List of Participating Businesses: Past, Present

Here is a list of participating businesses in the FIRST Shop the Village campaign, which ended on Jan. 31, 2009.

An updated list of businesses participating in the current campaign (Nov. 27-Dec. 24, 2009) will be posted here as soon as possible. Any questions, contact program coordinator Matt Baron at 708-860-1380.

A

***Aiello Art & Jewelry Boutique, 1007 Madison St.
Allure Medica Spa, 137 N. Oak Park Ave., Suite 129
Al-Mart Bedding & Furniture, 7045 North Ave.
***Al's Grill, 1100 Madison St.
Anana's Boutique, 109 N. Oak Park Ave.
Anthony Lullo's Hair Salon, 721 South Blvd.
Antique Emporium on Marion, 125 N. Marion St.
A Matter of Style, 114 N. Marion St.
Art Gecko, Ltd Gallery, 19 Harrison St.

B

Barbara's Bookstore, 1100 Lake St.
***Bar Louie, 1122 W. Lake St.
Bead In Hand, 145 Harrison St.
The Book Table, 1045 Lake St.
Borders, 1114 Lake St.
Botanica, 115 N. Oak Park Ave.
Buzz Café, 905 S. Lombard Ave.


C

Camp Bow Wow, 6046 Roosevelt Rd.
Carriage Flowers, 124 N. Marion St.
***Chipotle, 1128 Lake St.
Class Plus Boutique, 130 Madison St.
***Careful Peach Boutique, 128 Harrison St.
Chameleon, 130 N. Oak Park Ave.
The Competitive Foot, 102 N. Marion St.
***Corus Bank, 7727 Lake St., River Forest
Cosi, 1101 Lake St.
Cucina Paradiso, 814 North Blvd.
***Curves, 7117-A Roosevelt Rd., Berwyn

D

Danche Guitar Co., 906 Madison St.

E

***East Lake Chiropractic, 137 N. Oak Park Ave., Suite 111
Elegant Fashions, 910 Madison St.

F

FASTFRAME, 1120 Chicago Ave.
Filoni, 131 N. Oak Park Ave.
Fitzgerald's Fine Stationery, 131 N. Marion St.
Flat Top Grill, 726 Lake St.
Fly Bird, 719 Lake St.
The Frame House, 1000 Madison St.

G

***Gallery Pink/Elkins Studio, 149 Harrison St.
Garland Flowers, 137 S. Oak Park Ave.
Geppetto's Toy Box, 730 Lake St.
The Golden Lamb, 1110 Westgate
Great Harvest Bread Co., 736 Lake St.
Green Home Experts, 823 S. Oak Park Ave.

H

Hayes' Coffee, 1010 North Blvd.
Holiday Camera, 1053 Lake St.

I

***Intuit Dance Studio, 237 Harrison St.
The Irish Shop, 100 N. Oak Park Ave.
***It's A Sign, 1114 Madison St.

J

Jerusalem Cafe, 1030 Lake St.
The Jewelry Studio, 125 N. Marion St.
***Just One More Gallery & Gifts, 203 Harrison St.


K

K9 Cookie Company, 171 S. Oak Park Ave.
***Kathy Reller Designs, 31 Harrison St., Unit G
Kelley Frame, 115 N. Marion St.

L

La Bella Pasteria, 1103 South Blvd.
Lake Theater, 1022 Lake St.
***Laury's Bakery, 12 W. Madison St.
***Let's Do It Again, 319 Madison St.
Lido's Caffé, 122 N. Marion St.
***Los Cazadores, 1113 Lake St.
Luo's Peking House, 113 N. Marion St.

M

***Magical Minds Studio, 343 Harrison St.
Magic Tree Bookstore, 141 N. Oak Park Ave.
Majamas Boutique, 909 N. Lombard Ave.
Mancini's Pizza & Pasta, 1038 Lake St.
Maple Tree Restaurant, 1034 Lake St.
Marion Street Cheese Market, 100 S. Marion St.
Maya Del Sol, 144 S. Oak Park Ave.
Mixed Company, 1107 Chicago Ave.
***Musikgarten, 344 Harrison St.
Meme's, 1109 Westgate St.
***Morava Glass Studio, 11 Harrison St.

