Patch Passport: Treasure Hunt

If you have ever wanted to find a unique gift or product but do not want to drive to a shopping mall, look no further than Buffalo Grove. These three stores offer a selection of products that you don’t typically see anywhere else.

Knit Happens
, a yarn salon, is a one-stop shop for knitters and crotchetiers. Established in April 2010, Knit Happens is owned by Connie Grundschok, a graduate and longtime area resident. Grundschok has a background in commercial interior design and uses her skills to help customers choose yarn colors.

The shelves in the front of the store are stocked with yarn more appropriate for use in spring and summer clothing. The back of the store has yarn with heavier weights and darker colors for use in fall and winter projects. Grundschok will rotate stock in August, when knitters start to plan their fall and winter projects. A couch and chairs face a television set, which knitters are free to use. “It’s usually the husbands who sit there while their wives shop,” Grundschok said with a laugh.

The store also offers project books, oversized bags for stashing current projects, and needles. Sweaters and shawls made by Grundschok’s customers are on display but are not for sale. “I get asked all the time if the sweaters are for sale, and they’re not,” she said. “I’d have to charge about $300 to cover the cost of the yarn, plus the time it takes to make it. Besides, my store is about the customer making the sweater.” 

“I enjoy knitting because I think it’s relaxing, and I like to teach people,” Grundschok said. She offers beginner courses ($60 for eight hours), and also offers support for more advanced knitters. Her store is involved in philanthropy work, including Halos of Hope, where customers can drop off knit caps for distribution to people undergoing chemotherapy.

While Knit Happens offers a variety of yarn, its most unique is Hand Spun Bouquet from Pagewood Farm. The yarn is handspun and features flowers and leaves. “People see this and they say ‘Wow, I’ve never seen that before,’” Grundschok said, adding that the yarn is popular for scarves.

Nuts 2 U
Established in 2006, offers a variety of dried fruits, chocolates, and nuts.  

For its customers, Nuts 2 U provides a sweet indulgence. “I have many customers who come in two or three times a week,” said store manager Valentina Maksimenko. “They buy a small amount and say they will eat it back in their office, but I think many of them just eat it in their cars. I also have a few customers who buy several pounds of nuts to feed squirrels and chipmunks.”

Nuts 2 U offers products from Regal Gourmet Snacks, as well as food imported from Europe. Most items can be purchased in bulk. “I have customers who pick and choose what they like, and they make their own custom mixes and try everything,” Maksimenko said. “You can go to a store like Costco and get nuts in bulk, but you won’t get the diversity like you can here. Customers have also said that the pricing here is very good.”

Nuts 2 U’s imported food includes jellies, cakes, tea, and candy. “Lots of people buy the imported food, and I’ve found that Americans love it, even if they’ve never had it before,” Maksimenko said.

The store offers chocolate-covered cherries, cashews, hazelnuts, blueberries, raisins, macadamias and pecans. Nuts 2 U’s dried fruits include pineapple, apple rings, banana chips and pears. Gift trays are available and are extremely popular around the holidays. The store also offers sugar-free products.

One of the store’s most popular products is wasabi peas. “People really like the peas, and they buy a lot of them,” Maksimenko said.

Corbin’s Exotic Pets
From customers buying their first fish to aquarists finding saltwater fish, Corbin’s Exotic Pets offers a variety of products and assistance for those who want a scaly pet.

Fish, reptiles, amphibians, and spider scorpions are some of the pets available for sale. Some of the more popular pets include poison dart frogs and crested geckos. “People like the albino axolotls that we have here because they have a unique color and stand out in an aquarium,” said store manager Alex Hopkins.

Another popular pet is the tesselata eel. “The eels look interesting, and customers like to add them to their aquariums,” he said.

Animals are categorized by type; the store carries freshwater fish, saltwater fish, reptiles, birds and small animals. Fish are in tanks throughout the store, while snakes and lizards are in tanks in the rear of the store.

“Our staff is knowledgeable, as employees tend to specialize in one kind of species based on personal experience,” Hopkins said. The store also offers to build and maintain aquariums.

Opened in Buffalo Grove in October 2010, Corbin’s Exotic Pets has another location in Marengo.