Jennifer Maniurka isn’t looking to take over the world, but is ready to build her cake empire.

Known as the The Cake Lady of Spring Grove, Maniurka is set to start her empire in one of McHenry’s Riverwalk Shoppes.

The McHenry Area Chamber of Commerce has announced the 10 small businesses that will occupy the shops in 2026.

“We’re thrilled to welcome this new class of shop owners and look forward to watching their businesses grow throughout the 2026 season,” said Jocelyn Eisenmenger, the Chamber’s tourism and economic growth director.

Maniurka said she has been in the cake-making business for 20 years, making cakes in a Johnsburg commercial kitchen and selling at farmers’ markets. She creates custom cakes and cookies to order, but her clients have been asking her for years when she plans to open a brick-and-mortar location.

Maniurka plans to offer 6-inch cakes to customers, but focus on cake slices, cupcakes and French macarons, and on natural flavors and colors. “These are the things that you cannot find in a grocery bakery,” Maniurka said.

Two of the 2026 stores will get a second season at the Riverwalk: Curated by Laney Boutique and Hello Darling Books & Beyond.

Tawny Haberski runs Laney Boutique. On Black Friday, she opened a storefront in Crystal Lake, sharing space with her sister’s store, Freundly Designs. She plans to continue operating both locations as she searches for a McHenry storefront.

“What I have always wanted to do is a storefront in downtown McHenry. That has not popped up yet,” Haberski said as she looks for that location.

Tina Lawrence of Hello Darling also is on the lookout for a permanent location for her bookstore and hopes a second Riverwalk Shoppes season in 2026 can help the business work out a few new ideas.

One of those is being open on Tuesdays, the day the publishing industry drops new titles. “We want to see what it will do for us to be open on release day,” Lawrence said.

Set to open on May 1, the upcoming season will be the fourth year for the retail incubator shops that are open Friday through Sunday at Miller Point Park. Small retail business owners are invited to apply for a store each fall. Once selected and leading up to their spring grand opening, the shop owners attend weekly classes to learn how to run a small business. The classes are provided by the McHenry Chamber.

Some of the shop tenants have experience running retail, but without a storefront, such as Steve Long of Blink Supply Co. Operating as Blink Tees, the company has a location in Hoffman Estates, making branded products for their customers, but not for itself.

At the Riverwalk, Blink Tees will focus on “Lake, Fox River, Chain O’ Lakes and McHenry ... with an outdoor vibe,” Long said. It also plans to have branded products that people going to a concert at Miller Point Park or boating on the river might need.

“We call these ‘oops-cessities,’ ” Long said. “But apparel is what we are bringing to the program.”

The entire lineup for the new season will be:

• Arlo’s Candy Shop

• Art for Adrienne

• Blink Supply Co.

• The Cake Lady

• Nuqi Soaps

• The REfill Shed

•Roots and Routes Co.

•The Winter Inn BBQ Company

• Curated by Laney Boutique