Another retail discussion splits Winnetka council

Amid concerns about a lack of retail businesses moving into important development One Winnetka, a doctor heard good news from a majority of Winnetka trustees to receive preliminary support for her audiology office.

DUET Audiology Clinic, in a 4-2 vote, is set to fill the sixth and final vacancy at One Winnetka, 730 Elm St., following their pitch to the council on Tuesday, April 21.

DUET currently has locations in Lake Forest, Chicago and Northfield, and if the council grants final approval, officials said the Northfield location would relocate to One Winnetka.

As previously reported by The Record, Murphy Development Group, One Winnetka’s developer, had stated in late 2025 that they had signed leases for the long-in-development building’s six retail spaces.

The first four spaces were filled by restaurants Arkadia and Fare; medical office Winnetka Aesthetic Studio; and a Charles Schwab financial services office.

But earlier this year, after national fitness studio Solidcore first appeared in front of the council, trustees began sharing concerns that none of the businesses for One Winnetka — located in Winnetka’s retail overlay district — were retail operations.

While Solidcore’s bid for One Winnetka was eventually approved, some on the council continued to express concern with DUET, which came to the council with a negative recommendation from the Village’s Plan Commission.

In the face of the challenges, DUET owner Dr. Lori Halvorson talked to trustees about her “unique” clinic.

“When you hear the word ‘audiology,’ you think of an old clinic selling hearing aides, but DUET truly is retail with purpose,” she said, adding that DUET uses the latest medical research in its practices, which she said include “music and metronome training.”

“Brains do not need sound louder; they need it faster,” she said. “So the brain has to get the sound from the right and the left ear at the precise moment so it’s in tune. Most brains, when they start to get some damage to hearing cells, are hearing the signal at different speeds from the right and left ear, like a radio that’s in between stations.”

She said DUET uses a metronome and musical instrument to “train the brain to get in tune.”

“And this is for people that need hearing aides or for kids having attention deficit in school, or they’re having some difficulty really learning their sport,” Halvorson said.

Additionally, she said DUET does offer products for sale, and not just hearing aides and headphones. Much of what it sells are “handmade from moms across the world. DUET is part of charity called Hearing Nepal. We help run the charity and we service it,” she said.

Halvorson said DUET provides Hearing Nepal with refurbished hearing aides, which are then given to children across the world. In turn, the handmade products are sold at DUET.

“We bring these gifts back to DUET and we sell them in communities like Winnetka,” Halvorson said. “And the cherished value for that is community members get to purchase a handmade unique gift for their grandchildren or their parents or family or friends, and they’re providing care for these moms that are trying to feed their kids.”

She believes the Plan Commission thought DUET was a hearing aide story.

“This is not what we want to be,” she said. “This is not why I’m doing audiology and why we’re trying to change the way people think about their ears.”

Additionally, Deirdre Clein, of Murphy Development Group, said that after the Plan Commission met, the development team discovered that, per Winnetka’s village code, offices for the “fitting, sale and repair of hearing aides” are allowed without a special use.

When asked by Trustee Tina Dalman why the village didn’t classify DUET that way, Community Development Director Scott Mangum said staff were “comfortable” classifying it as a medical use.

Majority convinced to allow DUET

During discussions, Trustee Scott Myers said he “came in skeptical and probably leaning toward saying no,” but the discussion changed his mind.

“I think what’s different, what’s educational here, is that this is a different kind of retail,” he said. “Retail with service is something that I think we will see more of.”

He added, “You’re selling a solution. You’re not a service, you’re not a product. You’re selling a solution, and I think that’s the kind of thing that can be well received and be very successful in this community.”

Trustee Bridget Orsic also said that going into the meeting she did not want another medical office in town, but “this feels, to me, a little bit different than that.

“And I don’t take lightly that it was a 6-0 decision at the Planning Commission,” she said; “however, this seems impressive to me. So I am much more open to this than I was.”

Not every trustee was convinced by the presentation, though.

Trustee Kim Handler, who had also voted against drafting final documents for Solidcore, said she appreciated “the passion behind this venture and this store,” but did not feel One Winnetka was the appropriate location for it.

“I just feel that entire block is not shaping up the way I think we had all hoped,” Handler said. “I’m not only thinking of that side of the block, but the businesses across the street who were counting on, I think, this project bringing more foot traffic down to that end of Elm Street.”

Trustee Rob Apatoff, who participated in the meeting virtually, shared a similar position.

“I knew I was going to like this business from a standpoint of what it can bring to Winnetka. And I still do,” he said, before adding that, like Handler, he did not believe One Winnetka was the right location for DUET.

Following the vote to draft final documents for DUET’s approval, Village President Bob Dearborn said the vote to grant final approval to the office will be on the council’s May 5 agenda.

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