New stores breathing new life into Rockford area's CherryVale Mall
If you have some back-to-school or early Christmas shopping to do, you might try swinging by CherryVale Mall.
Several new stores recently have opened in and outside of the shopping center, boosting CherryVale's occupancy rate to a healthy 86%, well above the 78% occupancy it experienced in 2020 — the year of the pandemic — and its normal occupancy rate of 82%.
More and more locally-owned and operated businesses are turning to the mall as a place to call home, said General Manager Justin Shea.
"I think the community is getting more into entrepreneurship," he said. "They walk in. We discuss opportunities and we come to a mutual agreement. And we help them with marketing with our social media platforms and with our website."
More: Stores driving new economy at Rockford area's CherryVale Mall have this in common
'Come here to eat and drink'
Among the new businesses is the much-anticipated El Vallarta Sports Bar & Grill.
The restaurant, located in the former Granite City space in the District at CherryVale, recently held its grand opening.
The upscale, family-owned bar and restaurant offers seafood with a Nayarit-style Mexican cuisine as well sushi, pasta and live entertainment.
Speaking through his daughter, Liz Cruz Rebollar for translation, El Vallarta co-owner Tollo Cruz said he chose to open up his business at the mall because of its daily foot and vehicle traffic as well as its proximity to Six Flags Hurricane Harbor.
"You can cool off there and come here to eat and drink after," he said.
A chair for everyone
For Honeycomb salon owner Jenna Scott, coming to the Rockford area mall was a way to serve an underserved population.
Located in the JCPenney wing, Honeycomb specializes in textured services for all hair types, including braiding, extensions, cuts, colors and nails.
"I specialize in serving inter-racial families with hair texture differences," she said, adding that not all salons where she's worked in her 13 years as a licensed hairstylist placed the same importance on customers.
"The treatment of the customers that they had there is what motivated me to start my own salon," she said. "My experience there was they weren't attempting to do certain hair types.
"It feels terrible as a customer to see everybody coming out looking so beautiful and you go in and right away before you even get in the chair they were like, 'Oh. We don't do that hair type.'"
Scott said Honeycomb is a welcoming experience where there is a chair for one and all.
Finally operating under one roof
Rockford T-Shirt Company isn't a new business at the mall, but it recently expanded.
The store is a one-stop shop for printing needs. It's a familiar business with familiar faces operating in a new and larger location in the old Jos. A. Bank space across from Barnes & Noble in the District at CherryVale.
Store owner Don Sylvester said Rockford T-Shirt Company is a family-owned conglomeration of several businesses including Crazy Brush and Crazy Teez, which both operated at different locations in the mall and Rockford T-Shirt Company, which was operating on 28th Avenue.
"We're all finally operating under one roof," Sylvester said.
Rockford T-Shirt Company boasts a full graphics department and can handle a variety of jobs including embroidery, screen printing, direct-to-garment printing and heat transfer vinyl, or HTV, the use of a special polyurethane and a heat-activated adhesive used to apply designs onto materials and fabrics such as T-shirts.
"We can cater to the bigger orders for screen printing, and we're still able to handle the 'I need three birthday shirts for this weekend,' type of thing," Sylvester said.
Other recent openings at CherryVale Mall include:
Aladdin’s Jewelry, which offers a selection of color memory pendants, 10k & 14K gold, and 925 sterling silver, plus jewelry repair services.
The Arch Booth provides eyebrow threading, tinting and filling services, in addition to facial waxing and eyelash tinting.
Father & Son Jewelers is located in the upper-level center court area of the mall.
Little People’s Closet, which sells children's apparel, opened this month on the lower level next to the children's play area.
Max Custom Tailor provides custom tailoring and alterations in addition to hand-tailored men’s suits, sportscoats, vests, shirts, and pants.
Next Level sells urban clothing for the entire family, including shoes and accessories.
Chris Green: 815-987-1241; cgreen@rrstar.com; @chrisfgreen
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Rockford area shoppers have new stores to visit at CherryVale Mall
