Valerie Vedral, the owner and operator of the Vulgar Vegan bakery, said she almost didn’t join the Brookfield Shops.
“I was part of the very first season of the Berwyn Shops back in 2022,” she told the Landmark. “I heard about the [Brookfield Shops], but it sounded like it was going to be a lot like Berwyn, and since I had already done that, I had reservations about wanting to do an incubator that is geared toward businesses that are just starting out.”
Now, Vedral’s business is slated to open this month at Brookfield’s own retail incubator near Progress Park. She said she was convinced to apply when she heard Brookfield would be more flexible with the rules.
“Shortly after the first season started, they had decided that it would be great if the businesses wanted to be open on other days. It didn’t just have to be Friday, Saturday, Sunday. When they told me that, I was like, ‘If you would have said that from the beginning, I would have absolutely applied to be part of it.’”
Vedral said she hopes the opportunity will give her a chance to see if a brick-and-mortar location will be feasible for the vegan bakery, which specializes in cupcakes but also offers other baked goods.
She said she expects to start by opening the shop five days per week, closing on Mondays and Tuesdays so she can pack orders placed through Market Wagon, an online farmers market platform.
“After we see how that’s going to shake out, I don’t know if we’d be open seven days a week, but we will adjust as needed once we see what that demand is like,” she said. “We might also do split hours, because I know Four Star Coffee is there, and our products like cinnamon rolls, especially, and muffins go great with a cup of coffee. For us, it makes sense to be open when they’re open.”
The Vulgar Vegan is the only newcomer to the Shops that will open at the ‘graduate’ level alongside Four Star and two other vendors that are remaining at the incubator through the end of 2026.
Vedral said her biggest worry about joining the first cohort had to do with the curriculum related to running a business that new vendors usually go through. The Vulgar Vegan also operates a private kitchen at The Hatchery, a ghost kitchen facility on Chicago’s West Side, where Vedral said she’s already been required to take similar classes — not to mention when she opened at the Berwyn Shops.
“A lot of them were like, how to get business insurance, which you had to have to open in the first place,” she said. “Some of the other things were very Business 101, and I was like, ‘I really don’t want to do this again,’ because it was redundant for me.”
She said she also worried about taking a spot at the shops from another vendor who would just be starting out before she heard about the graduate level.
Despite her general confidence and business know-how, Vedral said she was worried she had bombed her pitch before the community jury that selects the members of the next cohort.
“I was so nervous. I think part of it, too, is that you pitch in the village chamber, so all the judges are way up above you [at the dais], and it felt weird. All the other pitches I’ve done, I’ve been at the same level of people,” she said. “I would say this pitch was far more nerve-wracking for me, in part, because I live in Brookfield, and it was something that I really wanted to get into. Brookfield has always been in the back of my mind as a place where I would open a restaurant or cafe — it’s something I’ve always talked about over the years — so the pressure was high for me.”
Now that she’s part of the program, Vedral said she’s excited to continue creating innovative vegan cupcake flavors, including unique flavors that customers will only be able to find in Brookfield.
She said she’s most looking forward to being able to interact directly with customers and have a space where people can gather and relax.
“I know it’s a small space, but if there is a way, I would like to figure out how to design it so that I could have a mini couch in there,” she said. “Go get your coffee from Four Star, stop at New Book Joy to pick up a book, and then come in here and get a cinnamon roll or cupcake, sit down, and relax for a while.”
