Walter E. Smithe planning to take over old Great Escape space

If you build it, they will come — or, in the case of one of Wilmette’s soon-to-be new businesses, if you dream it, they will build it.

The Illinois-based furniture and design company Walter E. Smithe is planning a new location in Wilmette’s Edens Plaza, village officials announced during a Village Board meeting on April 28.

The company reportedly hopes to set up shop in Suite 390, the massive, newly vacant storefront that used to house The Great Escape.

Lisa Brosnan, Wilmette’s business development planner, said Walter E. Smithe hopes to open in 2027.

The Great Escape departed Edens Plaza in late 2025 to move to a new location in nearby Northbrook.

“We’re really excited about this because that’s such a big space,” Brosnan told The Record after the meeting, adding “I think they’re going to make some improvements as well to make the space nicer.”

Toward the conclusion of her presentation to the board, Brosnan said Walter E. Smithe’s lease at Edens Plaza was “recently signed.”

Edens Plaza owner WS Development sent a letter to the Village on April 20 announcing Walter E. Smithe’s intentions to modify the interior and exterior of the suite. The letter, which The Record reviewed, specifically mentions a “34-page submission package titled ‘Proposed Walter E. Smithe Showroom.'”

Shortly after Great Escape’s exit from the center, representatives from WS Development, the Boston-based developer that owns Edens Plaza, reportedly told village officials that they may consider breaking the large storefront into multiple different offerings.

Now with Walter E. Smithe in tow, however, there is no indication the mall’s owner has such intentions moving forward.

WS Development employed a similar tactic to fill one of Edens Plaza’s previous sizable vacancies, breaking the former Bed Bath and Beyond storefront into three separate spaces.

The impending addition to the village’s largest shopping center is another signature newcomer joining Edens Plaza. The mall has secured a number of high-profile tenants since WS Development reached a tenant agreement in late 2021 to buy the center and its 335,000 square feet of retail space.

In 2024, online-retail giant Wayfair became the new anchor of the mall, opening its first brick-and-mortar location in the former site of Carson Pirie Scott, which abandoned the 150,000-square-foot space in 2018.

Since then, Edens Plaza has seen a flurry of new businesses arrive, including Uncharted, Just Salad and the soon-to-open Club Studio and The Goddess and the Baker.

The recent story of the center is one of “positive momentum,” Brosnan said.

Walter E. Smithe has a nearby location at Golf Road and Skokie Boulevard, 9615 Skokie Blvd., in Skokie. Skokie officials told The Record that Walter E. Smithe still operates in the space; however, the property owner has petitioned the Village to subdivide the space and bring in new tenants.

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