Couple’s growing business ventures all about getting people on the water, or the waterfront, in McHenry area

Dillon Streit started snapping up retro boats about six years ago – an idea his wife, Michelle Streit, wasn’t quite so sure about.

“I thought they were cool, but what are we doing with all of these boats?” she recalled asking.

The Streits have plenty of boat business experience on the Fox River and Chain O’ Lakes. Dillon Streit’s grandfather opened a Fox River Grove business in the 1960s that his father later renamed All Marine Motorsports in the 1980s. Dillon took over the business in 2006 and now has four locations where they buy, sell, rent and repair boats.

The retro boats, however, were something different. His idea, Dillon Streit told the McHenry City Council in March, was renting affordable boats with unique designs.

“Phase 2 was [a place where] they could sit and relax after they were done and other people could stroll down to,” he said.

That idea led the Streits to McHenry’s Miller Point Park and a call to Mayor Wayne Jett. A profit-sharing agreement with the city allowed the Streits to place two retrofitted shipping containers at the Riverside Drive park. Visitors could rent one of the retro boats, kayaks, pedal boats or paddle boards there.

The second shipping container became the Retro Retreat Beach Bar. On Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays in the summer – weather permitting – those taking a stroll on the McHenry Riverwalk, or checking out the Riverwalk Shoppes, or boating on the Fox River, can stop for a drink or snack at the park.

The first three-year agreement with the city of McHenry came in 2020 – just before COVID-19 hit. The city extended the lease, allowing All Marine Retro to stay at the park for another year. The 2023 construction at Miller Point Park also put a damper on that year’s sales. The Streits renegotiated that lease with the city in March, allowing them another three years on the site and the ability to add cocktails to their wine, seltzer and beer sales at the park.

They are working toward adding prepared food and frozen drinks to the lineup, pending McHenry County Heath Department approval. That is taking some time. “There is nothing like this around. What are we? We are like a food truck, but we are not on wheels,” Dillon Streit said.

The Streits are working to expand the concept at Miller Point Park to Cary, too. They are co-owners of Maple Tree Tap there, and approached the village in April about opening free-standing kiosks on Spring Street, taking advantage of Cary’s open-container law.

Their next Cary-based businesses, however, will move into the former Sweet Caryline’s with a whiskey and wine bar named after his mother, Cynthia Anne, who died during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It would be more of an upscale ... a roaring ‘20s flair, something more elegant,” Dillon Streit told the Cary Village Board at a recent committee of the whole meeting.

This month, a ribbon-cutting was held at the couple’s Port Barrington location. Now known as the Barrington Boat Company, the location at 99 Kazimour Drive promises a full-service concierge service for their customers. It’s also one of two locations for what they call the Barrington Boat Club. For one annual membership cost, boat club members can reserve one of the eight boats set aside for the club members.

“It is for people to join ... like a golf club,” Michelle Streit said. “They can use all of our boats all summer. It is for people who don’t want to own a boat, but don’t want to randomly rent a boat with a sign on the side, either.”

The reservation system is app-based, and does not allow one or two club members to reserve all of the prime boating dates, Dillon Streit said.

The Streits also recently acquired Fox 14 Marina in Fox River Grove. That one is special to them, Dillon Streit said, because they grew up on the village.

“Fox River Grove was the first one I wanted to get. Its a fully functioning marina” on the river, he said.

Plans are to split that property into two areas: a marina business and an entertainment venue.

“We have a concept with more shipping containers, stacked, some on stilts ... somewhere you can walk, boat or drive to,” Dillon Streit said. “I have some drawings down.”

While the couple is running – and boating – nonstop through the summer, Michelle also teaches during the school year. Even with a number of businesses and separate locations around McHenry County, they do actually sleep, the couple said.

“We keep pouring money into a new business,” Dillon Streit said. “Every day, I get another idea. That makes me happy. It is not as much work when you are happy to go to work.”

What drives them, however, is getting people on the water and enjoying where they live, Michelle Streit said.

“All of these marine businesses are about getting people access to our local waterways. I know people who live in the area who don’t realize what we have or have the opportunity to enjoy it the way others do,” she said. “These ventures help people enjoy being on the water.”