Shopping in Glendale Heights

Bike Connection's mechanics keep two-wheelers in road-ready shape in addition to maintaining a broad inventory of cycles, parts, and accessories. The shop stocks fully built bikes from brands such as Specialized, KHS, and Surly, plus an abundant supply of wearables such as Giro and Bell helmets and Pearl Izumi gear for men and women. And in the service department, technicians tune up and clean up parts ranging from tires and brakes to headsets and clipped-on baseball cards with numerous, tiered maintenance packages.

Since 1912, four generations of Zimmermanns have stocked the shelves at the 15,000-square-foot Zimmermann True Value Hardware store with durable hardware supplies, gardening equipment, and other home-improvement goods. Shoppers can peruse the aisles to pick up handy items such as screwdriver sets, hammers, and miniature contractors for DIY projects. Standing strong by their commitment to superior customer service, the staff also provides convenient services including knife sharpening, computerized paint matching, and screen repair.

More than 50,000 books line the shelves at Elgin Books and Coffee, many available for 50% to 90% less than their cover prices. Visitors can wander through the chandelier-lit shop perusing classics, out-of-print texts, biographies, cookbooks, and many other types of published matter. An attached café offers an inviting space in which to sip java or tea and read.

During her more-than-20-year career as an event planner, TBS Bridal's owner, Danie Roberts, orchestrated functions for Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, and the National Restaurant Association. Today, she brings the event expertise she accumulated to her bridal company, which hosts wedding and bridal shows as well as other annual events to assemble vendors from prom fashion houses and from the beauty industry. These expos display merchandise from TBS’s own retail outpost as well, which includes everything from designer gowns and tuxedo rentals to jewelry, invitations, and remote-controlled wedding bouquets.

In 1958, Charlie Hartley's dream of supplying and maintaining quality bikes began to take shape in the form of an upstart shop operating out of his basement. More than half a century and two moves later, Charlie's son Ken still clings to the belief that bikes should be assembled and serviced with meticulous care. Ken and his technicians tune up ailing cycles and direct patrons toward the accessories and apparel needed for safe, smooth excursions and successful getaways from tricycle gangs. They also stock fully grown cycles from popular brands such as Eddy Merckx, a company that has been manufacturing bikes for three decades.

Dedicated to conserving the globe's forests, Mr. Bamboo, Inc.'s technicians crown surfaces with durable, lustrous flooring and accessories forged from strand-woven bamboo—which can regrow on its own and sprouts faster than other trees traditionally cut down for hardwood flooring. Professional staffers arrive at homes and offices to install BamStrand flooring with glue or nails, or the BamLoc variety, which they snugly snap into place. Both styles—which are naturally harder than conventional red-oak and maple flooring—are safe for pets and come prefinished with six coats of German ceramic finish.

To further support its environmentally conscious philosophies, Mr. Bamboo, Inc. harvests only the moso bamboo species, which is too large for pandas to eat or whittle into snow globes for their gift shops. The company also frequently collaborates with the U.S. Green Building Council and local contractors building sustainable homes.