N

Nora's Shoe Shop, 103 N. Oak Park Ave.

O

Oak Park Jewelers, 101 S. Marion St.
Oak Park Visitors Center, 158 Forest Ave.
Olive & Well, 133 N. Oak Park Ave.

P

Pagani Hair, 103 S. Oak Park Ave.
Pamela Penney Textile Arts 130 Harrison St.
Papaspiros Greek Taverna, 733 Lake St.
Paper Source, 1109 Lake St.
Performance Massage Therapy, 6955 North Ave.
Philander's, 1120 Pleasant St.
Pieritz Bros. Office Supplies, 401 South Blvd.
The Printing Store, 621 Madison St.
Prodigy Glassworks, 207 Harrison St.
Pro Nails II, 1036 Lake St.
Pumpkin Moon, 1028 North Blvd.
Puree's Pizza & Pasta, 1023 Lake St.

Q


R

Rave Wines, 1114 Chicago Ave.
Relaxation Plantation, 715 Lake St., Suite 706
Rickshaw Rick's, Oak Park-At-Large
Ridge Art Gallery, 21 Harrison St.

S

***Sahagian & Associates, Inc., 124 Madison St.
Sandra Ross Salon, 339 Harrison St.
Scents N Stuff, 1107 Westgate St.
Scratch 'n Sniff, 120 N. Marion St.
Shirtworks, 127 N. Marion St.
Spike's, 725 Madison St.
Starbucks, 1018 Lake St.
***Studio Light, 27 Harrison St., Unit G
Suburban Pet City, 6632 Roosevelt Rd.
Subway, 1000 Lake St.
Sushi House, 1107 Lake St.

T

TAKARA, 123 N. Marion St.
The Tennis and Fitness Centre, 301 Lake St.
Ten Thousand Villages Oak Park, 121 N. Marion St.
Terra Incognito Studios and Gallery, 246 Chicago Ave.
Trattoria 225, 225 Harrison St.

U

The UPS Store, 159 N. Marion St.

V

Val's Halla Records, 239 Harrison St.
Village Pilates Studio, 436 S. Ridgeland Ave.
The Village Players, 1010 Madison St.

W

Weiner Optical, 1100 Lake St.
Wells St. Popcorn, 1119 W. Lake St.
Westgate Flowers, 841 S. Oak Park Ave.
Winberie's Restaurant, 151 N. Oak Park Ave.
Wonder Works, A Children’s Museum, 6445 North Ave.
World Fashion, 1117 Lake St.

X


Y

Yani's, 818 S. Oak Park Ave.

Z

Meet Mega-Gift Winners Paul and Polly Grimes

Wondering if the top ticket-holders in the Mega-Gift drawing would beat the Feb. 28 deadline to make their claim?

Well, you can wonder no more--and meet longtime Oak Parkers Paul and Polly Grimes, a delightful couple that discovered their good fortune on Sunday afternoon, 10 days after the drawing.

A late-January birthday dinner for Polly at Trattoria 225 on Harrison Street generated the winning ticket, which they redeemed on Feb. 23 at Oak Park Village Hall.

In addition to watching the two videos below, you can read many more details about their story if you scroll below the videos.






Oak Park Couple Wins Shop the Village’s Mega-Gift Prize

On Sunday, after returning home from church, Paul and Polly Grimes of Oak Park received a most welcome revelation.

After logging onto Oak Park’s Shop the Village website, they were stunned to see that they were in possession of the Mega-Gift drawing’s top ticket. It is worth more than $4,000 in gift certificates and other prizes from the more than 100 participating Shop the Village businesses.

As Shop the Village devotees have known since Feb. 11, their ticket--#595068—matches the first ticket Village President David Pope plucked on Feb. 11 from among 83,000 accumulated during the nine-week incentive shopping program.

Late Monday morning, the Grimeses went to village hall to share their story and claim their winnings from Shop the Village organizers. By coincidence, those organizers had gathered for a pre-scheduled meeting to discuss ways in which they could continue the program encouraging in-village shopping.

