Brookfield officials are looking to emulate the success of Berwyn Shops with the village’s own temporary incubator program for local retail businesses. If all goes according to plan, a first cohort of about six shops will open in June in Progress Park at Eight Corners.
Community Development Director Libby Popovic told village trustees Oct. 28 the Brookfield Shops program would operate similarly to Berwyn’s incubator program and the Boardwalk Shops in Batavia, which feature a number of small shed-like buildings where local residents can experience running their own shop.
Although the Berwyn Shops have allowed Brookfield residents to set up shop there this year, this would be Brookfield’s first attempt at running its own program.
The plan as it now stands is for the shops to open June 15, 2025, and run through Dec. 15, 2025. The shops would be open on Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Sundays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Popovic said village staff thought six or seven shops, each about 15 feet by 15 feet, “could fit comfortably” in Progress Park, which the village would lease from the First National Bank of Brookfield for three years for just $1 per month.
“Progress Park is a perfect location because there’s a lot of traffic that goes through,” she said. “There’s a lot of small businesses. It fits right in with the entire vision.”
When the shops get up and running, Popovic said tenants would pay $500 in monthly rent to Brookfield to simulate a real business’s costs. Altogether, this will generate about $18,000 for the village across each annual cohort, which Brookfield can reinvest into the shops the next year.
“It’s intended to be sustainable for at least three years, if not longer,” Popovic said.
The project’s estimated budget is $85,000, excluding any potential sponsorships Brookfield could secure. The sheds themselves would each cost about $12,000 to $15,000, Popovic said. After the first year, once the sheds and selection process are in place, she said staff estimated the program would cost about $8,000 to $10,000 per year.
“One of our [economic development] commissioners with the Bank of Brookfield has indicated that the bank would be willing to sponsor at least one of these sheds,” Popovic told trustees. “We’d like to ideally get at least two sponsors for the sheds. That would increase our budget and allow us to do some of the additional landscaping and other items that we need.”
Popovic said the goal is for Brookfield to finalize the lease for Progress Park and the project’s overall budget by December so construction can start before January. By the end of January, the village should launch its marketing campaign, which will explain the program to residents and potential applicants, and start accepting applications.
Popovic said Brookfield should also assemble a committee in January to decide which applicants will get to open a shop; the jury will be composed of Brookfield residents, excluding village staff and anyone involved with village government, like trustees or commissioners.
She said the second phase of the project will run from February through April, with the jury selecting a cohort, the village hosting training and classes, and construction reaching its final steps, like the installation of utilities.
The classes for vendors “would entail everything from walking them through how to physically put together their site to what is a business plan, how do they account for their overhead, CAM [common area maintenance] charges and so forth,” she said.
In response to a question from Trustee Julie Narimatsu, Popovic said staff would handle the trainings at first but seek to hire a third-party educator for future cohorts once the budget allows for it. She said staff would run the trainings based on recommendations from the Berwyn Shops.
She said Brookfield will work with the chosen vendors to finalize the decor of each shop by the end of April, “either by giving the shop owners a small stipend to help them out or giving them specific direction, because this is intended to be very uniform.”
As the program runs throughout the second half of 2025, Popovic said Brookfield would conduct performance evaluations of each vendor so they can hone their craft and see how they like running a business.
“It’s really intended to be an incubator program to help small businesses and entrepreneurs with their business, to try it out, test it out in a small brick and mortar and then make the decision [of if] they want to expand that.”
Popovic said the Brookfield Chamber of Commerce had “given its blessing” to the Brookfield Shops project and may join forces with the village after the “trial run” of the first year.
In response to another question from Narimatsu, Popovic said the sheds are “completely transferrable” once the lease on Progress Park is up if Brookfield finds a better location or wants to expand the number of shops.
Trustees discussed whether the shops should face outward toward the street to attract business or inward toward each other to foster a sense of community among the vendors. Each orientation would come with its own set of pros and cons: while shops facing outward would be more accessible, those facing inward might be safer for shoppers.
Trustees didn’t come to a final conclusion on orientation, but the board members agreed it was an exciting program for Brookfield.
“I see us needing a bigger site in the future. I think this is going to be so big, but this is the place where we’ll say it got started,” said Village President Michael Garvey.
“When I first heard about the idea, I loved it, and I’m glad that the [economic development commission] and staff have been able to move it forward,” he added. “I know it’s a very ambitious timetable, because you guys have a lot going on [with] holidays and everything else … but I love the aggressive schedule.”
