LOGAN SQUARE — After founding the original location in Wicker Park, then opening a second in Logan Square, Emporium Arcade Bar is now heading north — all the way to suburban Lake County.
And, if remarks by Emporium's co-owner Danny Marks at a recent Lincolnshire Village Board meeting are any indication, the arcade and craft beer outlet on main strips in Logan Square and Wicker Park is in the market for a certain familiar demographic, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Liz Brandt, the Lincolnshire trustee who is running unopposed for mayor on April 7, wondered if the craft beer and Pac Man concept will work in her town.
"Do you really think, in the suburbs, people are going to stay out that late?" she asked.
"Who is your target customer?" she asked later.
"Hipster-type people with tattoos," Danny Marks answered.
But the full explanation was a little more nuanced, Marks said Wednesday.
“We do get a pretty wide range [of people],” Marks told DNAinfo Chicago. “Everything from 'corporate functions all the way to hipsters with tattoos' is what I said. Grandma and grandpa will be there at the birthday parties — that sort of thing.”
The group’s third location would be called Emporium Lake County, a nod to the third largest county in Illinois, which includes Lincolnshire. The spot is located near a small group of entertainment outlets, including a craft beer bar and a movie theater, but will the suburban crowd go for an arcade bar?
“We get a ton of people who come from the ‘burbs and tell us they would like to see something like it up there,” Marks said.
Some DJ and surveillance equipment and a kitchen remain from the building’s former occupant, Champps Americana sports bar. “For us to get in there we’d need to bring some games and do some cosmetic updates … it’s pretty ready to go,” Marks said.
“We’re not trying to do anything too esoteric,” he added. “Good beer, good drinks and fun games. That’s what we’re going for.”
Plans are still in the works up north, but Chicagoans can still sport their beards and BurgerTime T-shirts at Emporium Wicker Park, 1366 N. Milwaukee Ave., and Emporium Logan Square, 2363 N. Milwaukee Ave. where arcade and table games, craft beer and rotating, late-night food options, including food truck service and the weekly Sauced night market, are offered.
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