When Bill Skau opens the door to his cramped Edgewater shop, visitors are surrounded by the aromatic scents of other lands.
There’s the smell of ginger, gardenia, myrrh and frankincense from Saudi Arabia, India, China, Somalia, Tunisia, the Phillipines and the Sudan.
Natural scents, whether from oils or wooden sticks of incense, set the mood in the home the same way colors and furnishings do, says the owner of the Little Shop of Incense. Scents can guide and even change behavior, says Skau, noting the calming effects of frankincense and myrrh.
“Different natural aromas in your home may seem like a new thing, but it’s not New Age. It’s been used for thousands of years to set the mood where people live,” says Skau, a chemist with Sherwin-Williams Paint Co. for more than 20 years before switching to shopkeeper in 1987.
The tiny shop has between 1,100 and 1,400 different oils (which start at $1.75 for a thumb-size bottle) and dozens of different incenses (10 cents a stick)-which he makes by heating oils, creating a crumb-like substance that he rolls or dips wooden sticks in.
The Little Shop of Incense is at 6207 N. Broadway; 312-973-0011. Hours are from 1 to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.