Acosta's Marketplace to sell artisan, vintage goods in Batavia
It's been interesting to track the Acosta's Home Consignment journey, from its first small shop on the west side of St. Charles eight years ago to the current location at 16 N. Batavia Ave. in Batavia.
In between, there was a second location at one time on the east side of St. Charles, and there have also been South Elgin and Wheaton locations.
Now, the next chapter is about to begin. The 16,000-square-foot Batavia site with 42 rooms is being converted into Acosta's Marketplace, a series of boutiques rented by consignors and artisans who have interesting products or art to sell.
The change in Batavia starts Monday, April 1, with 13 vendors already involved and many others expected to sign up for May.
During this transition, the Batavia site will have both vendor and consignment items.
"We currently have 80 booths total and we are adding more within the next few months," owner Christine Acosta said. "Our goal is to definitely have them all rented."
Such a goal would be important for Acosta, who calls the dawning of the marketplace "a dream come true" because of her desire to help small businesses.
"In addition to being asked several times over the years whether we could rent space, we have been thinking about this concept for years and the time feels right," Acosta said.
The Acosta Marketplace will operate through the newest cloud-based software for consignors, allowing vendors to add or withdraw inventory through their phones, tablets or computers and print labels during store hours.
In this way, all of the inventory and sales are live and in full view by vendors, as many would not be on the sales floor on a daily basis.
"We do not have a vendor work requirement, but we do require them to replenish and clean their own booths at least twice per month," she added. Rent payments are automatically deducted from the vendor's accounts.
With this change, the Batavia site will no longer accept consignments, but the South Elgin and Wheaton stores will continue to do so at Acosta Home Consignment locations.
"We love what we do and, if I had the time, I have always wanted to work to help small businesses get started and grow," Acosta said.
Prepared for the worst:
With mass shootings becoming more commonplace nationwide and locally, we're relegated to looking for silver linings in this madness.
It appears we're not able to agree on effective gun control laws, so we have to do the next best thing - make far more individuals and business owners aware of the dangers and what to do if confronted with this type of horror.
Reader Mark Snyder of Geneva sent a note that learning about what to do in a shooting incident is "not a pleasant subject and maybe not the type of subject for your column."
But he mentioned how impressed he and his wife were after attending an Active Shooter Training session at the Kane County Sheriff's training room at 37W755 Route 38. That makes it an important topic for this column.
"We went as citizens, but I did recommend it to the human resources department of the company I retired from, as well as another company," Snyder said. 'They were both quite interested."
The uptick in interest in this sort of training is a result of the recent shooting at the Henry Pratt factory in Aurora.
Lt. Kevin Williams of the sheriff's department conducts these sessions. And he acknowledges the Aurora incident is fueling interest.
"Sheriff (Ron) Hain began hosting the Active Shooter Training, and I have been getting more requests from businesses to come and present to their employees," Williams said.
The training is for anyone interested, and Williams noted he has requests to speak at conferences, business meetings and symposiums since 2007.
"I am sure we will keep offering sessions at the Kane County Sheriff's office," he added.
The next sessions are set for 6 to 8 p.m. April 2, 11 and 16 at the training room. Those interested can register on the Kane County Sheriff website.
Snyder passed along his kudos for Williams and the informative presentation.
"He is passionate and knowledgeable about the issue," Snyder said. "It is geared toward company preparation and training, but it is good for individuals, too."
Baring it all:
Work is taking place at the former Mish boutique at 206 W. State St. in Geneva to convert the site into a day spa.
The Bare All beauty bar will set up shop there in the coming weeks, offering various types of skin care, makeup and lashes treatments.
It will be the second location for this day spa operation in the area. One currently operates at 430 N. Main St. in Glen Ellyn.
For the coach:
Batavians responded quickly when Batavia High School assistant coach Rick Miller suffered a heart attack earlier this month when down in Springfield for state competition with some of the squad's wrestlers.
In only two days, a GoFundMe site set up to help with medical costs raised more than $13,000.
Those interested in helping can go to the Go Fund Me site for Miller to donate.
It's a Batavia rally:
We've participated in a few road rally fundraisers through the years, and they are always quite fun. Mostly, the clues to find locations in the rally often lead you to places you maybe didn't previously know about.
The Batavia Park District likely had that in mind creating the Batavia Road Rally, an event it is calling competitive and educational, as it will serve up some doses of Batavia history during Batavia Preservation Week.
It takes place at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 27, from the starting point of the Eastside Community Center at 14 N. Van Buren St. Check-in starts at 1:30 p.m.
Participants will follow hints, clues and activities to earn points along a route that the park district says will test their knowledge of the city's history.
Entry fee is $10 per team, which is as many people who can safely fit in a vehicle.
This explains why our past participation in road rally events usually meant someone had a van that could fit six or seven comfortably.
Registration is available on the park district website or by calling (630) 879-5235.
dheun@sbcglobal.net