Shops on Elm Street host ‘Nightmare’ event with Halloween promos in McHenry

Downtown McHenry’s reputation is starting to spread through northern Illinois, David Badgley, owner of Lumber & Twine, said.

“Either they have heard about it or come here to McHenry for the first time and realize how great it is for shopping and restaurants,” Badgley said.

Badgley, Julie Skaggs of Mad Soyentist Candle Company and Julie Vahos of Hair Flextensions were all part of the first round of McHenry Riverwalk Shoppes. They took that experience and opened a shared storefront called Shop 3430 at 3430 Elm Street-Route 31 on March 1.

“Either they have heard about it or come here to McHenry for the first time and realize how great it is for shopping and restaurants.”

—  David Badgley, Lumber & Twine at Shop 3430

To help promote that growing retail corridor and its reputation, the three partners worked with other downtown McHenry shops to create their first Halloween-themed event, Nightmare on Elm Street ... and Beyond.

Set to run from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 12, they invite customers to pick up a “slash” card at any of the participating businesses. Each of the shops will punch that card for people who stop in. Completed punch cards are then dropped off at Shop 3430 to enter into a drawing fora gift basket. The basket is loaded with merchandise from the participating shops, Skaggs said.

Besides Mad Soyentist, Lumber & Twine and Hair Flextensions, nine other businesses are participating: Rita’s Frozen Custard, Stan’s Vintage, Freundly Designs, Otto’s LLC, Wild Hunny Boutique, White River Junction, Artisan Marketplace, Water Street Shop and Reese’s Barkery and Pawtique.

It isn’t the only thing happening in McHenry that day, either. The annual Full Moon Market is set from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Miller Point Park, 1202 N. Riverside Drive.

“That was intentionally planned but not coordinated” with Full Moon Market. “We can double dip with them” by attracting customers for both, Skaggs said.

Nightmare on Elm Street ... and Beyond is designed to be walkable, she added, with only stores on Green, Elm and Court streets or Riverside Drive included. The 11 businesses are not the only retail storefronts in downtown McHenry either, Skaggs said, but are the ones who were able to participate.

What the three have discovered since opening the shared storefront location is that events in downtown McHenry help drive shoppers to them. The McHenry Area Chamber of Commerce’s Wine Walk earlier in September was one of their busiest days of the year, Vahos said.

McHenry’s ShamROCKS the Fox was another big day for them, having opened just two weeks before, Badgley said.

They are working on more ideas to help drive shoppers to downtown, including classes in the store and one longer-term event they are calling the Fox Trot. Set to get underway in earnest after Halloween, The Fox Trot will invite store owners to purchase a cement fox, decorate it, and put it out in front of their retail location.

“We are working with Naturally Mchenry County to put us on their app” so that users can find the foxes and receive a prize once they have visited all of them, similar to the tourism bureau’s brewery, coffee and tea and Mexican food trails.