EllieMae’s Boutique, home to Kirkwood Candle Shop, is moving west on Kirkwood to the former home of The Irish Lion Restaurant and Pub. The owners of the restaurant retired back in May after 42 years in business.
There is currently no known date that the boutique plans to open at its new location, 212 W Kirkwood Ave, but store manager Kourtney O’Rourke said it will happen in 2025.
EllieMae’s Boutique opened in 2018 at 101 W. Kirkwood Ave #116 and introduced Kirkwood Candle Bar, a company under the same management as the boutique, in 2022. The candle bar offers around 65 scents to choose from and a variety of candle jars ranging from $26 to $50.
O’Rourke said that the candle shop hosts events, but the current size of the location only allows 36 people to be in the building at one time. The bigger location in the former Irish Lion space will allow them to have more room for these events.
With more space, EllieMae’s plans to offer charcuterie boards, cookie decorating classes with Weirdough Cookie Co. and wine tastings. They also plan to utilize the upstairs area for community events.
The Irish Lion originally restored an 1882 tavern into what became a staple of downtown Bloomington starting in 1982, according to the restaurant’s website.
To make the change, EllieMae’s is working on meeting the ADA rules and regulations, which will require some changes to the building. For example, the space is not currently handicapped accessible, so they have to level the first floor, and they are adding an elevator.
However, the boutique is trying to preserve pieces of The Irish Lion. O’Rourke said the plan is to keep the bar and utilize it as the main area for candle making.
“A big part of what our owner likes to do is preserving of things if they can,” O’Rourke said. “So, one of the things we did want to do is make sure that whoever is in the building next was able to preserve parts of history that no one wants to see go.”
Since there are parts of The Irish Lion that will not be utilized in the boutique or candle shop, O’Rourke said they plan to sell those items to people who still want a piece of The Irish Lion. There is currently no further information for this sale.
