Shopping in Saint Charles

Back when Jill Card and her husband were going on their first date, he told her to wear “jeans and a cute top.” More than two decades later, the couple decided that would be the perfect name for Jill’s clothing boutique, where women of all ages and sizes can now find their own jeans and blouse or sweater for a first date, a night on the town with the fellow jury members, or a day spent hanging around the house. Her shop’s apparel quickly earned awards and media attention and enjoyed enough success to launch a second shop just 14 months later and a third boutique three-and-a-half years later. The laudations still pour in; the shop was named the Best Place to Buy Women’s Jeans by West Suburban Living magazine in 2012.

To earn this praise, Jill selects a wide range of jeans from brands such as Silver, Mek Denim, Miracle Body, Jag, Miss Me, Liverpool, and Kut from the Kloth, enabling denim-seekers from multiple generations to find styles they like. Her friendly staff is likewise well versed on the fit and style of every jean in the shop. She also offers free basic hem alterations. To pair with the jeans, Jill's stores overflow with cute tops, sweaters, blouses, and jackets from labels including Dusak, Insight, BB Dakota, Kensie, and Tulle. Jill and her staff also adorn shoppers in necklaces, scarves, and accessories.

Located in a century-old house, consignment boutique The Sassy Fox stocks an inventory of brand-name and designer women's apparel in sizes 0–5X. Offerings range from jeans and casual blouses to formal dresses, and Coach, Dooney & Bourke, and Chico's are a few of the shop's popular brands. Patrons also can procure bracelets and necklaces sourced from Big Bead Jewelry, a company that employs developmentally disabled young adults.

For more than two decades, American Mattress has promoted peaceful slumber in bedchambers throughout the Midwest with their vast selection of mattresses, headboards, and linens. The sleep experts strive to stay abreast of the latest bedding technology: their Serta mattresses are made with gel foam that supports curves, and Tempur-Pedic mattresses repel allergens, mites, and poltergeists looking to spoon. This devotion to a good night’s sleep has helped them earn the title of Best Mattress Store from suburban Chicago’s Daily Herald five years in a row. Additionally, American Mattress doubles down on each of its beds with a 30-day comfort guarantee and a 60-day best-price guarantee.

In 1908, Madison and State became the numerical zero-markers of Chicago’s new street system, making the corner where they intersected the new epicenter of city commerce. On nearby Wabash Avenue, the company jumped into the furniture game the same year, selling home furnishings built by skilled local craftsmen. More than 100 years later, the shop still buzzes with that original energy, connecting customers with the finest home furnishings from more than 50 manufacturers. The fourth-generation family business has migrated from the city center to five suburban locales, where showrooms display gleaming hardwood tables, towering entertainment centers, and elegant leather couches. Along with accent pieces and kid-centric design items, each Toms-Price location also offers special services such as furniture refinishing, reupholstering, and moving help. On-staff interior designers can also lend their eye to design projects, artfully arranging rooms and selecting the color schemes, fabrics, and wax doll heads that best bring out the inner you.

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.

When placed on racks in front of the store's exposed brick walls, the clothing selection at Anew seems eclectic. Stylish dresses and lace-trimmed cloche hats mingle freely with in-season designer clothes and Coach purses, forming a curated selection that allows clients to build their own, one-of-a-kind wardrobe. All of the items in the store are selected for their quality, style, and seasonality, ensuring clients don't have to sort through racks of stained or passé clothing to find something they'd like to see in their closet. The shop specializes in boutique and designer clothing, collecting jeans from brands such as 7 For All Mankind and Miss Me and purses from Coach and Louis Vuitton. Alongside these designer goods hang accessories made by local artisans, including CooperSong, who makes bags that reuse inner tubes, recycled baseballs, and old material to create unique items. Through both their consignment clothing and recycled wares, the staff hopes to promote an environmentally friendly culture of keeping items out of the landfill and in the closets of loving new owners.