The Corner Store: A History of Local Markets in St. Charles

Long before the era of “Big Box” stores and chain supermarkets people relied on local, family-run markets. In St. Charles, residents had a number of such places to choose from. In fact during the 1930s, there were as many as 10 or more neighborhood markets in town! Today this may seem excessive, but at the time it was necessary. 

In a research file at the Heritage Center we found a short memoir written by Julie Swanson from St. Charles. In the memoir she recounted her experience working at one of these local markets. Here is some of what she said…

“Before the chain stores and later the malls, neighborhood stores were common and very convenient. Our town was small and not everybody had a car or two or three like they do today.

The neighborhood stores were very convenient. The housewife would put on a clean apron and walk the three or four blocks to the corner store and pick up any food item she needed. She wouldn’t be afraid to send her young child to pick up a loaf of bread or whatever item she needed.

The neighborhood stores were friendly and usually the place to pick up the local gossip or news of the day. Remember this was the time before television. Radio was not used as extensively as it is today. You were lucky to have one radio per family.

The store owner knew everyone in the neighborhood and if one of his customers fell upon hard times he was always ready to extend credit.

The neighborhood store was the place the children went to spend their pennies if they were lucky enough to have one or two. Bulls-eyes and Mary Jane caramels were two for a penny, it would take the kids a very long time to make up their minds because the penny selection was great!”

During this time, it was not uncommon for the markets to also make deliveries to their customers. In her writing, Julie tells about a delivery boy stopping at homes on his way to work, taking the orders, and then bringing them back later in the day. Today, this idea is making a comeback with online companies like Peapod.

Some of the local markets that were in St. Charles for many years were Haskins and Debates located on Main Street near the Arcada, DeRaedt’s located in Belgium Town on Dean Street, the Chaplis Store on Elm Street, Polly’s at 619 E. Main, the St. Charles Market at 801 S. 3rd Street and the Blue Goose which had several location throughout the years.

The St. Charles Market was operated by Veronica and Anton “Tony” Zedonis for 44 years beginning in 1928. The Zedonis family ran the St. Charles Market 365 days a year opening the store at 6 a.m. and closing at 10 p.m. everyday. The store was attached to the north side of the family home and was complete with a meat department along with a candy and ice cream counter. Veronica and Tony finally decided to close up shop in the late 1960s. The hours were grueling and they could no longer keep up the pace. They slowly phased out of the business and spent their hours on the lower level of the house, they rented the upper level and the store remained empty. The building is still standing and the sign marking the store is visible from the north side of the building. In 2003, Tony’s son, Donald, wrote a history of his family’s business, it can be seen in the Heritage Center’s Archive.

is the last remaining family-run market in St. Charles. The Blue Goose also began in 1928 when Nancy Lencioni opened a fruit store on West Main Street. Over the years, the store continued to grow and add new offerings including a meat counter and general grocery items. They changed locations in 1941, 1963, and again in 2008 (more information on the full history and photographs of the Blue Goose are available at the Heritage Center). Today, the Blue Goose still maintains the feeling of the small local markets of St. Charles’ past.

For more information about these or other stores you remember please stop in to look through the Museum or make an appointment to do some research in the Archive!