A Skokie coffee shop known for operating its business on wheels is looking to open a brick-and-mortar location, according to the owner. The business is also marking its second anniversary on Saturday.
Kristina Perez Thomas, the owner of Soul Good Coffee, plans to open a permanent location at 4022 Main St., Skokie, in the fall.
An April 20 anniversary celebration will take place from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Sketchbook Skokie, with a D.J. at 10 a.m., drink specials, gift certificates and coffee giveaways.
“We’re definitely in a season of growth,” Perez Thomas said. During the colder months, Soul Good partnered up with Sketchbook Skokie at 4901 Main St. to sell coffee, teas, and pastries in the morning to mid-afternoon, while the brewery operated in the evenings. She said Soul Good and Sketchbook decided to keep that partnership going until Soul Good opens at its location on the same street.
Perez Thomas said the business’s signature trailer that started Soul Good in selling its coffee wouldn’t be open as much as compared to other seasons because it has been booked for private parties at schools, office buildings, and college campuses. However, she said the trailer would still be at the Skokie Farmer’s Market on Sundays.
Soul Good Coffee Owner Kristina Perez Thomas at a pop-up location for Soul Good Coffee in Skokie. Nastasia Mora
Perez Thomas said she always envisioned Soul Good having its own location along Main Street
“Getting in coffee was something I always planned to do, (but) it was more like a pipe dream like when I retire,” Perez Thomas said. “I’m from a Puerto Rican family, so coffee is always at the center of our home.”
“Back in the day, Main Street was thriving,” Perez Thomas said. “It was where businesses operated — if I could compare it to anything it would be like Central Street in Evanston — it was bustling, it was thriving.”
“It’s not like that anymore. It’s kind of desolate; there’s so many vacant properties. It’s an area that needs a lot of love,” Perez Thomas said. “And so it’s been a place where I always pictured our coffee shop because it is truly at the center of the neighborhood.”
When Perez Thomas moved to Skokie in 2012 from Logan Square, she said she wanted to live in a diverse area without going too far out of the city. She said Skokie was able to check off the right boxes, but she missed being able to walk to locally owned coffee shops that were involved in their community.
Perez Thomas said she was ramping up her efforts of owning a business when she got her lease for a coffee shop, only for those dreams to be ripped away due to the pandemic. When pandemic-related lockdowns started to lift, Perez Thomas said she wanted to adapt to people’s desires at a time when “coffee shops were just takeout windows,” and still give back to the community.
Out of that idea, Perez Thomas contacted a Nashville builder to customize the business’s trailer. In its first year it partnered up with the Niles Township Food Pantry, non-profit group Girl Forward, and Niles West High School for fundraisers and donations. In a feminine hygiene donation drive, Soul Good was able to collect 3,000 tampons and pads, according to Perez Thomas.
In November, Soul Good was named the 2023 Skokie Business of the Year for its ties to the community. In a video congratulating the business, Skokie Mayor George Van Dusen said, “Soul Good is a perfect example of an idea that was born from a single person and how now mushroomed into a full-blown successful business. We couldn’t be more proud of the work they have done.”
