There are 47 different wands and vomit-flavored jelly beans.
And that is just the tip of the wizard’s hat when it comes to the magical stuff (wands start at $39) you’ll encounter at the new Harry Potter Shop Chicago that opens Thursday at 676 N. Michigan Ave.
If you saw it in the films or read about it in the books, there’s a good chance you’ll find it on a shelf.
There are robes ($100), sweaters ($60), ties ($15), brooms ($35), golden snitches ($18), luggage tags ($10), and personalized acceptance letters from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry ($20).
Whatever house you identify with — Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Slytherin — there’s gear for you.
Flying books, brooms and fairies are suspended from the ceiling. Suspenseful orchestral music from the films fills the air.
“You spend a lot of time looking up and around,” the store’s general manager, Adam Riley said during a tour provided Wednesday to the media ahead of the grand opening.
There’s a re-creation of Ollivanders Wand Store and a wall dedicated to Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans ($12), which, of course, are wizarding jelly beans that come in flavors ranging from green apple to spinach, liver and vomit.
Thirsty Muggles (non-wizards) can fork over $13.50 for a Butterbeer, which is a butterscotch-flavored soft drink at the Butterbeer Bar, served in a souvenir glass mug.
A cup of butterbeer ice cream will set you back $9.50. They can be enjoyed, along with other beverages and snacks, at the Butterbeer Bar, a lounge area with a speakeasy vibe. (Everything on the menu is non-alcoholic.)
“The attention to detail everywhere, kind of gets you a bit emotional,” actor Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy in the films, said Wednesday while visiting the store. “I can picture thousands of happy young faces coming in here and just being blown away.”
Felton shot a video of the store and sent it to his old castmates on a text chain they keep.
“They would love this,” said Felton, who still marvels at the story’s staying power. “It’s like nothing I would have ever expected. We all thought, I think, that at the end of the last film, things would slowly quiet down. But it’s amazing to see the wizarding world is still going strong.”
“I’m constantly sort of pinching myself and saying is this still real and then sort of celebrating afterwards,” he said.
Felton has been to Chicago a few times, most recently to kick off on road trip along Route 66 with his best friend.
“We got an RV, went to Walmart, stocked it up and drove for three days,” he said of his trip to Los Angeles.
When asked to identify Malfoy’s wand among several dozen other characters’ on display, Felton grabbed it in an instant.
“I could do it blindfolded,” he said. “I’ve spent many, many an hour with this in my hand.”
The store will employ about 75 full- and part-time retail workers, 24 workers at the Butterbeer Bar and 12 security guards.
The space, which has been largely vacant since 2021 except for a few pop up events, last hosted an Express clothing store.