Trattoria 225 owner Craig Charlton was among the program leaders in attendance at the village hall meeting. Serendipitously enough, the Grimeses’ winning ticket had come from Polly’s 48th birthday dinner at Trattoria 225, at 225 Harrison St. in the Oak Park Arts District. The excursion came just in time--in late January, during the program’s final week.

“We went out to one of our favorite neighborhood restaurants and had a lovely dinner and ended up getting this little beauty,” said Polly, referring to the ticket.

Fittingly, the couple had begun their Shop the Village journey at the restaurant in late November, at their daughter Meghan’s 24th birthday party. In between their two Trattoria 225 outings, they had shopped at a variety of other businesses partaking in the program: Shirtworks, Ten Thousand Villages, Careful Peach, Competitive Foot, Pumpkin Moon and Scratch ‘n’ Sniff.

In all, they had racked up 33 tickets representing more than $800 in purchases. Participating merchants gave one ticket for every $25 spent in a transaction, and the program overall recorded about $2.1 million in shopping.

The Grimeses had faithfully retained all their tickets, and checked a few times over the past few months to see if they had won any of the weekly drawings. They didn’t come close, but kept the faith—and their tickets—though the biggest prize they recall winning in the past was $25 at a church raffle.

Polly’s role was to ensure that whenever they shopped, they inquired if the business was part of the Shop the Village program. Paul’s role was to safeguard the tickets once they returned home, which he did in the area where they file their bills.

On Sunday, Paul checked out the Shop the Village website, at www.ShopTheVillage.biz.

“Polly said we should look one more time before we put the envelope away, maybe we won something,” recalled Paul. “I went on and we were the first number.”

Polly picked up the scene from there: “I was in the kitchen and Paul shouts, `Polly come here!’ I’m like,`What?’ He says, `Look at this, look at this number.’ And I’m like, `Oh my God, we won. We’re number 1!’”

In all, 28 numbers had been drawn for the Mega-Gift, to guard against the possibility that shoppers had discarded their tickets over the course of the program.

Before the Grimeses contacted program coordinator Matt Baron on Sunday, two others—those holding the 14th and 23rd tickets drawn on Feb. 11—had touched base to beat the Feb. 28 deadline that had been set for those registering their potential winning claims.

Charlton (pictured here with the couple) was pleased to see two of his regular patrons rewarded for their loyalty to local businesses.

“We had a lot of people that participated in the program,” said Charlton. “We were very, very excited to be a part of it. The biggest message you can get to everybody out there is to continue to shop the village of Oak Park.”

Paul Grimes a 50-year-old computer software project manager, said his family has always made a conscious effort to support local businesses. “We try to stay within the village for a lot of stuff,” he said.

Polly is a bookkeeper and assistant manager at The Tennis and Fitness Centre on Ridgeland Avenue in Oak Park, which was a Shop the Village participant.

For Polly, receiving compensation at the village hall location was nothing new: her prior employment includes working for three years at the Park District of Oak Park at a time when its offices were at what is now exclusively village hall.

The couple has been married for more than 25 years. Polly is a Franklin Park native and Paul is a third-generation Oak Parker. They have lived in the same south Oak Park home since September 1984 and have two children, Meghan, 24, and Ben, 23.

Re-Drawing Held For Weekly Prizes; Mega-Gift Ticket Claim Deadline Is Feb. 28

On Friday, Feb. 20, 2009, a re-drawing of 70 tickets was held for weekly prizes that were not claimed during the Shop the Village campaign.

To see the videos and results of that re-drawing, click HERE. Individuals have until Friday, March 6, 2009 to claim their prizes by calling Matt Baron at 888-713-6589 or emailing him at Matt@InsideEdgePR.com.


*******

The Mega-Gift drawing, for $4,000 worth of products and services from all participating Shop the Village businesses, took place at Park National Bank, 11 W. Madison, on the evening of Wednesday, February 11th.

Click HERE to see the list of 28 tickets that were selected. An Oak Park couple, Paul and Polly Grimes, have claimed the Mega-Gift winnings. They were holding the first ticket drawn.

Below are introductory comments, from Linda Sahagian, Loretta Daly and Matt Baron, that preceded the Mega-Gift drawing:

Rules & How To Redeem Gifts

CLICK HERE FOR THE WEEKLY WINNING NUMBERS!!

