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Blue Goose eyes Batavia for 2nd store

The Blue Goose Market of St. Charles is considering opening a second store, in downtown Batavia.

And the place being considered is the Walgreens store at 138 W. Wilson St. - after that store moves to a new building next door.

"We are very seriously looking at that site," Blue Goose President and General Manager Paul Lencioni said Monday. "There is no other location that I am in serious discussions about."

"Batavia is actually a really cool situation. ... I love where their downtown is going."

The site in the Batavia Plaza shopping center is about 12,650 square feet. The current Blue Goose is 30,000 square feet.

Lencioni said he would want the Batavia location to be a full-service grocery store. The kitchen and bakery in the St. Charles store might be used to make products for both sites.

The perishables departments - produce, bakery, deli and meat - are the most important parts of the Blue Goose business, according to market studies, Lencioni said. That includes having its own chefs and bakers prepare to-go foods, going to the wholesale market in Chicago to buy its produce itself, and stocking locally grown grass-fed beef.

The Blue Goose Fruit Store was opened in 1928 by Lencioni's great-grandmother, Annunciata "Nancy" Lencioni. She took the name off a crate of California oranges. It is in its fourth home in St. Charles, in a building opened in 2008 at First and Illinois streets.

Paul Lencioni, formerly an accountant, returned to the family partnership three years ago. He had been assistant general manager from 2003 to 2009.

Lencioni said expanding the business is important to continued viability. Having only one location leaves it at higher risk for losses due to disruption, he said, such as major roadwork.

"Besides, we believe in what we do. People like how we do business," he said.

One of the factors in a move to Batavia is whether there would be adequate parking, and how traffic would flow, Lencioni said. The Batavia Plaza has parking on the front and side. A public lot is adjacent. But in the development of the new Walgreens, some parking spaces were lost. And currently, the Wilson driveway is entrance-only.

There is a grocery store, Berkeley's, on the eastern edge of downtown.

In May, the city council authorized a demographics study for the downtown. Initially, the city's economic development consultant wanted a study that would focus on the needs of a grocery store. Aldermen were uncomfortable with limiting it to a specific store or type of store. The results of the study are to be shared with Berkeley's and a potential new restaurant.

Batavia Plaza is owned by Batavia Enterprises Inc., which built it in the early 1960s. A Jewel Food Store occupied the current Walgreens space.

Lencioni cautioned Monday that there is a lot of work to be done before a decision is made.

"We're early in the planning stages. But we haven't reached any insurmountables," he said.

Blue Goose Market is still a gem in St. Charles

Grocery for downtown Batavia?

Batavia hopes demographic study will bring businesses

  The Blue Goose Market is investigating whether to open a second location, in what is now a Walgreens store, in downtown Batavia. Susan Sarkauskas/ssarkauskas@dailyherald.com, 2013
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