Stories Behind The Storefront

What makes Evanston's Central Street one of the North Shore's favorite destinations? It's the uniquely stroll-able blend of one-of-a-kind shops, restaurants, salons and healthcare centers and is even home to one of the area's most interesting museums, the Mitchell Museum of the American Indian. On April 27, this charming district will celebrate Central Street Spring Community Day.* In honor of the event, three proprietors kindly gave us a behind-the-scenes look at life on Central Street. Meet Todd Ruppenthal of Happy Husky Bakery, Lynn Bednar of Walsh Natural Health, and Rachel Hershinow of Stella.

Todd Ruppenthal - Happy Husky Bakery:

Q: How did you become the owner of Happy Husky Bakery?

A: The idea of creating and baking dog treats came about with my second rescue dog, Ginger. She came into the rescue very emaciated. When I adopted her, she was still very underweight and not particularly interested in food. I was going to the big box stores and buying bags of treats and bringing them home and she would eat one and then she wouldn't eat any more. I had an entire cabinet of opened bags of dog treats. Then I noticed an email from a rescue organization with a dog treat recipe.

So one day, I made the treats in that recipe. She was eating them consistently and finally starting to maintain weight. Well, that became a part-time hobby with me making treats for friends for occasions, but not really doing it on any scale at all.

[My business partner and I] were meeting at Prairie Joe's because we loved this business district. We had lunch there and started to walk down the street. And my business partner, Steve, saw a storefront for lease and he glanced at it and said, "You know, this would be a great place for a pet bakery."   That wasn't anything that we had discussed. It came so out of the blue that I just laughed and said, "Yeah, we could call it the Happy Husky Bakery" and we walked back to the car. I got in the car. He got in the car. He didn't turn on the car. And we both sat there very quietly for a while and then looked at each other and said, "We could do that."

We were two weeks away from opening the store when the bottom fell out of the economy. And we thought, "We just put all this money into remodeling this space and all of these things. Do we want to throw more money into this process knowing that the economy is horrible right now?" And then we thought, "You know what? We're never going to know if we don't try." So we moved full steam ahead. The animal owners in the community have been wonderful in supporting us.

We've been very fortunate. We have a Cordon Bleu-trained pastry chef who makes our treats. We knew from the beginning that we wanted very healthy treats, but also fun treats, that when you look at them they look like a people bakery.

Q: They do. I've always wanted to try them.

A: I've actually tasted everything we make in the case with the exception of one salmon treat that smells horrible when you bake it and it's just something I don't want to try. They're all human-grade ingredients. There are no preservatives. There is no bleached flour. There is no added sugar. There's no added salt. We use natural sweeteners, honey, molasses. Even our decorations are not the typical cake-type decorations. We use a yogurt-based product to keep the sugar to its bare minimum but we also wanted it to look fun and interesting to the owner. We really wanted them to be special and that was our mission from the start.

Q: What is most exciting about coming in every day?

A: It's the customers and the dogs. I love to have conversations about pets' health and I'm truly interested in what people are doing with their dogs. We have a good amount of neighborhood kids who come in to see Astaire and Ginger after school. A couple of times kids came in who didn't have dogs and wanted them and their parents used Astaire and Ginger to teach their children about the responsibility of having a pet. That's extremely rewarding.

Because of the uniqueness of the store, we have a lot of people who bring friends who are visiting. Even people who don't have dogs feel compelled to bring their friends into the store. That's a really wonderful thing. We've worked so hard on building our reputation.

Q: Let's say ...  I'm asking this for a friend. Do you give advice about overweight pets?

A: Most definitely. I have both ends of the scale in my own dogs. Ginger, I have a hard time keeping weight on. Astaire, I have to watch very carefully that he doesn't gain a lot of weight.

Q: How do you choose your products?

A: I go to family-owned businesses and small manufacturers and really look for the unique. We test products before we put them on the shelves. I either try them with Astaire and Ginger or we have such great customers that if I feel a particular product is one a customer might be interested in, I get an evaluation product from the company and give it to that customer and say, "Use this and let me know the pros and cons." Only the good recommendations get on our shelves.

Q: Do you or do Astaire and Ginger have a favorite product?

A: Our number one selling treat is called the "Crazy Twist." It is flax and chicken broth-based. Ginger, as I mentioned, is very particular and that's her favorite. A very unique product is our dog birthday cakes. The base of our cake is carob. It's a substitute for chocolate that's very safe for dogs, so the cake itself is like a doggy chocolate cake. It's very much like the consistency of a brownie. The frosting is our own recipe. It's something I played around with in the kitchen until we got it right. It's based in mashed potatoes, cream cheese and yogurt. So it's very healthy. It looks just like a cake for people. It draws customers from the suburbs, from the far south side of Chicago, the far north end of the North Shore. We've had people travel quite some distance.

But there are many products beyond the baked things. We look for benefit to the customer and make sure that we're really giving them value. Many of the toys that we have in the store are not inexpensive, but I know from my testing that they're going to last three to four times longer than a toy that costs half as much. It is very important to us that we're providing products that meet and exceed the customer's expectations.

Happy Husky Bakery is located at 2601 Prairie Avenue, Evanston.
For more information: (847) 425-1100 or www.happyhuskybakery.com


Lynn Bednar - Walsh Natural Health:

Q: How did you become the owner of Walsh Natural Health?

