How to Win $250
Keep biking (or walking) to shop and dine at Hemingway District businesses throughout construction!
Oak Park Avenue will remain closed to vehicle traffic through November throughout the downtown area, but all businesses remain open. Please stop in and say hello! Meet friends for breakfast or lunch. Shop around for that perfect present. Bike together with the kids and pick up a snack.
The Village of Oak Park is encouraging pedal power through a new campaign: Bike to the Biz. Support local Hemingway District businesses—and the environment—by biking regularly to shop and eat during the 2026 reconstruction of Oak Park Avenue.
Be sure to keep your purchase receipts from participating businesses, spend a minimum of $10 at four different retailers ($40 total) and enter to win monthly drawings for $250 in Biker Bucks! Here’s how.
Visit our three local bike shops also participating in the promotion:
Participating Hemingway District Businesses
Look for the Bike to the Biz Participating Business card in storefront windows.
Meet our Bike to the Biz Winners
Tamar Zamora, holding daughter Maya, inside Dandelion Bookshop, where she was notified that she’d won the monthly $250 Bike to the Biz drawing.
Introducing Tamar Zamora, September’s Bike to the Biz Winner
Tamar Zamora of Oak Park won the September drawing for $250 in Biker Bucks. She’s a regular shopper and diner in the Hemingway District, as home is a few short blocks away on Grove Avenue. It’s a great destination for this young mother of two, and she particularly enjoys Dandelion Bookshop.
“I have a seven-week-old and a two-year-old, so I am heavily caffeinated at all times,” Tamar joked. “So I go to Spilt Milk – and all of the coffee establishments around Oak Park. We shop in the Hemingway District all the time, especially stores for kids.” Her family also enjoys dining at Rustico, Citrine, and Il Vicolo. She’s pretty sure she’ll be using her $250 toward dinners out, as her refrigerator is in the process of being repaired or replaced.
She’s especially looking forward to the completion of Renew The Avenue this fall. “It’s going to be gorgeous,” Tamar says. “Great for strolling, and wider sidewalks.”
Nick Bensen was on vacation in Paris (note the Eiffel Tower) when he received notification that his name had been drawn as the winner for August’s Bike to the Biz promotion.
Here’s August’s Bike to the Biz Winner, Nick Bensen
Congratulations to Nick Bensen of Oak Park for being selected in the August drawing for $250 in Biker Bucks! Nick, who retired in 2024 from managing a laboratory at Lurie Children’s Hospital, only lives a short walk from the Hemingway District. He and wife Geri are frequent diners at Taglio, Rustico, Maya del Sol, Citrine, Il Vicolo and George’s. They also visit Lively Athletics, Venus Hair Studio, and Geri enjoys Avenue Nail for pedicures and massages.
“We are both very active in the Oak Park Runners Club,” Nick notes, adding that it’s only a three-block walk (or maybe jog?) for the couple to get to favorite stores and restaurants. “I even walk over to pay my insurance premiums at Adam Doe State Farm.” Nick plans to spread the wealth and use his Biker Bucks for smaller, multiple purchases.
Twice the number of entries was received in August vs. July, and entrants last month spent on average more than $200 across the more than 30 participating shops and eateries in the Hemingway District – plus three bicycle shops in Oak Park.
Meet July’s Bike to the Biz Winner, Terry Lavery
Congratulations to Terry Lavery of Oak Park for being selected in the July drawing to win $250 in Biker Bucks! Terry, age 58, and his wife Karen support local Hemingway District businesses including GEM, Oak Park Records, Dandelion Bookshop and Taglio. “We both enjoy Maya del Sol and have had several family celebrations there,” he said. “And I always hit Spilt Milk for cookies.”
Oak Park Avenue’s construction curtailed their street parking options, but the couple lives close enough to regularly bike and walk to the District. Terry wants to ‘spread the wealth’ in spending his $250 in Biker Bucks. But with a big race coming up, he may be using a good chunk of it to get his bike ready at one of the participating Oak Park bike shops.
October is the final month for a chance to win $250 Biker Bucks.
Bike to the Biz continues through Oct. 31, with one more winner to be announced Nov. 1.
Bike to Businesses During Construction
SUPPORT LOCAL
Cyclists have always been welcome in the District, with multiple bike rack locations and more than 170 spots to park and lock. More temporary bike racks are planned as part of this new campaign to welcome visitors, shoppers and diners from Oak Park and beyond to the area.
Remember that bikers need to park their bikes and walk to businesses along Oak Park Avenue. With sidewalk-access-only to many business, bikes can’t be ridden through the district or directly to stores.
Temporary Bike Corral located at the corner of Oak Park Avenue and Lake Street
Hemingway District Bike to the Biz Promotion
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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It’s an initiative supported by the Village of Oak Park to encourage residents of Oak Park and neighboring communities to ‘support local’ business by riding their bicycles to Hemingway District stores and restaurants in the Oak Park Avenue construction corridor. The promotion is designed to support local merchants during the remaining months of construction while promoting healthy, sustainable transportation.
Bike to the Biz begins July 1 and ends Oct. 31, 2026.
The promotion has several components:
• increased bike parking in immediately adjacent areas,
• monthly drawings for $250 that can be spent at local stores and eateries, and
• informative signage throughout the construction zone to build local awareness.
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Summer is an ideal time to encourage both health and wellness activities and healthy economic participation. The promotion reminds customers to help their local businesses to survive and thrive throughout the construction period.
While construction has reached the halfway point (Stage 3 of 5) as of July 1, there are still five more months of work – with Oak Park Avenue closed from Pleasant to Lake streets – before it reopens just before Thanksgiving.
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Yes! The District already offers racks and dedicated locations to park for more than 150 bikes, including covered bike parking within the Avenue Garage. The Village is adding new bike ‘corrals’ like the one near Scoville Park to boost total bike spaces to 200 during the promotion.
One caveat: Bikers need to park their bikes and walk to businesses along Oak Park Avenue. With sidewalk-access-only to many businesses, bikes can’t be ridden through the district or directly to stores.
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By biking to shop or dine at District businesses. The promotion also welcomes walkers, joggers and even folks who drive. (Free parking – up to 90 minutes every day and all day on Sundays is available at the Avenue Garage, 720 North Boulevard).
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The Hemingway District expects to enlist more than 25 stores and restaurants. This page will keep the complete list of participating businesses. Check back to see any new additions in months to come.
In addition to the Hemingway District businesses, three Oak Park bike shops will participate in Bike to the Biz: Wheel & Sprocket, Bikefix and Barnard’s Schwinn Cycling.
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Customers ride their bicycles to participating District businesses, make a minimum $10 purchase, and save their receipts. Convenient envelopes for saving receipts are available at all participating businesses. Once they make $10 purchases at four different participating retailers (this can include the three bike shops), they can drop off envelopes seven days a week at the UPS Store at 805 Lake St.
A single winner will be drawn and announced every month for four months, starting Aug. 1. The winner will receive $250 in ‘Biker Buck’ certificates that they can spend at participating District businesses – as well as at three Oak Park bike shops – through Dec. 31, 2026.
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Yes. We’re encouraging people to head downtown and support the District any way they can and as often as they like.
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