Click here to visit the Wednesday Journal's rapid-check system to see if you are holding a winning ticket.

Oak Park's "Shop The Village" campaign began on Friday, Nov. 28, 2008.

Tickets that have been distributed to shoppers (each making a minimum $25 purchase at a participating business) were collected each week, with nine weekly drawings that concluded on Jan. 31, 2009.

Each drawing was videotaped and linked from this website. In addition, the winning numbers have been printed in the Wednesday Journal of Oak Park & River Forest and during certain weeks in the Oak Leaves.

If you are holding one or more winning tickets that drawn in the nine weekly drawings, you have until Tuesday, Feb. 10 to redeem that ticket or those tickets.

On or after Wednesday, Feb. 11, all unclaimed gifts will be entered into a Re-Drawing to ensure that prizes are given to shoppers from throughout the nine-week program.

Also, on Feb. 11, Shop The Village is holding the Mega-Gift Drawing at Park National Bank, 11 W. Madison St. At that time, the ticket for the Grand Prize--the Mega-Gift consisting of gift certificates from ALL participating businesses and worth over $4,000--will be drawn.

Individuals do not need to be present in order to win the Mega-Gift, though a valid claim must be made by Feb. 28, 2009. (27 "backup" tickets have been drawn, to ensure a winner.)

How To Redeem Your Winnings:

If you are holding a ticket whose number matches a number listed among our weekly winning numbers, here's how to redeem your winnings:

Contact Matt Baron at 888.713.6589 or Matt@InsideEdgePR.com. You will receive a call back within 24 business hours, and arrangements will be made to confirm you have the winning ticket and, at that point, to present your gift. At that time, you will need to sign a form acknowledging that you have claimed your prize.

Click here for a complete, week-by-week listing of winning numbers.

For more information, contact Matt Baron at 888.713.6589 or Matt@InsideEdgePR.com.

Participating Businesses: Check 'Em Out!

To find out which businesses have participated in "Shop The Village," click here for an alphabetical listing.

Click here for a listing by business district

CLICK HERE FOR THE WEEKLY WINNING NUMBERS!!

Click here to visit the Wednesday Journal's rapid-check system to see if you are holding a winning ticket.

Welcome To Oak Park's "Shop The Village"

From Nov. 28, 2008 through the end of January 2009, Shop The Village gave incentives to people to shop at participating Oak Park businesses.

If you don't see your ticket number listed in our weekly winning numbers, PLEASE HOLD ONTO YOUR TICKET(S)!

All tickets collected during the program will be combined for a drawing on Wednesday, Feb. 11.

At that time, a lucky shopper will have his or her ticket selected for the $4,000 Mega-Gift, consisting of prizes from each of the approximately 120 businesses participating in Shop the Village. (Winner need not be present to win. Claim must be made by Feb. 25. Backup tickets will be drawn to ensure a winner.)

CLICK HERE FOR THE WEEKLY WINNING NUMBERS!!

Click here to visit the Wednesday Journal's rapid-check system to see if you are holding a winning ticket.

Click here for a video and other details addressing common questions.

About 120 businesses participated in the program, from 11 business districts throughout the village (see our campaign sponsors on the links to the right).

Here's how Shop The Village works: On every purchase of $25 from participating Oak Park businesses, customers receive at least one ticket to be entered into weekly drawings for gifts. (Shoppers receive one ticket for every $25 increment. An $80 purchase, for example, nets three tickets.)

There were nine weekly drawings, with 12 or 13 winners each week. Each of those gifts has a minimum $25 value from participating businesses. (Note: gift certificates are pre-assigned to a given drawing, so winners will not necessarily receive a certificate from the business where they initially shopped.)

At the end of the program, during a Feb. 11 event, one lucky shopper will win more than $4,000 worth of gifts, one from each of the participating businesses.

Keep coming back to this site for regular updates, including video clips of the weekly drawings and interviews with business leaders.

Do you have additional questions? Maybe at least one of them is addressed in this "Shop The Village Q & A" directed toward both businesses and customers.

For more details, contact Matt Baron at 888-713-6589, or Matt@InsideEdgePR.com,