A: Ten to twelve years back, I had some health issues of my own. I was disappointed in what western medicine had to offer me and I started exploring different ways of taking care of myself. I did everything from hydrotherapy to Reiki to using supplements to acupuncture. I developed a strong interest and actually intended to get a part time job [at Walsh Natural] because I felt I might want to do something in this area as a profession. And then I found out the store was for sale and because I had a business background I decided that purchasing it would be a good thing for me to do.

Q: How long has it been?

A: The store has been here for nineteen years and I've owned it for eight years.

Q: What is most exciting about coming in every day?

A: I love helping people to solve their health problems and to support them in whatever they're doing because, of course, many of our customers use traditional medical things as well. Assisting them in doing something that's complementary to that is fun.

I feel we've had a big impact on people's health in a positive manner. I have a lot of eighty-something-year-old customers who come in here. They look great. They're active. They're fit. They're sharp. It's very rewarding to see the positive impact you have.

Q: It's so hard to figure out all the options on one's own. Your customers must be very happy to have a resource.

A: Our philosophy is that health is the vehicle from which you do all else. Whatever you want to do in this world, having your health is something that's necessary. So we feel we're contributing to people's lives by assisting them with their health.

Q: I've heard that you and your staff really get to know your customers and build a relationship.

A: We do. We have customers who have been with us ever since the original owner opened the store. So we have people who have been customers for almost twenty years.

Q: Do you have a favorite item or one that's most popular?

A: Our weight loss supplements are really popular right now. That's probably because of the Dr. Oz effect. But in terms of a favorite, gosh, I couldn't name a favorite. There are literally thousands of products here. People always ask, "What's the one thing I should be taking?" There are several supplements that are very foundational: fish oil, a vitamin and a probiotic. I feel that most people can benefit from taking those three things.

Q: Good to know. I like the word "foundational" for it, too, because that's exactly what one needs. You need to know where to start and how to build from there.

A: Right. And it's sort of the blessing and curse of Dr. Oz. A lot of times, people's entry point is coming in because they want the weight loss supplement that he talked about. That's a good point for us to start a relationship with a customer, talk to them, show them that we're knowledgeable, ask them what their needs are, see if this thing that they're asking for really fits their needs and whether it is going to help them and maybe give them some other suggestions, too, about exercise and healthy eating that, of course, all go with weight loss.

Q: Please let us know why customers should be sure to stop in to Walsh Natural Health, especially if they haven't already.

A: On Community Day we have a three-day skin care sale. Customers will get a discount on any skin or body product that we carry. We even have supplements that are for healthy skin. So that's one additional benefit for coming in that day.

But I would say, I just consider it a better way to take care of yourself. Rather than reacting to a disease, really bolster the health on a regular basis with a healthy diet, exercise and supplements. It is really a much better and cheaper way to take care of yourself.

Q: What else should we know about Central Street and Community Day?  

A: It's funny because before I owned the store, I used to come here to walk around just because I loved this area. There are so many great finds. There is a cute store that sells all southwestern jewelry and artifacts. It's very unique. There's a little gelato shop. There are places to stop, grab a bite to eat, grab a snack. It's a great afternoon. The stores are really unique and the shop owners are very friendly.

Community Day is a great opportunity for people to come out and say, yes, we really want our whole community to benefit from this. It's just a great Evanston event. We hope people from other suburbs will support it as well.

Walsh Natural Health is located at 2116 Central Street, Evanston.
For more information: (847) 864-1600 or www.walshnatural.com


Rachel Hershinow - Stella:

Q: How did you become the owner of Stella?

A: I bought the store from the previous owner eleven years ago. I stumbled upon the opportunity. It was the right place and right time in my life. I have always had a passion for creative unusual things - clothes, jewelry, home accessories - and I just went for it. It was the best thing I have ever done.

Q: How do you find items for your store?

A: I go on buying trips several times a year. I go to New York. I go to Las Vegas. I go to art fairs. I work with a lot of local artists and a big part of my store is local artists. One day next month, I am doing a local pop-up art show here in the store. I always look for people. I am always on the hunt.

Q: What is most exciting about coming in every day?

A: I just love what I do. The people. I love the creative challenge. I love creating outfits for people, putting together a whole look. I like accessorizing someone's home. It's kind of marrying all of my passions under one roof. I love the people I work with. It's like a women's forum. I always feel like the customers are interesting. It's like a safe, warm women's forum where people can get real chatty and talk about politics or talk about the best pedicure they've ever had. It's a real girly kind of place.

Q: Do you have a favorite or most popular item?

A: Clothing is my number one. [Stella has] clothing, jewelry, gifts and home accessories, but clothing is my number one attraction followed by jewelry and everything else. I love finding new things. The challenge every buying season is to incorporate new things and to keep people oohing and ahhing. I am always looking for the new to keep people interested.

Q: Please let us know why customers should be sure to stop in to Stella, especially if they haven't already.

A: I really try to make a personal connection and really listen to what customers are looking for. Stella is a place where people can feel really comfortable shopping and find things that are unexpected and different from a department store or big box store.

Q: What else should we know about Central Street's Community Day?

A: We all decided it was a fantastic idea because it is a way to give back to the community that has been supporting all the local businesses on the street. If someone is patronizing my store and they're giving to me and helping me realize my dream, then I want to give back to what's important to them as well.

Stella is located at 2116 Central Street, Evanston.
For more information: (847) 864-5565 or www.stellaevanston.com

*For more about Central Street Community Day: http://centralstreet-evanston.com/ and the Evanston Patch companion piece Central Street's Community Day Shares the Magic.