Emporium Lake County, a new entertainment venue in Lincolnshire offering classic arcade games and craft beers, recently closed its doors. Village officials now want to know if the move is permanent.
A sign on the door at 275 Parkway Drive indicates the combined restaurant, bar and arcade is undergoing renovations a mere seven months after owners, and brothers, Daniel and Doug Marks opened New Year’s Day their first-ever Emporium location in suburban Lake County.
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Given the timing and reasons for the closing, Lincolnshire officials are trying to contact the two owners about whether they’re closing the business for good, said Tonya Zozulya, economic development coordinator for Lincolnshire.
“We are waiting for Emporium’s call back,” Zozulya said. “At this time, we don’t know the status of their business.”
Both Daniel and Doug Marks haven’t returned calls or text messages requesting comment. Several Emporium Lake County employees have not returned calls or social media messages requesting more information about the closing.
The two brothers founded Emporium Arcade Bar in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood in 2012 and later opened a second location in the nearby Logan Square neighborhood.
Emporium Lake County represented their first expansion move into the suburbs.
Much like the Chicago locations, Emporium Lake County features stand-up arcade games from the 1980s and 1990s, along with a full bar of craft beers. The venue, located in the CityPark shopping center, serves up New York-style pizzas, as well as offering patrons 24 video games, nine pinball machines and tables for billiards, foosball, bubble hockey and more, according to the Emporium website.
But some village officials had reservations about their suburban expansion back when the owners presented the proposal during village board meetings in 2015. Mayor Liz Brandt openly questioned whether the demographics of Lincolnshire would work for the combined bar and arcade.
“Do you really think, in the suburbs, people are going to stay out that late?” she asked the owners during a March 2015 meeting.
The Lake County location operated until 1 a.m. Sundays through Thursdays and until 2 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays, according to the Emporium website.
After Brandt later asked during the meeting who would be their targeted customers in Lincolnshire, Daniel Marks noted they usually target “hipster-type people with tattoos.” But both owners said they weren’t going to rely exclusively on a nighttime crowd.
The brothers said they usually keep their locations busy during weekdays with special gatherings and corporate events, which allow outside catering. The corporate conference crowd in Lincolnshire could have been a natural fit for that side of the business.
Despite concerns, village trustees approved their business plan, a move that filled a vacant unit in the shopping center after the Champps restaurant closed.
In the past, other businesses in the CityPark shopping center have struggled to maintain concepts geared to younger adults. When Viper Alley first opened on the second floor of 275 Parkway Drive, the owners initially started a bar and nightclub, featuring prominent bands, before modifying the concept after only a few months.
Still open, Viper Alley eventually started marketing its venue to a wider variety of private events.
Twitter @RonnieAtPioneer