Former Loves Park hemp store relocates to Rockford, adds cafe

ROCKFORD — After nearly three years of operating The Hemp Center of Northern Illinois in Loves Park, owner Lola Renner has relocated her business into a larger space at 6830 Spring Creek Road in Rockford.

The new space, about 1,000-square-feet larger than its previous location, neighbors Renner's other restaurant, Josef Barbados, a steak, seafood and oyster bar at 6860 Spring Creek Road. The two businesses share the outdoor patio seating in the rear.

With the additional space, the Hemp Center will feature a cafe offering soups, sandwiches, fresh-pressed juices, smoothies, teas, coffees and expresso all sold behind a custom-made 29-foot-long neon-lit bar.

The Hemp Center's new home used to be a Subway sandwich shop, making it an ideal place to expand.

"You're doing soups and sandwiches in a soups and sandwiches shop," Renner said. "The water is ready to go, the kitchen is set up, and the bathrooms are already handicapped-accessible."

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Renner and her business partner, Taylor Seitz, are still working on the menu of foods the cafe will offer, but Renner said the sandwiches and soups will be of a higher quality than what is served at a typical cafe.

"Our soup stocks will be made at Josef's and brought over here," she said. "It's kind of neat because you don't really get to have a cafe that has chefs of that (quality) making soups and sandwiches. These guys have some really good experience."

Renner also said none of the food items served in the cafe will be infused.

The Hemp Center is not a dispensary. Instead, the store carries an array of CBD products meant to help alleviate pain, boost the immune system and enhance people's mood.

Renner said she and her staff are dedicated to educating customers about the health benefits of using and consuming CBD or cannabidiol, an active ingredient in cannabis that is derived from the hemp plant but does not cause a high and is not addictive.

"We also have beauty products," she said. "We're also right next door to theXperience (Salon and Spa), and we're going to be working together."

The retail portion of the Hemp Center is open. The cafe is expected to be open by Oct. 1.

Also in the near future, customers can look forward to a poetry night and live music performed by local artists.

"There's so many different things that you can do here," Renner said.

With the addition of the cafe, Renner said she will be hiring six more employees for a total staff of 10.

Chris Green: 815-987-1241; cgreen@rrstar.com; @chrisfgreen

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: The Hemp Center of Northern Illinois relocates to Rockford