In 2026, the Oak Park Arts District didn't wait for new businesses to find Harrison Street. It went out and lined them up. The old Buzz Cafe corner, an empty storefront at 331 Harrison, and Happy Apple Pie Shop each changed hands through people who were already part of the district. Fall puts all three handoffs on one calendar for the first time, beginning with Harvest on Harrison on Saturday, October 24.
The corner someone bought back
The storefront at 905 S. Lombard Ave. was home to Buzz Cafe for almost three decades, until it closed in 2023. Kribi Coffee took the space next and pulled out in fall 2025. The Wednesday Journal reported what happened after that. Buzz's former owner, her husband, and a longtime Arts District landlord bought the property back and started contacting Chicagoland businesses they thought would suit southeast Oak Park.
Blackberry Market came out of that outreach. Anna Davidson opened the first one in downtown Glen Ellyn in 2012 and has added locations in La Grange, Naperville and Oak Brook. Oak Park is the fifth. It moved quickly. A January email led to a meeting a week later, and the lease was signed in February. The grand opening was Tuesday, September 15, and Intelligentsia, the café's wholesale coffee partner, gave out free drip coffee all day.
Davidson told the Journal she liked "the history of it being a cafe for so long." Her nephew, Wilson Loibner, runs the café day to day after six years with the family business. He has said the menu includes options that are nut-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian and vegan, along with catering. Out back, a patio mural of blackberries and bees nods to the space's history. The building's owners had one specific goal for the deal. They wanted the Arts District to have its gathering space back.
A storefront that was passed along
Golden Hour Flower Studio at 331 Harrison St. got its space through a different kind of handoff. The Wednesday Journal's profile says owner Audra Fullerton's aunt first looked at the vacant storefront for a chocolate business. It turned out too small for her commercial kitchen, so Fullerton and her husband went to see it instead. Fullerton told the paper she lives about a five-minute walk away and had "only wanted to do it on Harrison."
She signed the lease at the end of May. A small crew finished the buildout in about 12 weeks, and the shop was open by mid-September. Fullerton describes her arrangements as "whimsical and loose," with mauves, peaches and neutral tones instead of bright colors. All of her flowers come from farms in Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan, bought through Chicago wholesalers. The shop also stocks gifts like candles, incense, houseplants, socks, tea towels and one-of-a-kind greeting cards. You can pick up a hostess gift there on your way to a Harrison Street dinner.
The pie shop with a new owner
The third handoff took the longest to arrange. Michelle Mascaro founded Happy Apple Pie Shop in 2015, and work on its current home at 226 Harrison St. began a year later. From the beginning, its mission has been to employ people with and without disabilities. In August, the Wednesday Journal reported that Mascaro, who had been looking for a buyer since early 2025, was handing the shop to the Chicago-area chapter of Easterseals. Easterseals agreed to keep the current staff.
The plans for the shop add to what it already does. Pastry chef Margie Sprehe will run daily operations, and Easterseals is bringing in Dark Matter Coffee for espresso drinks. Sarah Stegner of Prairie Grass Cafe and Michael Ciapciak of Bang Pie and Biscuits are also partners. In August, the espresso machine was still waiting on renovation permits. Easterseals said it would set a reopening date after a short closure.
We haven't found a public announcement of the storefront's reopening date. The Village's new-business license list, updated October 5, names Easter Seals Metropolitan Chicago as the owner of the bakery at 226 Harrison. The Happy Apple website is taking Thanksgiving 2026 orders for pickup Thanksgiving week. You can order by phone at 708-606-0037, and gluten-less and vegan pies are available with 48 hours' notice. Call before you walk over.
| Storefront | Before 2026 | Who arranged the handoff | Status as of mid-October |
|---|---|---|---|
| 905 S. Lombard Ave. | Buzz Cafe, then Kribi Coffee, which left in fall 2025 | Former Buzz owner and a longtime district landlord bought the building back | Blackberry Market, open since Sept. 15 |
| 331 Harrison St. | Vacant | A relative passed on the space; the new owner lives five minutes away | Golden Hour Flower Studio, open since mid-September |
| 226 Harrison St. | Happy Apple Pie Shop under its founder | Founder chose Easterseals, which kept the staff | Thanksgiving orders open; storefront reopening date not announced |
October 24 is the first Saturday they share
Harvest on Harrison runs Saturday, October 24, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Most of the official programming is on and around the Village Church lawn. Here's how the day lays out according to the Oak Park Arts District's event page:
- 11 a.m. Trunk-or-treat opens in the Village Church parking lot and runs until 1 p.m. The DJ and bounce house on the church lawn last all day. Get a bingo scavenger hunt card at the Arts District tent.
- Noon. The costume contest on the Village Church lawn has categories for kids, adults and pets.
- Early afternoon. Walk the storefronts. Slowfire Ceramics is hosting a free art activity and a costume selfie spot. Stylz4Kids and Kadampa Meditation Center are handing out candy, and Kadampa's gift shop and bookstore will be open.
- 1:30 to 4 p.m. Bead In Hand holds a Day of the Dead make-and-take workshop where you build a remembrance dangle around a carved skull bead. It costs $10 per item, and materials are included.
- Anytime. Dancing Krow Studio has an artist reception for its exhibit "Obscure," plus a workshop where you make a stick-figure sculpture in the style of The Blair Witch Project. Candy and a Long Grove apple pie will be served.
Between stops, the 2026 Sculpture Walk is right there on the street. The Oak Park Area Arts Council organizes it with Village funding. This year's 13 juried sculptures are split between Harrison Street and downtown around Lake and Marion. They include Salvador Jimenez-Flores's "Caminantes." The free Otocast app has artist descriptions of each piece, and the Arts District lists the exhibit through April 2027.
The two Saturdays after that
The Arts District's next two events show what the new storefronts will be part of through the end of the year.
- Saturday with Santa, November 21, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Pictures with Santa, a toy drive, letters to Santa and crafts, a Candy Cane Walk, face painting, local art vendors, and the Toddlin' Around Town Scavenger Hunt along Harrison.
- Art and Wine Walk, December 12, 3 to 7 p.m. Tickets are $65. They cover 13 tastings chosen by Anfora Wine Merchants at 18 stops on Harrison, five small-bite stations, a glass and tote, and a bottle of wine you pick up later at Anfora. The district expects it to sell out.
The Art and Wine Walk is the event most dependent on a full block. A route with 18 stops only works when the storefronts along it are open. Before this fall, the corner at Lombard had been empty since Kribi left, and 331 Harrison was vacant. December will be the first wine walk since the old Buzz corner and 331 Harrison opened again. Happy Apple's storefront may or may not be back by then.
Each of these openings came about because someone who already cared about the district stepped in. Building owners recruited the tenant, a family member passed along the space, and a founder chose a successor. The brick buildings with garden units that drew Fullerton to Harrison are the kind of property that has to be bought, held and re-leased one tenant at a time. Naja Morris works with owners and small investors on the near-south side and in Oak Park who think about that question. If you're considering buying, holding or repositioning a mixed-use building in a district like this one, Naja Morris and the MB Team can walk you through how those deals come together. Schedule a consultation, or ask Naja for access to her private listings.
