Jennifer Wallace and her daughter, Julianne Storm, opened their children’s clothing store in Mahomet a year ago, and they needed more space.
Their store, The Little Things, opened in a new, larger location at 1826 Patton Drive, Mahomet.
The store carries clothes from sizes newborn to 6 for girls and boys, plus some preemie sizes, Wallace said.e
The store also has toys and books, a new section with some maternity robes and nursing gowns, gift items for new mothers and an expanded Illini children’s section, he said.
The Little Things started as an online business in August 2021 and moved to its first store location at 601 E. Main St., Mahomet, in February 2022.
The store temporarily closed at the end of December to prepare for the move.
Wallace said he used to operate a gift shop in southern Illinois and his daughter loved going there with him when she was younger.
“We knew that eventually we wanted to do something like this,” he said of their new store.
Mother and daughter once lived in Mahomet and now live in Monticello.
Store hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 am to 2 pm Saturday.
More merchandise is coming, and a grand opening celebration is scheduled for a later date.
Ginger Ale’s update
Champaign County’s first-ever Ginger Ale liquor store is coming to Savoy.
Local real estate broker Alex Ruggieri and family have franchise rights for all of Champaign County and nailed their first location – 405 S. Dunlap St., Savoy – near Walmart.
This first location has been in the planning stages for over a year.
Ruggieri and his family announced in February 2022 that they plan to open their first Ginger Ale’s in Champaign or Savoy, but hope to put stores in both.
Whether Champaign is next for a Ginger Ale’s hasn’t been decided yet. Ruggieri also said they would like to open future Ginger Ale locations not only in Champaign but in Urbana and other cities in Champaign County.
For the Savoy location, the property sale just closed about a week ago, he said.
A building permit has not yet been issued by the village, but without waiting without delay, Ruggieri said he would like to open in late spring or summer this year.
Ginger Ale’s is based in Olney, and serves sodas, teas, specialty coffees and espressos, smoothies and frappes, with more than 75 flavor shot options.
Choose something cool
Nominations are open for the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association’s 2023 Makers Madness competition.
You can nominate a product to be the “best thing made in Illinois” through Feb. 19.
After nominations close, there will be three rounds of voting to select the top 16, top 8 and top four, and the winner will be announced on March 29.
Several locally produced products were nominated last year, with the 2022 winner being Rivian’s all-electric R1T truck made in Normal.
For more information and to nominate a product: ttps://makersmadnessil.com
Summer jobs
The Champaign Park District will hold a summer job fair from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Feb. 18 at the new Martens Center, 1515 N. Market St., C.
The park district will provide information about more than 400 summer positions available.
The Champaign and Urbana park districts also have information about their upcoming summer jobs on their websites.
EXPANDED
Premier Cooperative, Champaign is poised to acquire Cowden-based Miller Oil Co., Premier announced Thursday.
Miller Oil owner Roy Miller and his employees will join the Premier Cooperative staff.
Miller Oil, founded in 1970, is a supplier of gasoline, oil and propane.
Premier Cooperative is a farmer-owned cooperative that provides agricultural commodities and energy products.