The corner room at 905 S. Lombard Ave. was Buzz Cafe for nearly three decades. Buzz closed in 2023, and Kribi Coffee moved in for a short run before leaving in the fall of 2025. After Kribi left, Buzz Cafe's former owner and her husband teamed up with longtime Arts District landlord Mark Finger and bought the property back. Then they went looking for a tenant that would run it the way Buzz had.
That tenant is Blackberry Market, and its arrival fits a pattern in the Arts District this year. Three of the district's storefronts got new operators in 2026. In each case, the deal ran through someone who already had a stake in the district: a former owner, a resident who lives a few minutes' walk away, or a nonprofit that agreed to keep every employee. Three storefronts changed hands, and all three stayed with people connected to the district.
The cafe corner was refilled by its old owners
Blackberry Market started in downtown Glen Ellyn in 2012, founded by Anna Davidson. The Oak Park shop is its fifth location, after Glen Ellyn, La Grange, Naperville and Oak Brook. The deal moved quickly. Wednesday Journal reported that Davidson met with the former Buzz owner one week after the first email in January, and Blackberry Market signed its lease in February.
Davidson told the paper the room's past was part of why she said yes: "I also loved the space that was available and the history of it being a cafe for so long."
The cafe soft-opened in early September and held its grand opening on Tuesday, Sept. 15. Its wholesale coffee partner, Intelligentsia, poured free drip coffee all day. The rear patio has a new mural of blackberries and bees, a nod to the Buzz years. General manager Wilson Loibner is Davidson's nephew and has six years with the company. He describes a menu with nut-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian and vegan options next to the regular bakery case, which matters if you're planning a coffee meetup or ordering office breakfast for a mixed group.
The building's owners wanted another cafe like Buzz on that corner, so they chose the tenant and recruited it themselves.
The empty room on Harrison went to a neighbor
A few blocks west, 331 Harrison St. sat vacant earlier this year. The first person to look at it was Christina Nixon, who was scouting a home for her chocolate business, Chocolat by Christina. The space was too small for the commercial kitchen she needed. Nixon's niece, Oak Park resident Audra Fullerton, took a look next.
Fullerton spent ten years as a professional actor in New York and started the baking blog The Baker Chick in 2011. She began growing cut flowers in her backyard in 2022 and sold them through a Facebook group before deciding to open a shop. She was set on the location before she found the room. "I just knew I only wanted to do it on Harrison," she told Wednesday Journal, and she added that she lives "just a five-minute walk from here."
She signed the lease at the end of May, finished a buildout of about 12 weeks with a small crew, and soft-opened Golden Hour Flower Studio in mid-September. The shop's flowers come through Chicago-based wholesalers from farms in Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan. Fullerton's arrangements run to muted mauves, peaches and neutrals rather than bright colors. She also built the shop to handle hostess gifts, with candles, incense, houseplants, socks, tea towels and one-of-a-kind cards alongside the flowers. Monthly floral subscriptions are available too. She plans to add small classes in flower arranging, wreath making and pressed-flower art.
The Harrison Street storefront went to someone who lives a five-minute walk away, and she found it through family who had looked at it first.
The pie shop changed owners and its staff stayed on
At 226 Harrison St., the Happy Apple Pie Shop has been an Arts District fixture since Michelle Mascaro founded it in 2015. It runs as a social enterprise that employs people with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities. Oak Park Wire reported in August that Easterseals Serving Chicagoland and Greater Rockford had bought the shop. Easterseals approached Mascaro about the sale. She agreed after confirming the nonprofit could run the shop on its own and would keep every existing employee.
"This seemed very much like a natural fit for us," Easterseals president and CEO Sara Ray Hallman said in the report.
Pastry chef Margie Sprehe now runs the shop day to day, and pies are still the core of the menu. The new partners are Dark Matter Coffee for an espresso program, two-time James Beard Award winner Sarah Stegner of Prairie Grass Cafe in Northbrook, and Michael Ciapciak of Bang Bang Pie & Biscuits in Logan Square. The shop's website says its fruit comes from sources that include Ellis Family Farms in Benton Harbor, Michigan, and promises "No frozen fillings. No shortcuts."
The timing matters for Thanksgiving. The shop's Thanksgiving 2026 page asks for orders before Nov. 15, with pickup Thanksgiving week. The menu lists pumpkin, Signature Apple, pecan, chocolate chess and sweet potato pies. Gluten-less and vegan pies need at least 48 hours' notice. To order or ask what's available, call the shop at 708-606-0037.
Three storefronts at a glance
| Storefront | Address | What was there before | How it changed hands | Status this fall |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blackberry Market | 905 S. Lombard Ave. | Buzz Cafe, then Kribi Coffee | Former Buzz owners and landlord Mark Finger bought the building and recruited the tenant | Grand opening Sept. 15, 2026 |
| Golden Hour Flower Studio | 331 Harrison St. | Vacant storefront | Found through family; owner lives a five-minute walk away | Soft open mid-September 2026 |
| Happy Apple Pie Shop | 226 Harrison St. | Same shop, founded 2015 | Sold to Easterseals, which agreed to keep existing staff | Taking Thanksgiving 2026 orders |
Two holiday dates that run through these storefronts
The Oak Park Arts District Business Association holds two signature events each holiday season. This is the first year all three of these storefronts are part of them under their current operators.
Saturday with Santa, Nov. 21, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event page lists pictures with Santa, a toy drive, letters to Santa and a craft, a Candy Cane Walk, face painting, local art vendors, food and drink specials, and the Toddlin' Around Town Scavenger Hunt along Harrison. If you're bringing kids, here's one way to plan the day:
- Start at Blackberry Market on Lombard for breakfast. The allergy-friendly menu makes it easier to feed a group.
- Walk west on Harrison for Santa photos and the scavenger hunt.
- Stop at Golden Hour Flower Studio for a card or a small gift if you have holiday visits coming up.
- End at 226 Harrison to pick up a pie, or check what's in the bakery case.
The Art and Wine Walk, Dec. 12. The association runs this ticketed walk each December with Anfora Wine Merchants, the Italian-focused wine shop in downtown Oak Park's Pleasant District. According to the event page:
- Tickets are $55 through Dec. 1 and $65 after that.
- Each ticket includes a wine glass, about a dozen tastings, a wine tote, a box of water, and a bottle of wine to pick up later at Anfora.
- Small bites, art exhibits and shopping are spread along the route.
- Check-in starts at 2:30 p.m. at 911 S. Lombard Ave., a few doors from Blackberry Market. Guests get an event map and an assigned first stop.
- Tickets can't be refunded, but you can transfer them to anyone.
The page also says the walk is expected to sell out, so the Dec. 1 price change is the date to put on your calendar.
Elsewhere in the village, Wednesday Journal reported in October that the Oak Park Avenue streetscape work was projected to reach substantial completion by Thanksgiving. Some landscaping and pavement markings could continue into the new year.
At Camille Canales Group, we keep track of who opens each storefront as well as what opens there, because the shops and cafes on a block shape everyday life around it. If you're in south Oak Park and want to know what your home near the Arts District is worth, book a consultation or request a free home valuation.
