Sears, GMC want back in St. Charles

Two prodigal sons want to return home to St. Charles, but instead of a fatted calf, they want a kickback of half the sales tax revenues they’d generate.

The departure of Sears from Charlestowne Mall was one of the larger blows to the city’s sales tax revenue stream in recent years. Now Sears want to come back via a Sears Home Appliance Showroom in the former home of Blockbuster Video at Foxfield Commons.

The location is just a skip away from Charlestowne Mall. But the company is holding retail sites in West Chicago with cheaper rental rates over the city as a bargaining chip.

For every dollar more than $1.6 million in sales, Sears wants the city to kick back 50 percent of the sales tax it collects. Sears projects $2 million in sales per year for the store.

That means the city would reap about $20,000 a year in sales tax from the store. Sears wants half that back, up to a cap of $10,000 per year for the next five years. Sears gets no money back from the city if it doesn’t hit at least $1.6 million in sales.

Aldermen were reluctant to sign off on the deal Monday night, mostly because no one from Sears showed up to a committee meeting to answer questions.

“The max they will ever get out of this deal is $50,000,” said Chris Aiston, the city’s economic development director. “If this appliance store goes to West Chicago, we’re not going to get another one on the east side of town.”

With the importance of maintaining a mix of retail outlets on the east side, aldermen agreed to pass along the plan to the full city council with mostly favorable comments but a requirement that a Sears representative show up for final questions.

In similar action, a car dealership owner with a history of success in West Chicago and Schaumburg wants to bring a GMC/Buick dealership back to 1421 E. Main St. That site played host to a GMC dealership about eight months ago, but a bank has now taken over ownership of that property.

Like Sears, Emir Abinion wants a kickback of half the sales tax revenue his dealership would bring to the city.

Abinion expects about $13.4 million in sales each year for the first three years. The city expects about $402,000 in sales tax over that time. In years four through 10, Abinion expects his profits to climb.

The city would then reap sales taxes of about $1.2 million total during those years. Abinion also expects to create about 50 new jobs.

In return, he wants half the sales tax he generates returned to him for 10 years, or a maximum return of $450,000. Alderman agreed to that plan.

“This whole project makes sense to me,” Alderman Cliff Carrignan said.