Geneva's Berry House Shops retailers are making a comeback

Business owners who make Berry House Shops at 227 S. Third St. in Geneva their home have a sense that a new aura of excitement is coming to the small indoor "shopping center" along Geneva's popular retail strip.

It starts with talk from the building owner about sprucing up both the inside and outside of the building and potentially improving the shops' website and outdoor signage.

But it also helps that a business like the Little Red Barn Door home décor and furniture shop has opened on the second floor across from the popular El Molcajete restaurant.

"We opened the day before the Christmas Walk and that was important timing for us," said owner Sylvia Torres. "So many people at the restaurant came over to see our store."

That sort of thing brings a smile to her face, as Torres said she was ready for a change from an accounting and marketing job at her family's business, Legna Ironworks Inc. in Roselle. Her interest in home décor and marketing a business simply fueled the change.

As her idea to open a home décor store started to fall into place, she stumbled upon the perfect name for her shop.

"We were at a junk-tique event in Shorewood and saw this little red barn door piece and I just loved it," Torres said.

She bought that piece and it clicked in her mind that it would make a good name for her store, which specializes in old, new, handmade and architectural salvage pieces, as well as custom furniture.

For the time being, she has a small steel barn model with a red door as a window display. It's an interesting piece, one that a customer already inquired about purchasing. But it is not for sale.

Living in St. Charles with her family, Torres had often heard about the potential a unique shop could have on Third Street in Geneva, so she made her move to become part of that.

In an example of how her marketing mind intends to function, Torres said she will change the small store's displays and items on a regular basis.

"That way, someone coming in again some time later will think they are in a different store, and might spot something they did not notice the first time," she added.

In embracing the notion that a rising tide lifts all boats, Carrie Tatone, owner of The Gathering antiques, art and fair trade gift shop on the first floor of Berry House Shops, feels that any new, interesting store will help all others in the indoor facility.

"We all want to help each other as much as we can," Tatone said, noting that she is planning a storewide sale and gift certificate raffles March 3 and 4 during her third anniversary in Berry House.

Her event will include coffee from the Coffee Drop Shop at Berry House, with some incentives to also patronize that shop.

She's also helped the owner of the new Kabemba Field Artwork & Antiques store to get adjusted to operating in downtown Geneva by answering questions as best she can.

"If we all work on things together, it will help bring more shoppers into the site," Tatone said. An example was an open house the business owners staged late last year.

With that, it could cut down on the occasional comments from ultimately happy customers who start their social media posts by saying something like, "I had no idea there were so many shops inside there."

More than a marathon:

Nick and Jill Marsh of Batavia have had a vision to run in the Boston Marathon, especially after running qualifying times for the event when competing in the 2016 Chicago Marathon.

So their appearance in the Boston Marathon on April 16 this year is a dream come true. But it also has special meaning, one that the Marsh family will share from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 25, in a "Beers For Boston" fundraiser at Penrose Brewing Co., 509 Stevens St., in Geneva.

It's all for the Martin Richard Foundation, an organization that emphasizes inclusion and diversity within communities.

Martin Richard is the 8-year-old who was watching the Boston Marathon with his family at the finish line in 2013 when two explosions disrupted the race, killed Martin, and inspired a nation to rally around Boston and keep the memories of those killed or injured alive.

Martin's parents founded the Martin Richard Foundation, and Nick and Jill Marsh had determined they were going to be "charity" runners in the marathon this year. They chose to support the Martin Richard Foundation in the process.

"We wanted to do our part to help pay it forward, and we also wanted to make sure we chose a charity that matched our own values, passions and beliefs," Jill Marsh wrote in a letter to the community seeking donations and attendees for the fundraiser.

Regardless of what the timer will show when Nick and Jill Marsh cross the Boston Marathon finish line, they have shown their true colors in carrying the banner for Martin Richard.

And they have won that race of kindness that is so badly needed these days.

It is strange:

You don't have to worry about this one turning up during the Academy Awards next week, but here's a movie tidbit. If you went to see "Winchester," the new spooker about Sarah Winchester, I have an interesting twist for you.

She was the wife of the rifle creator William Winchester, who built a mansion apparently designed to keep spirits from escaping. Those spirits just happened to be ghosts of people who were killed by Winchester rifles.

After watching the movie you can tell folks you know someone who has been inside the real mansion. I visited the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California, in the early 1970s and found it to be an odd and fascinating place.

The movie? I hear it's kind of a stinker, so enter this version of the mansion at your own risk.

In fact, it's quite likely it's not even at the theaters any more when you read this. As of this writing, it had only one showing time listed later in the evening at the Classic Cinemas at Charlestowne Mall.

So, now what?:

It may not have been audible, but I got the sense there was a significant sigh of relief when developers backed out of converting the Campagna building along Batavia Avenue and Fabyan Parkway. There are just far too many questions about traffic, school arrangements, and the general sense that the building might not be all that appealing as a complex for lower-income residents, particularly because of the lack of windows that would open and close.

So, the building, lacking a fair amount of aesthetic appeal, will continue to be what it is: A place that has a few businesses operating inside and an odd configuration for parking.

It's got historic preservation commission protections, but it might not bring a massive amount of tears if the place was ultimately leveled for something more modern.

dheun@sbcglobal.net