Lake Forest's Market Square no match for SuperTarget
By: Justin Tardiff, News Editor
Issue date: 11/13/08 Section: Opinion
I recently wrote a piece in The Stentor about the City of Lake Forest's plans to bring new stores and eateries downtown.
Retailers such as J.Crew and restaurants like Chipotle Mexican Grille and Corner Bakery Cafe soon could become tenants along Deerpath Road and Western Avenue.
The changes are of particular interest to me, as a person who follows retail trends and who is also a huge fan of the village several miles to the west.
Vernon Hills is quite possibly the greatest retail metropolis north of Chicago. Despite attending high school in a New England community that is similar to Lake Forest, Vernon Hills feels like home. Even though my friends and I make jokes about the village's 1958 incorporation making it younger than our parents (my town back home,by contrast, is 308 years old), and there might not be a whole lot of architectural value along Route 60, Vernon Hills is, to me, amazing,and makes downtown Lake Forest's offerings a joke.
But why might that be the case? The huge thing Vernon Hills offers is ability to get everything you need in one place. Especially as a college student, time is tight with classes, homework, and extracurricular activities; and we don't want to mess around with shopping unless we want to make a day out of it in the Loop.
Whether it be SuperTarget, Westfield Hawthorn, or one of the other strip malls, I can go to Vernon Hills and get everything done. I live on the college campus, a fairly short walk to downtown Lake Forest, but when I'm looking for everyday goods in the city, I'm stuck with CVS, Walgreen's, and the world's smallest Jewel - which a Lake Bluff resident I know fears because it is too big.
I bought laundry detergent at Target in Vernon Hills last year for only $2.99. A few weeks ago, I needed to restock, and I was unable to find any laundry detergent at Jewel, so I found myself at the Walgreen's in downtown Lake Forest. I bought the exact same laundry detergent I got at Target for $6.49 at Walgreen's.
Retailers such as J.Crew and restaurants like Chipotle Mexican Grille and Corner Bakery Cafe soon could become tenants along Deerpath Road and Western Avenue.
The changes are of particular interest to me, as a person who follows retail trends and who is also a huge fan of the village several miles to the west.
Vernon Hills is quite possibly the greatest retail metropolis north of Chicago. Despite attending high school in a New England community that is similar to Lake Forest, Vernon Hills feels like home. Even though my friends and I make jokes about the village's 1958 incorporation making it younger than our parents (my town back home,by contrast, is 308 years old), and there might not be a whole lot of architectural value along Route 60, Vernon Hills is, to me, amazing,and makes downtown Lake Forest's offerings a joke.
But why might that be the case? The huge thing Vernon Hills offers is ability to get everything you need in one place. Especially as a college student, time is tight with classes, homework, and extracurricular activities; and we don't want to mess around with shopping unless we want to make a day out of it in the Loop.
Whether it be SuperTarget, Westfield Hawthorn, or one of the other strip malls, I can go to Vernon Hills and get everything done. I live on the college campus, a fairly short walk to downtown Lake Forest, but when I'm looking for everyday goods in the city, I'm stuck with CVS, Walgreen's, and the world's smallest Jewel - which a Lake Bluff resident I know fears because it is too big.
I bought laundry detergent at Target in Vernon Hills last year for only $2.99. A few weeks ago, I needed to restock, and I was unable to find any laundry detergent at Jewel, so I found myself at the Walgreen's in downtown Lake Forest. I bought the exact same laundry detergent I got at Target for $6.49 at Walgreen's.
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