Comings & Goings

The former Homestyle Café on North Ninth Street has reopened with a new name and ownership and expanded its hours of operation. New owner Carolina “Carla” Chagala was already working at the restaurant at 1144 N. Ninth St. with brothers Oscar and Reyes Venture, who purchased it in June 2024. Chagala bought the business earlier […]

Salt Fork Food Works, a Champaign-Urbana–based collective of restaurants, cafes and food producers, has teamed up with Jacksonville-based The Farms of Illinois to open a year-round Farmers Market Food Hub in downtown Springfield. Lauren Brokish, co-owner of Salt Fork Food Works, said she and Clint Brand were already well-acquainted prior to the recent business partnership. […]

Whether you need equipment for your own business or want to purchase a piece of Springfield history, an upcoming auction of items from Del’s Popcorn Shop will have a variety of offerings. Aumann Auctions is handling the liquidation sale for the Springfield location, which closed its doors in August. Rachelle “Shellie” Jacobs, who operated the […]

Springfield’s only freestanding Quiznos has closed, although the sandwich shop still has a satellite location on the Lincoln Land Community College campus that operates under different ownership. The Quiznos at 2701 W. Lawrence Ave. had been in operation since 2004 before closing last week. When the restaurant first opened, the space at the corner of […]

White Oaks Plaza, a shopping center on the west side of Springfield, has been sold for nearly $50 million. The center is situated immediately west of Veteran’s Parkway and across from White Oaks Mall.         The 320,933-square-foot retail development is anchored with Kohl’s and a Harvest Market grocery store. It includes more than 50 retailers, including three […]

Longtime Springfield restaurateurs Mike Monseur and John Leskovisek have a new project in the works. The duo is seeking approval from the Springfield City Council to transfer the liquor license for the Dew Chilli Parlor Pub and Grill located at 301 North Grand Ave. W. to a new restaurant in Prairie Crossing that will be […]

Two friends have turned their passion for yoga into a new business. Sally Stephens and Lisa Kording have opened Treehouse Yoga at 301 South Grand Ave W. “We were both in Wendy’s yoga teacher training, the 200 hour class,” said Stephens, referring to Wendy Smith, the owner of Jax Yoga. The Jacksonville-based yoga studio opened […]

New tenants are in the works for the former County Market space on South Sixth Street, which has been vacant since the grocery store chain moved out at the end of last year. A “coming soon” banner with logos for Ollie’s Bargain Outlet and O’Reilly Auto Parts is now displayed on the front of the […]

The Gin Mill has closed, but owner Jason McKemie already has a new downtown venture in the works. McKemie opened Bar None in 2008 at the corner of Fifth and Monroe streets in downtown Springfield. That space later became part of Gin Mill, which opened in 2014 at 235 S. Fifth St. “We closed Gin […]

The third floor of Horace Mann’s modernist glass and steel tower in downtown Springfield is now home to the University of Illinois Springfield Innovation Center, which includes the Innovate Springfield business incubator.  “Our move to this strategic location will enable us to bring more people into our innovation ecosystem, including students, faculty, corporate partners, community […]

Schlee’s Gourmet Bakery & Bottle Shop is opening Monday, Sept. 29, with the goal of bringing high-quality, small quantity drinks and baked good to downtown Springfield. Ashley Rickenbach relocated from Austin, Texas, to Springfield and partnered with Benjamin Galbraith and Matthew and Rachael Hurley to launch Schlee’s. “Austin has a very robust network of bars and […]