Convenience a factor in Girl Scouts store's move to Randall Road corridor

If you're heading out to buy Girl Scout merit badges or Brownie sashes to display your awards, the trip soon will be a little more convenient.

The Girl Scouts store - as well as some of the Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois administrative offices - on Coombs Road in Elgin is moving to the Randall Road corridor next month.

The move comes as part of the organization's effort to move to a number of smaller resource centers throughout the area, instead of larger, more destination centers.

The new Randall Road center will be opening in May in South Elgin, at 353 Randall Road. At the same time, the group will be moving out of the Coombs Road location, Girl Scouts officials said.

The Coombs Road location is west of Randall Road, not close to any other stores or nearby any other locations that people might usually need to head to for errands on a regular basis. Heading to the Girl Scouts store for essentials is often something leaders wait to do until they need many things, because the trip isn't convenient.

The new location, hopefully, will make things easier for people, officials said.

"We want to be more present in our community and make it a lot easier for our parents and our families and our leaders to come in and purchase their items and get their questions answered while they're already out running errands," said Ann-Marie Soderstrom, Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois communications manager. "We're finding out this is definitely what the public wanted."

The center will be in a strip mall next to the South Elgin Jewel at the corner of Randall and Stearns roads.

Presently, architects are working designing the existing strip center unit so it can be remodeled to make it the most convenient and welcoming for employees and visitors, Soderstrom said.

Once finished, the center will be open six days a week, she said.

Soderstrom added that the area has high traffic and visibility, and will be visible to nonmembers of Girl Scouts who are encouraged to drop in and find out more about the organization in their community, and who are even invited to join and become Girl Scouts.

She said the center will be bright and welcoming, and allow people to get everything the Girl Scouts in their lives need. They also will be able to register for programs, including upcoming summer camps, at the center.

There also will be space available in the new resource center, which can be used by Girl Scouts troops and units for meetings and more.

Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois intends to hold a grand opening celebration. To keep up to date on what is happening with the new center, visit www.girlscoutsni.org/locations, or the social media sites on Facebook and Instagram.

There also will be a special farewell event for the Coombs Road location, which will include store offers, a special Elgin store commemorative patch and cupcakes.

Now open:

The new McAlister's Deli along the Randall Road corridor in Algonquin now is open.

The fast-casual style restaurant opened Monday at 240 S. Randall Road, in front of the Algonquin Home Depot.

This week, the restaurant is hosting a weeklong fundraising competition between Jacobs High School and Crystal Lake South High School.

For this entire opening week, through Sunday, April 15, guests inside of the restaurant can put their receipts into boxes assigned to each school. Their receipt will serve as their vote for the school they want to support.

At the end of the week, the receipts will be totaled and 20 percent of the proceeds from each of the buses will be donated to the schools. On top of that, the school that gets the most money, also will get an additional $1,000 donation.

The new restaurant is a franchise, and owned by Keystone Management Group.

"We are excited to offer McAlister's handcrafted sandwiches, family-friendly atmosphere and genuine hospitality to Algonquin, Lake in the Hills and Crystal Lake," said Keystone Marketing Manager Melissa Porter.

"Giving back to our local schools is something we are passionate about and can't wait to see the community throw their support behind the two high schools," she said.

McAlister's in Algonquin is the newest location for the deli along the Randall Road corridor. There also are locations in Elgin and Geneva.

• Amy Williams' column covers all the news of business along the Randall Road corridor from Batavia to Crystal Lake. Contact her at randallbiz@comcast.net or (847) 894-5036.