Morton Shop Renovation

the morton shop will be closed for renovations starting march 3rd! learn more below.

It’s been nearly 20 years since Eli’s opened its doors to the Morton community in our 1860s era house on Jefferson Street! To ensure this can be our home for another decade and beyond, we’re excited to announce renovations are coming to the Morton Shop!

A business’s needs can change so much in a few years, let alone in twenty! The Eli’s that served a core of loyal customers each day and baked every pastry in the tiny kitchen back in 2005 is a distant memory. We’ve pivoted so many times and asked this old house to do so many different things over the years. The time has finally come to do some major reworking of the layout of the house to maximize our space!

To make those renovations a reality, the Morton Shop will be closing at 1pm Sunday March 3rd, and will remain closed throughout the month of March. A reopening date will be announced later in the month as we have a better idea of the pace of construction. This 160 year old house still has the ability to surprise us, so we want to make sure some wiggle room is left in our schedule for that.

As we close our doors for a few weeks, we see this as an investment in Morton and in this property for years to come. This community is our first home, our biggest cheerleader, the springboard that allowed us to launch out into Central Illinois! This house holds so much history and memory, and that legacy deserves to continue. We cannot wait to pour some love and attention into creating a beautiful, functional shop to be enjoyed for years to come.

As we’ve opened new shops over the years, it’s allowed us to hone in on what we love to see in our spaces. We’re excited to be able to focus on a few areas of needed change in Morton:

  • The Bathroom Door // do I even need to elaborate here? 😂 If you have ever needed to use the bathroom in this shop, you get it! Solving this narrow funnel of customer ordering + bathroom access was top of our list! The bathroom will be reconfigured to be accessed from the front seating room and the current door walled off.
  • Barista Workflow // tight quarters in the bar and kitchen areas are made even tougher to work in due to inefficient equipment layout. By removing the bathroom door, we can reconfigure the front customer counter, add a dedicated espresso bar, and streamline so many barista workflow and efficiency patterns.
  • The Kitchen // we’re operating our busiest shop in the smallest square footage, and we’re excited to make this space work harder for us. New sinks, storage, refrigeration, and larger ice machine will make all the difference for our baristas here. This piece of the renovation may not be super visible to you, but you’ll definitely feel the impact through your experience at Eli’s!
  • The Finishings // we’re using this renovation as an opportunity to upgrade a lot of the aesthetics around the interior of the shop. Flooring, cabinets, and more have been in near-constant use since 2005 and are in need of replacing. Harder wearing touches like tiled walls will make the space feel fresh and bright, as well. Watch for more cosmetic updates in the seating areas, too.

There’s a lot to do in just a few weeks, but we’ve partnered with a local contractor to make it happen in the tightest window possible. In the meantime, we would l o v e if you would take this chance to visit other shops! If you’re a Morton regular, watch for weekly gifts in your Eli’s Rewards app to make a visit to one of our other communities a no-brainer.

Tremont

a 10 minute drive

Mackinaw

a 15 minute drive

Metamora

a 23 minute drive

This is the first time our shop has closed for more than a couple of days since we opened in 2005. To say we’re going to miss seeing you every daily is a huge understatement! We’ll let you know the minute we’re ready to reopen and welcome you back in with some great coffee and a fresh space. Love ya, Morton!

– Rachel + Weston