Jun. 2—Renovations got underway Tuesday for the new Crumbl Cookies in the former Smallcakes space at 2005 S. Neil St. in Champaign.
Managing partner Deb Platon, who owns the local franchise with her husband, Steven, said that the plan is to finish construction by the end of July, and she’d like to open before the University of Illinois begins its fall semester (Aug. 26, for those of you scoring at home).
“We’re doing a complete buildout,” she said. “Crumbl has specific requirements, equipment, et cetera, so we are going to start from scratch and the build the place to Crumbl’s guidelines.”
Apart from exterior signs, the work is largely interior, she said.
Platon and her husband have owned a Crumbl store in La Grange since September 2022.
She said when they were discussing where to open their next shop, Champaign was her husband’s first choice.
In addition to having family in Savoy, Platon said they like that Champaign is a big city with “a small-town feel” and appreciate the support they’ve received from the community.
“We are so excited, I cannot tell you,” she said. “This has been a yearlong journey, but we are so excited to share cookies.”
Packing up their scissors
After nearly 20 years at 2036 S. Neil St., Andy’s Barbershop has moved to a new spot not far from its original location.
On Tuesday, the Champaign barbershop opened at its new location at 471 Devonshire Drive, in the Devonshire Commons strip mall at Fox Drive.
“We actually downsized,” said owner Andy Wagner. “We’d lost some barbers over the years, and thought it’d just be a good time to move.”
One exception is Luke Saathoff, a longtime employee who recently became the shop’s co-owner.
“He and I worked together for the last 15 years,” Saathoff said. “And when we decided to make the move, we just thought it’d be better to, I guess, do it together. More than likely, as time goes on, it’ll be he and I here long-term. To get any other barbers in seems to be very difficult.”
The business’s new home used to be a lawyer’s office, he said. Some of the changes they made to prep for opening included removing carpet and taking down temporary walls to make the space one large room.
“It’s just a nice refresh compared to what we did have,” he said.
“The old shop, too, we were going to have to probably refresh,” Wagner said. “It’d been, what, 10 years since we had done anything to it. So that was another deciding factor.”
Excitement bubbling up
The fourth annual Mahomet Soda Festival will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 8 in the village’s downtown, and organizers say that this year’s event will feature over 100 different sodas from all over the country.
According to the Mahomet Chamber of Commerce, the event will “bring people together with good music, good food and a large variety of crazy soda flavors.”
A card for 10 soda tastings costs $5, and a wristband for unlimited tastings is $25. A family pack of two wristbands and two cards is $50.
There will also be various vendors and activities for kids. More information about the festival is available at .
Here, kitty, kitty, kitty
The Scratching Post — a combination cat lounge and board-game café coming to 114 E. University Ave. in downtown Champaign — is almost at the end of a very successful fundraising campaign.
So far, the café’s — which had an initial goal of $10,000 — has raised over $20,000. As a reward for reaching the latest stretch goal, all backers get to name one of the café’s cats.
“The buildout alone for The Scratching Post is going to cost us over $100,000,” wrote owner Rebecca Minick. “We know. It’s nuts. We’re sharing this because we want you to know that even though we’ve already surpassed our initial funding goal, your additional pledges are still very much appreciated and will still go toward building The Scratching Post. So your continued generosity will not be spent on pizza and cat toys.”
The campaign closes Sunday afternoon.
Minick said that she is still expecting a fall opening for the café and hopes to begin renovations on the building soon.
“The architects are still doing their thing,” she said. “They hope to be done in the next few weeks though so that construction can hopefully start in June.”
Accelerated job opening
The Champaign County Economic Development Corp. is looking for a director for its new Illinois APEX Accelerator Center.
The agency recently received a $90,000 grant from the Illinois APEX Accelerator program to help small businesses secure government contracts at the local, state and federal level.
“The Illinois APEX Accelerator Center director is responsible for APEX’s day-to-day management and operations, including advisory services to clients, oversight of budget activities, required reporting to DCEO, and more,” officials said. “The Illinois APEX Accelerator Center Director will represent the APEX program at a local and regional level within the economic development and business communities and collaborate closely with stakeholders throughout Champaign County and central Illinois.”
Support for the local facility comes from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, the county economic development agency and the University of Illinois. The program is provided through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense.
“While the continuation of this position is foreseen for years to come, all APEX positions are contingent on continued grant funding,” officials said.
More information is available at .
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