CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Two lifelong friends turned business partners in the northwest suburbs want their business and their friendship to endure.
Meghan O'Neill and Jamie Kendall are the owners of the Sweet and Tart Shoppe, a restaurant that sells baked goods and craft cocktails in the Uptown section of Park Ridge.
O'Neill and Kendall grew up in Park Ridge. They were classmates at Maine South High School, and they are still friends after high school, college, and the first decade in the professional world.
For years, Kendall said, they tried to come up with a business they could build together. One idea centered around a vintage clothing store.
Kendall said they found inspiration several years ago, when O'Neill visited a dessert and drinks bar in New York City.
"She came home and said, I know exactly what we're going to do. We're going to open a dessert and cocktail bar," Kendall said.
They were prepared to open last spring, but that opening was delayed until summer due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We were probably about a month or so from opening," O'Neill said.
She added that business has been consistent since the grand opening last July.
"Thankfully we have so much support. From our staff, from the community, from just everyone," O'Neill said.
They hope to turn the Sweet and Tart Shoppe into more than just a place to grab a drink after dinner. They want it to become a community gathering space. O'Neill said their employees stop by the shop just to hang out.
"A lot of our kids are 16, 17, 18. And this is the only place where they can socialize safely," O'Neill said.
When it comes to opening a business, this year has been unlike any other in recent history. But O'Neill and Kendall have managed to keep both the business, and their friendship together.
"The friendship is what matters in the long run, and we are making choices to make this place succeed so that we will be friends in 50 years and retire to Florida like The Golden Girls," Kendall said.
"Plus we have a full bar and that always helps in any friendship," O'Neill added.