fly so close you hardly even noticed.
It’s cleaned up a bit, Phil. A bit.
I don’t go there, though I did frequent the Howard Bowl back in the day.
the brew and grow in bolingbrook is good
i really like the new chicago brew werks in plainfield.