‘Hippie general store’ finds itself a new home

LAKE ZURICH – “Sunshine Daydream” is the title of a Grateful Dead song, but it’s also the livelihood of a Lake Zurich couple who manage what their customers have dubbed “a hippie general store.”

Mark and Nancy Paradise recently moved their Sunshine Daydream shop from its home of eight years in Mt. Prospect to Lake Zurich to find better opportunities for their niche merchandise.

Everything in the store has a rock base, Mark Paradise said. CDs and records are sold along one wall, while tie-dye and patchwork clothing, peasant skirts, posters, handbags and hand-made jewelry fill the rest of the shop.

The store already had a solid customer base, Mark Paradise said, because there is not other store quite like it. But, he added, more people are being exposed to the business at its new location on Rand Road.

“Some people say we cater to kids or to the hippies ... ,” Mark Paradise said. “But the people [we see now] are people that would have never come to our store ... they’re surprised with what they find.”

“People automatically hear ‘hippie’ and they think the ’60s and drugs,” Nancy Paradise said. “And that’s not what we’re geared toward. We’re geared toward family clothes, music and fun stuff.”

A huge Deadhead himself, Mark Paradise, 44, said his store reaches a large age range of those looking for Grateful Dead music and memorabilia.

“People my age and their kids like the same music,” he said. “[I hear], ‘My dad steals my CDs.’ ‘My son steals my CDs.’ That’s really cool.”

Others simply are intrigued by Sunshine Daydream’s colorful displays.

Rob Kowalski of Lake Zurich recently came into the store with his sons Ryan, 13, Matthew, 11, and his niece, Tara McDermott of Hawthorn Woods.

The front windows attracted the kids, they said.

“I really like music, and they said the CDs were $14 or less,” Matthew Kowalski said.

“I just like lots of bright colors and stuff,” McDermott said.

If you go ...

What: Grand opening celebration of Sunshine Daydream
When: A ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place at 10 a.m. Friday, July 16. Refreshments and popcorn will be available throughout the day.
Where: 708 S. Rand Road in Lake Zurich
Normal hours: Noonish to 9 p.m. weekdays; 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturdays; noon to 6 p.m. Sundays
Contact: www.sunshinedaydream.biz or 847-550-9999