"Given everything it has to give": Owner of Blue Goose in St. Charles confirms it's for sale
After more than nine decades, the iconic Blue Goose Market in downtown St. Charles will soon close or get a new owner.
"The Blue Goose has given everything it has to give," owner Paul Lencioni said late Friday. "But it's not an end. It's a transition. I'm doing everything I can to bring a great supermarket to St. Charles."
Lencioni said he had been in discussions with a prominent Chicago area grocer, but those talks stalled. The grocery store was listed for sale on Monday. Lencioni says he has since spoken with roughly 10 grocers, each expressing varying interest in the property at 300 S. Second St.
Though a closing date for the market is yet to be determined, Lencioni said it is "somewhere between weeks and a couple of months."
"You won't be buying your ground beef this summer at the Blue Goose," he said.
News of the store's closure began circulating on social media earlier this week, leaving some shoppers stunned.
"We're devastated," said Laura Ann Binns, a Batavia woman who began coming to the store at age 7 in 1971 when her family moved to the area. "My mom would send me here on my bike for milk. It's just a lovely place to shop."
Founded by Annunciata "Nancy" Lencioni in 1928, Blue Goose initially opened as a fruit store on the 200 block of Main Street. Through the years, it expanded and moved several times to accommodate the city's growth and meet customers' changing needs.
The supermarket's most recent relocation happened in 2008 as part of St. Charles' First Street redevelopment project.
Paul Lencioni, who also serves as an alderman on the St. Charles City Council, was named CEO in 2012 and became the owner in 2016.
The market has faced challenges as big-box grocers have moved into the area. Lencioni on Friday said the industry remained challenging for independent shops and that as a one-location shop, it was difficult to achieve the economies of scale to continue the business.
"You need to get up to four, five or six stores before you have a comfortable distribution of labor and appropriate scale," he said.
Lencioni said he is working with consultants to assist with the store's transition or closure. He says he intends to help its roughly 100 full- and part-time employees find employment after the store closes.
Although he has shed tears over the decision, Lencioni said, the store's pending closure should not be viewed as a funeral but rather a celebration for what is to come.
"I love the community enough to take the steps to make sure it's well-served," he said.
St. Charles Mayor Lora Vitek echoed similar sentiments, saying that while she is sad to lose a business that has been a part of the community fabric for decades, she is hopeful for what will take its place.
"Sometimes change brings good things," Vitek said. "He (Lencioni) is going to work hard to bring something great to that spot."
• Daily Herald staff writer Susan Sarkauskas contributed to this report.