Ice Cream Chain To Open First Illinois Location in Northbrook

Graeter’s Ice Cream, a Cincinnati-based ice cream/frozen yogurt company, has selected Northbrook as the home for its first Illinois store, slated to open in April 2015. It will take shape at 1347 Shermer Road, taking up the storefront that was once home to Caribou Coffee.

Shermer Road “fit our criteria: good access to parks, and a pretty affluent community. And we could afford the rent,” Chip Graeter, the firm’s chief of retail operations told the Chicago Tribune. “At this point, I don’t think we can afford to go downtown (Chicago).”

Graeter’s has a chain of over 40 stores in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. The nearest current location to Chicago is in Indianapolis.

The upcoming Northbrook location will be the first for Illinois, but the Chicago Eater reported Monday that a company spokesperson informed them of plans for a second in the Chicago area. The spokesperson indicated they receive the most requests to open stores in Chicago.