Grocery for downtown Batavia?

Two grocers are considering setting up shop in downtown Batavia, according to a consultant for the city.

He and Mayor Jeff Schielke are not yet even telling aldermen who the prospects are.

"I have met with them, but they have asked for confidentiality," Schielke told aldermen Tuesday.

Chris Aiston, the city's economic development consultant, said one would be a "destination" store, drawing shoppers willing to drive 10 to 15 minutes to get to it. The store would need 15,000 to 20,000 square feet, he said.

Who could it be?

For comparison, the Blue Goose Market in St. Charles is about 30,000 square feet of grocery and storage space. The vacant former Dominick's in Geneva is about 70,000 square feet. Standard Market in Naperville is about 40,000 square feet.

"It's a short list," said Bill Bishop, retail analyst, when asked about small specialty grocers: Fresh Market, Aldi and Trader Joe's, he said. Batavia has an Aldi and a Trader Joe's, and a Fresh Market is in northern Geneva.

Another, newer player is Fresh Thyme. The chain is expanding in the Midwest. Its first store opened in 2014 in Mount Prospect, another is due to open this spring in Downers Grove, and it will have a store in Naperville. According to a report by Natural Foods Merchandiser, Fresh Thyme intended to build or remodel stores of 24,000 to 28,000 square feet. Fresh Thyme focuses on perishables, especially produce, instead of packaged food.

"I think that is a very good prospect," Bishop said. "People (in the industry) have agreed, the 50,000- and 60,000-square-foot store is not where the action is today."

Bishop is founder and chief architect of BricktoClick.com, a retail consulting company. He was also a founder of Willard Bishop LLC, a consulting company that focused on supermarkets.

Fresh Thyme officials could not be reached for comment.

Other players

Aldermen speculated on possibilities such as a Lemon Tree store. The Lemon Tree in Downers Grove is a 6,000-square-foot subsidiary of a larger grocery store. Downers Grove officials wanted a small store in its downtown and to fill a vacancy in a large shopping center, and so agreed to a 10-year sales tax rebate to get Michael's Fresh Market to take on both.

Batavia already has a downtown grocer. Berkeley Finer Foods, at Wilson and Van Buren streets, opened in the former Amstadt's grocery space in 2009. A group is also trying to form a food cooperative called The Green Tomato.

Aldermen Tuesday wondered where a grocery could go. Walgreens store was mentioned, once Walgreens moves into a new store next door. The current Walgreens used to be a Jewel Food Store.

Another study?

The discussion has come up because an unidentified owner of a building has asked the city to pay for a study to see if a grocery store could succeed in that location. The study would cost up to $7,500, Aiston said. Administrators have suggested the city pay no more than half the cost.

Alternatively, the city could do a more general study to see if a grocery store is feasible anywhere in downtown, Aiston said.

And he has asked the city council to consider an even broader study, to determine what kinds of stores the downtown needs and could support. Preliminary estimates indicate a study could cost $23,500 to $74,000.

Aldermen disagreed on the grocery-specific studies. Alderman Susan Stark said she thought it could be worth it to pay for the specific-store study, to get a store that would attract outsiders, thus generating sales tax for the city. But Alderman Carl Fischer said that any grocery operator of note should have staff studying the site itself. Alderman Martin Callahan said Berkeley's came to Batavia without incentives, and paying for the segment-specific study could set a precedent for other stores, such as shoe stores, to ask the city to pay for studies.

"I find it hard to believe that a business you are talking about is asking us to kick in $3,700, that they can't pay that on their own," Alderman Kevin Botterman said.

Resident Yvonne Dinwiddie also spoke against doing any study. Real estate agents should be able to supply that kind of information for the properties they are trying to sell, she said, as should Batavia MainStreet and the Batavia Chamber of Commerce.

"Your job is not to market downtown," she told aldermen. "It is not your job to market the properties for the Realtor."