The fall edition of the popular Vintage Shop Hop™ will once again draw thousands of shoppers to northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin on Friday and Saturday, October 4th and 5th.
The event is a self-guided road trip for vintage and antique enthusiasts from northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin. The unique event will feature 350-400 locally owned vintage shops, antique malls, women’s boutiques, temporary and pop-up shops, home decor stores, high-end consignment shops and vintage barn sales from across the bi-state region, according to a news release.
Participating stores include Sycamore, Woodstock, Oregon, Marengo, Crystal Lake, Cary, Harvard, Hampshire, Aurora, Batavia, Elburn, Geneva, Oswego, Yorkville, St. Charles, West Dundee, Plano, Downers Grove and Lisle.
Vintage Shop Hop, which began 10 years ago with 180 stores, has grown in popularity with each event.
“The past four years have been tough times for the retail industry, especially for small businesses, and these store owners often need an economic stimulus to boost sales during a traditionally slow retail period, not to mention competing with the online shopping craze,” said Anne Campos, founder of the event. “This event gives shoppers a reason to leave the house to shop at smaller, more local stores.”
The event is open only to locally owned, for-profit stores – no big box stores, franchises or chains. The two-state event has grown organically over the past 11 years and now stretches from the Mississippi River in the west to Lake Michigan in the east, as far north as Wausau and Green Bay in Wisconsin, and as far south as Interstate 80 in Illinois.
Stores are required to run “in-store” promotions over the weekend, with many offering more than just free drinks.
“We encourage stores to create a day that is different from the other 363 days of the year,” Campos said.
Shoppers can expect to find fun promotions like “balloon popping” and “spin the wheel” to determine discounts, door prizes, meet and greets with makers, paint demos, live music, food trucks and free swag bags just for stopping in. Some will be creating punch card promotions, offering live music and inviting food trucks, according to the release.
Many shops are located in unique historic buildings in historic downtowns, villages and rural areas. Shoppers will find shops located in century-old barns, historic schoolhouses, banks and churches.
For shoppers, planning their Vintage Shop Hop outing is made easy with an interactive Google Map and master list of shops. The Google Map contains details of all the shops which shoppers can access from their mobile devices as they travel through the area. Both the list and map are posted on the event’s blog page and can be printed from www.vintageshophop.blogspot.com or follow the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/VintageShopHopEvent.
