Anniversary Celebrations - Customer Appreciation Event

Name: Anniversary Celebrations - Customer Appreciation Event
Start: 2025-03-27T10:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-03-30T17:00:00-05:00
Location: 220 S. Front St., Cobden, IL, United States, Illinois 62920

Schedule

Thu, 27 Mar, 2025 at 10:00 am to Sun, 30 Mar, 2025 at 05:00 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

220 S. Front St., Cobden, IL, United States, Illinois 62920 | Cobden, IL

CHANGE IS PART OF LIFE: Cobden Village Shops began taking shape on March 21st, 2020 as Illinois went into lockdown during the Covid Pandemic. One month later we reopened with a plan to keep our customers, staff and vendors safe.
Here's the backstory:
THE PURCHASE OF THE BUILDING: Paul Frank bought the building after Draper's Produce closed down. It was difficult for the village to lose it's only place to shops for food, including produce, meant, dairy and more. Paul wanted to offer something that the village didn't have, so he opened a laundromat and an event center in the building, with a variety of community events including karate classes, wrestling, graduations, music nights, weddings and a Sunday brunch fried chicken buffet. After five years, some life changes and introduction of other similar businesses nearby, meant another change was needed. At the suggestion of local businessman, Ray Hogan, Paul converted the building into Packrats Paradise Antique Mall, a place that would serve the village and support the local economy, including resellers and artists. Paul himself was an antique collector, artist and furniture maker. He was the first person in Cobden to have recycling bins outside of his building, offered a public building with accessible entrances and bathrooms, created a place for a local business to start up - Taqueria Pequena,(celebrated 20 years in 2024) was one of the founders of the first clean-up program in Cobden, and a sponsor of many local events.
TURNING DIFFICULTY INTO A DREAM: Paul's partner, Bonnie Burton, officially took over the business during lockdown. Paul was too ill to work, and all of his staff had underlying conditions so couldn't work either. In the spirit of the community space, already established, and, with the help of a few dedicated vendors and their families, Bonnie expanded into more locally made goods, creating a gallery for local art & a Maker's Market area that first year. The idea was to have local artist, artisans & market items such as local honey, locally roasted coffee, fair trade products and perhaps, eventually, some kind of farmer's market on site. The "shop owners" who rent space could promote themselves & possibly moving on to create their own shops if that was their dream. As of this year, Cobden Village Shops now has over 90 vendors, artists and artisans all under one roof.
OUR PEOPLE & OUR PLANET: The antique and vintage wares have been the cornerstone of this growing business, being the original eco-friendly way to shop. Adding in vendors who sold clothing, boots & shoes - vintage & almost new - as well more utilitarian wares for the home and everyday life, were a natural next step. With a focus on upcycling, refurbishing and reducing waste, more vendors joined in. Bonnie took her first Covid government stimulus check and purchased Zero Waste products as a way to give back to our shared home, Earth. They were popular and continue to be offered. Over time, human rights themed signs have been put up in the windows, to be sure that EVERYONE knows that they are valued & welcomed in our shops. We are fine-tuning our vision this year and look forward to input from our customers and community as to how we can better serve our people and our planet.
A SHARED VISION: So this weekend is not only about celebrating 15 years of Packrats Paradise and 5 years of Cobden Village Shops. It's about having a shared vision to create something good in the world, something meaningful and unifying. We are celebrating people and our planet and what is possible when we work together with compassion, courage and determination. Our hope is that when people enter our shops they feel the peace and love, and when they leave,they feel hopeful and inspired.
THANK YOUS: With gratitude and thanks for the vendors who stepped up to help create our community of shops in Cobden Illinois. We are so grateful to have these dedicated individuals who are now the people who serve you Thursday to Sunday each week - Dan Lewis, Jennifer Kroner, and Mirna Johnson. Special thanks also to those who stepped up at the beginning to get the ball rolling - Lynette Staley & Ginger Morrison, as well as those who have joined in for a short while - Stolas, Rachel & Susan. We are so grateful for the artistic & gardening offerings of Frances Swedlund, and for our student employee for three years, who brought light and her ukelele to our Saturday mornings - Tess Brummer. Michele Damian and Mariel McGrath have joined our staff this past year and we couldn't be happier. We are also grateful for our new building owner, Quinn Edwards, who has roots in Cobden and is also a vendor. We thank the staff, parents and students of our local schools, as well as the businesses and the Village of Cobden, with whom we share joy and sadness, community projects and mutual goals of creating a healthy and vibrant community.