Munster resident helps start SoHo Sweets in South Holland
When Renae Fentress opened Troost Coffee & Tea in downtown Lansing , Ill., in 2017, she had a vision.
While she now lives in Munster, she spent a lot of her life just across the state line in Lansing. Her family still lives there. Her church is there. She wanted her business to be there too.
“Lansing downtown is amazing,” Fentress said. “I think it could be something so incredible. I think it’s heading in that direction more and more every year. … I grew up always driving down that stretch right there and always envisioned a coffee shop being a great addition to that area.”
And it was — until her Lansing shop closed during the pandemic. For a time, Troost continued to sell bundles of goods, delivered packages and, earlier this year, reappeared at farmers markets. But the Lansing operations ultimately ceased for good.
Then Fentress got a call for a meeting with the village of South Holland in Illinois.
“I originally didn’t fully understand what the meeting was going to be about,” Fentress said.
But she found herself in a room with village Administrator J Wynsma and Julia Perla Huisman, the village’s communications manager. Wynsma had an idea: convert a historic home at 16129 South Park Ave. into a business.
“Driving past the historic home one day, the idea came to me to transform the property into a charming ice cream and coffee shop that would provide a special place for families, friends and business people to meet up,” he said.
In addition to making use of the vacant historic home, Huisman said the idea was to spark more interest in South Holland’s Town Center shopping district. The village paid $104,000 in July 2019 for the 110-year-old house. And in a first for South Holland, the village now owns SoHo Sweets, the ice cream and coffee shop that opened there in August.
Huisman knew of the work Fentress had done with Troost and that it had closed, so officials approached her to run day-to-day operations of SoHo Sweets.
“They pitched this beautiful vision to me, and it was a vision I was happy to step into,” Fentress said. “Troost ended in a way that I didn’t necessarily want it to, but this was such an amazing opportunity that presented itself. I was thrilled to be invited.”
Fentress had not even seen the home when she was sold on the idea. South Holland simply expressed to her an interest in creating something “nice” to offer residents, and it reminded her of what she tried to accomplish with Troost.
That was enough.
“I want Lansing to have a nice thing,” she said. “I want South Holland to have something nice because the people that live there deserve something nice to enjoy.
“This is for the people. We want something that can be enjoyed by the community, that represents the community. I want this to be a place people in South Holland are so proud to call theirs.”
To Fentress, that means making SoHo Sweets the kind of place families take visiting relatives right away or miss if they move away from the area.
“I love regional-specific things,” she said. “When people are proud to be where they’re from, I love that. I want to be part of people loving their community, being happy to be there, wanting to show it off to people.”
The house is a crucial piece to that mission.
The building was converted to set the stage for the business, with the main floor featuring the service counter and bistrolike seating. The upstairs has couches and chairs in more of a homey setting. Outside, there’s a large patio with a fire pit, Adirondack chairs, bag boards and string lights.
“The courtyard area and the second floor make it unlike anything in the Southland,” Wynsma said. “It’s been fun to see it turn into a hot spot that is drawing people from all over the region.”
Fentress said the layout catches people off guard.
“Because it’s a house, when you walk in you don’t necessarily expect to see what you see, but it’s such a beautiful space,” Fentress said. “They’re in this space they want to stay in. It’s such a gorgeous environment people don’t want to leave.”
Fentress said as things progress at SoHo Sweets, she would love to see the menu evolve based on the community’s wants. SoHo Sweets will also likely host some community events to help fulfill the vision of being a great gathering space for residents. Fentress saw someone let her friends know she is pregnant while there and wants to make sure SoHo Sweets continues to offer products and an experience that lend themselves to those “moments full of meaning.”
“Our goal as a staff, as a business, is to create and maintain a space where those kinds of things can happen,” Fentress said. “I know we’re succeeding, I know we’re winning when those kinds of things happen.”
They’re serving regional fare from the likes of Smalltown Coffee Company in Crown Point, Indiana, and Sherman’s Ice Cream from South Haven, Michigan, as well as making food from scratch. And so far it seems to be connecting with the community, resulting in a busy first month.
“The initial reception to SoHo Sweets has been overwhelmingly positive,” Huisman said.
Any potential profits from the business are not earmarked for anything in particular by the village, and any risks to taxpayers would be addressed by the board and administration on an “as-needed basis,” according to Huisman.
But Fentress has no plan to take the early buzz for granted.
“This opportunity was just a serious answer to a prayer I thought was an outlandish prayer, and then it was presented to me,” she said. “It really feels like a gift, and it’s a gift I intend to take very good care of.”