Feb. 13—Jennifer Wallace and her daughter, Julianne Storm, opened their kids' clothing store in Mahomet just a year ago, and they already need more space.

Their shop, The Little Things, has opened in its new, larger location at 1826 Patton Drive, Mahomet.

The store carries clothing from sizes newborn through 6 for girls and boys, plus some preemie sizes, Wallace said.e

The store also has toys and books, a new section with some maternity robes and nursing gowns, gift items for new moms and an expanded children's Illini section, she said.

The Little Things began as an online business in August 2021 and moved into its first store location at 601 E. Main St., Mahomet, in February 2022.

The store closed temporarily at the end of December to get ready for the move.

Wallace said she once operated a gift shop in southern Illinois and her daughter liked to go there with her when she was younger.

"We knew eventually we'd like to do something like this," she said of their new store.

Both mother and daughter formerly lived in Mahomet and currently live in Monticello.

Store hours will start out being 10 a.m. to 5 pm. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays.

More merchandise will be coming in, and a grand opening celebration will be scheduled for a later date.

Ginger Ale's update

Champaign County's first Ginger Ale's specialty beverage shop is coming to Savoy.

Local real estate broker Alex Ruggieri and family have the franchise rights for all of Champaign County and have nailed down their first location — 405 S. Dunlap St., Savoy — near Walmart.

This first location has been more than a year in the planning stage.

Ruggieri and his family announced in February 2022 that they planned to open their first Ginger Ale's in either Champaign or Savoy, but hoped to place shops in both.

Whether Champaign will be next for a Ginger Ale's hasn't been decide. Ruggieri also said they'd like to open future Ginger Ale's locations not only in Champaign but in Urbana and several other Champaign County towns.

For the Savoy location, the sale of the property was just finalized about a week ago, he said.

A building permit hasn't yet been issued by the village, but pending no delays, Ruggieri said he'd like to be open in later spring or summer of this year.

Ginger Ale's is based in Olney, and serves sodas, teas, specialty coffees and espressos, smoothies and frappes, with more than 75 flavor shot choices.

Pick something cool

Nominations have opened for the Illinois Manufacturers' Association's 2023 Makers Madness competition.

You can nominate a product to be the "coolest thing made in Illinois" through Feb. 19.

Following the close of nominations, there will be three rounds of voting to choose the top 16, top eight and top four, and the winner will be announced March 29.

Several products made in the local area were nominated last year, with the 2022 winner being Rivian's all-electric R1T truck made in Normal.

For more information and to nominate a product: ttps://makersmadnessil.com

Summer jobs

The Champaign Park District will be holding a summer job fair from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Feb. 18 at the new Martens Center, 1515 N. Market St., C.

The park district will be providing information about more than 400 summer positions available.

Both the Champaign and Urbana park districts also have information about their upcoming summer jobs on their websites.

Expanding

Premier Cooperative, Champaign is poised to acquire Cowden-based Miller Oil Co., Premier announced Thursday.

Miller Oil owner Roy Miller and his employees will join the staff of Premier Cooperative.

Miller Oil, founded in 1970, is a supplier of fuel, oils and propane.

Premier Cooperative is a farmer-owned cooperative that provides agricultural commodities and energy products.