Rockford-area businesses, shoppers embrace 815 Day in annual show of civic pride

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — Emily Potocki and her family started their 815 Day at Mrs. Fisher’s on Fulton Avenue, where you could get a one-pound bag of classic salted chips straight off the fryer for $4.

Then they dropped off school supplies at Christ The Rock Church for its 815 Day drive. Next they were shopping for Rockford IceHogs merchandise at its downtown headquarters and then across the street to Rockford Art Deli, where they lined up for a special print of a Rockford Day shirt.

“It just signifies being proud of our city,” said Potocki, who moved around the city with her three children and her father, Ray, to make the most of the city’s unofficial holiday.

815 Day, sometimes called Rockford Day, is an annual celebration of civic pride on Aug. 15 that was started in 2016 by members of the Rockford Community Partners. Now, it’s marked by local businesses offering dozens of 815-themed specials or hosting one-day events.

There are nearly 90 businesses offering specials today and more than 20 special events, although some outdoor events may be spoiled by the rain. Local officials from Mayor Tom McNamara to Winnebago County Board Chairman Joe Chiarelli encouraged residents to show their pride and support their local businesses.

“Today is a day to really post on social media, say something that you love about Rockford, celebrate a local business, celebrate the community and the people who make Rockford a special place,” McNamara said.

At the Fairview Shopping Center, 3600 E. State St., Miracle Mile Rockford hosted an 815 event that blended supporting local businesses and spreading overall kindness.

Shoppers could browse stores including a pop-up selection from Lallygag Boutique or pick up some nostalgia-inducing T-shirts and merchandise from Bygone Brand, which pays homage to local businesses, teams and events from yesteryear with shirts celebrating everything from the Rockford Peaches to the now defunct On the Waterfront festival.

There was also a pop-up planetarium show from Space Case Sarah and live art being created on glass by Bryan Douglas, who designed a tribute to Rockford’s Miracle Mile and some other longstanding businesses in town such as Toad Hall and Culture Shock.

“Small businesses need it. They need that push,” Douglas said. “It should be 815 Day every day for the small businesses in town.”

Lallygag Boutique’s owner Kim Knutson helped launch the 815 Kindness Project last year, and it returned for 815 Day 2024. The project is simple: You pull a kindness car from one of the boards at the shopping center and other locations around town and take on whatever friendly gesture it challenges you to complete.

The 815 area code expands well beyond Rockford, but the city has embraced those three digits as a sign of local pride. This year, surrounding cities were also getting in on the festivities.

Chiarelli, the Winnebago County Board chairman, and Roscoe Village President Carol Gustafson said the Rockford area has garnered attention from outsiders, too.

“I remember a time when you wanted to identify where you came from and you had to say, ‘outside of Chicago,'” Gustafson said. “That’s no longer the case. As the chairman indicated, this region is known far and wide for a number of aspects here, whether it be our industry, whether it be our fine museums, the fantastic recreational areas that we all have and our businesses.”

‘A badge of honor’

A decade ago on Aug. 15 Rockford Art Deli printed its first 815 T-shirts. It was two years before 815 Day would become an official celebration, and the timing was merely coincidental — the shop had been releasing new shirts for each Rockford City Market and that week fell on Aug. 15, 2014.

But now the downtown retailer has printed tens of thousands of shirts with a variety of 815 logos, and its brand has become synonymous with city pride.

“It’s like a badge of honor,” said Jarrod Hennis, owner of Rockford Art Deli. “It’s just like a sense of pride of living where you’re at and loving it.”

That original bracketed 815 design — which was created Hennis’ former partner Britney Lindgren — is being retired today.

“We’re putting it in the vault, as we’re calling it,” he said. “But we can still pull it out of the vault occasionally.”

Hennis said 815 Day is now one of the shop’s best days for sales. A line of customers were gathered for the special print today.

“It’s a fun day for the city to celebrate and support all the local businesses,” he said. “Seeing all the businesses that use 815 in their names now, it’s pretty crazy from just starting a shirt. It’s great seeing the local pride that people push in the community about 815 and Rockford.”

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas