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Wine shop opens in downtown Roselle
Officials hope tasting bar energizes area
Some people might call it excessive. Jan Cooper called
it research.
The Roselle woman and her friends tasted close to 400 different types of wines in a period of nine weeks.
Her kitchen bustled with activity every Saturday as wine lovers passed through all day. She even bribed them with free pizza if they would critique the wines they drank.
“Sometimes we had 30 people wandering through our kitchen,” she said. “Word-of-mouth started spreading and people would come.”
The tastings were mainly preparation for the wine shop she and her husband, Daryl, would open in Roselle. Gallons of wine later, the research is complete.
Vine Tastings wine shop and tasting bar, at 123-123A
E. Main St., opened Thursday in Roselle’s budding downtown.
The bar will sell more than 100 kinds of wines from all over the world, most costing $10 to $15 per bottle.
“A lot of these wines you won’t find anywhere else, unless you find another wine shop,” she said.
Patrons will be allowed to sample many of the wines before buying. Every month, about 24 wines will be available for sampling for a small fee.
In addition, Cooper has spent months choosing gourmet foods like cheeses, pates, breads and pastries to offer as appetizers at her shop. Gift baskets and custom-made pottery will be for sale as well.
“It’s been well thought out,” she said. “I’ve been very picky.”
The Coopers spent months revamping a building in the older part of Main Street that formerly housed the Marklund Resale Shop. The space now has the look of a hip Chicago café with brick walls, wooden floors and about a dozen oak round tables with chairs.
Square wooden wine racks, whose tops serve as display tables for merchandise, are strategically scattered throughout the store. A rectangular mahogany wine bar stands at the back.
Though the shop opened this week, a grand opening is planned from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 25. It will feature discounts and free tastings.
“Roselle needs something like this,” Cooper said. “The downtown has a lot of potential. It just needs to be revamped. We haven’t had foot traffic down here since Shirl’s (ice cream and burger place) closed.”
That was five years ago.
Roselle officials have called the opening of the wine shop an example of how downtown redevelopment has spread to other parcels. The wine shop is located in the older section of Main Street.
But progress in the new downtown, along Main Street between Prospect Street and Roselle Road, has been stagnant. The developer, Gammonley Group of LaGrange, completed the project last fall, but it’s been largely vacant.
Only one retail business, an ice cream and candy store called How Sweet It Is, and the Ferguson & Assocs. accounting firm have opened for business since then.
Village officials are most concerned about attracting retail options downtown and have chided the developer for failing to deliver businesses that will attract foot traffic.
The developer recently hired a new real estate group to help fill the space.
“I think they are making some corrections,” said Pat Watkins, Roselle’s public works director. “They’re going to recruit independent businesses. The other group was emphasizing franchise groups.”
In addition, businesses will be able to buy spaces in the new downtown rather than lease them — something that was not available earlier, he said.
