For many of this year’s McHenry Riverwalk Shoppes tenants, their small business is their only business.

“For a majority of them, this is their full-time job,” said Jocelyn Eisenmenger, director of tourism and economic growth for the McHenry Area Chamber of Commerce. “These are real people who took a chance on their dreams.”

Friday marks the 2026 season’s grand opening for the shops, set for 9:30 a.m. at Miller Point Park. First opened in the summer of 2023, the shops are retail incubators. McHenry, and the chamber of commerce that runs the program, hope the shopkeepers will later move to permanent locations in McHenry.

On Sunday, those small business owners were putting up shelves with their products, hanging signs and getting ready for the season.

Jodi Stone runs the The REfill Shed. The former environmental science educator offers shoppers eco-friendly products and refillable soaps, shampoo, conditioners and other products.

She does not make the refillable products, but does curate what she offers to those looking to reduce their use of plastic.

“Some of these are exclusive to ‘refilleries’ like me,” Stone said. “My mission is to offer the cleanest products imaginable.”

Across the plaza, Scott and Kelly Smith were putting signs and pricing information up – while figuring out how to keep the wind from blowing the signs over.

The Woodstock couple started their business, Roots & Routes, in 2012, and have been selling online – through Etsy, Amazon and Faire – since 2020. They make laser-cut wood signs, ornaments and maps, including maps showing the Chain O’ Lakes and McHenry County towns.

“I found maps with the lake depths” for accuracy, Scott Smith said.

They’ve been selling their work wholesale and through agreements with gift shop retailers at 35 state and national parks and are working to expand that, Kelly Smith said.

They are getting popular enough that the next step may be additional employees and a warehouse with a retail shop, Scott Smith said, adding that the McHenry shop will help them work out potential kinks in a future location.

David and Rachael Winterling’s ultimate goal is to open a smokehouse restaurant that uses their BBQ sauces, rubs and spice packets.

The couple incorporated The Winter Inn BBQ Company on May 1, 2023, Rachael Winterling said. A storefront lets them test the market, to see what flavors customers want and keep coming back for before they commit to a restaurant, David Winterling said.

“We hope for a storefront and kitchen space, or an old barn we can renovate into a country market and restaurant,” she said.

Two of the shoppes are having a second season there: Curated by Laney Boutique and Hello Darling Books & Beyond.

Tawny Haberski of Laney Boutique said this year, she is adding blue jeans and a dressing room. “With jeans, you have to size it right” and try them on first, Haberski said.

The dressing room – a curtain on a frame, set in the corner – takes up just a little of the floor space.

The stores owners are required to be open Friday through Sunday through the end of the Christmas shopping season, Eisenmenger said. Because for so many of the proprietors it is their only job, they may choose to be open more often during the week.

They also are encouraged to promote their own events and sales to draw more foot traffic to the stores, Eisenmenger said. Shoppers can check out the stores’ Facebook and Instagram pages, or the McHenry Chamber’s website, mchenrychamber.com, to find out when special events will happen.

At Art for Adrienne, Lauren Sharp sells hats and purses that she’s painted, making each unique. She hopes to hosting events where customers can paint their own hats, Sharp said.

Hello Darling Books & Beyond’s owner, Tina Lawrence, held book author events last summer, and plans for more this year. On Sunday, she was setting The Vixen for a “surprise author” event for her shop’s book club.

She’s excited for the mix of stores this year, Eisenmenger said: “It is a great mix of handmade goods, boutique, retail specialty items. They are a little more unique.”

The lineup for the new season:

• Arlo’s Candy Shop.

• Art for Adrienne.

• Blink Supply Co.

• The Cake Lady.

• Hello Darling Books & Beyond.

• Nuqi Soaps.

• The REfill Shed.

• Roots and Routes Co.

• The Winter Inn BBQ Company.

• Curated by Laney Boutique.