Terry Flanagan: Geneva Merchant of the Week

What do you do for an encore when you have three successful Italian restaurants, an abundance of energy, and a desire to help out other local businesses? If you’re Pietro Verone, the gregarious and personable owner of Villa Verone, you decide to host a weekly soiree that gives local retailers the opportunity to mingle with customers, other business owners, and the general public. Pietro credits his daughter Nicole with the idea for the event they call Geneva Merchant of the Week.

Every Wednesday night from 6:30 to 9:30, will be hosting an informal gathering in the martini bar upstairs in their Geneva restaurant at 416 Hamilton St. The public is welcome to come and meet local business owners in a relaxed atmosphere that features music, free appetizers, drink specials, and giveaways from local shops. The Verones currently have a Person of the Week event in their Elgin restaurant and they wanted to do something similar in their Geneva restaurant. Nicole Verone says that the Geneva event “was started in order to bring merchants together in a fun and relaxed atmosphere. It is also a great way for customers to meet local merchants."

The first guest business owner last Wednesday was Greg Giesche, owner of at 21 N. Fourth St. The Giesches have been in the shoe business nearly two centuries. They stopped making shoes somewhere around the turn of the last century when Florsheim built its factory at Canal and Adams. They realized the days of the individual shoemaker were numbered so they went into the retail end of the business. At one time Giesches had seven stores in the suburbs. The two remaining shops have been open in Glen Ellyn since 1949 and in Geneva since 1976.

Greg is the picture of the old-school business owner. Tall, distinguished-looking, and always well dressed, he inspires confidence in his customers not only because he knows the business so well, but because he respects and values his customers. That’s a rare commodity these days. People still appreciate that type of customer service. Browsing customer reviews of Giesche Shoes on the web, I found nothing but praise for Giesche Shoes and the people who work there.

Greg and his lovely wife, Margaret, are also two of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. Although Dorothy knows both Greg and Margaret, I got my first chance to meet them on Wednesday. And that’s the great thing about the Geneva Merchant of the Week event. It gives you an opportunity to meet local business owners and get to know them on a more personal basis in a relaxed atmosphere outside the business where they are usually busy with customers and there’s not much time to talk.

I also got to learn more about the shoe business, although I’m still puzzled by the fact that women never seem to have enough shoes. I may never solve that mystery, but it has been a boon for the shoe business.

Bringing people together is probably the most important goal of this event. People get to know each other better. They exchange ideas. They discuss problems and possible solutions. They discover new opportunities for working together. They find common ground and ways to help each other. They forge new friendships. They gain greater understanding of the community and the people who live and work here. And they have fun.

The idea of people living together, working together, celebrating together, and helping each other out is pretty much what being part of a small town is all about. We may talk about the character and historic charm of Geneva, but what really makes this town work is the people who live here and work here. The people give the town its character and that character shines brightest when people get together for a good cause.

This event will hopefully help people discover all of the products and services available right here in Geneva. And they’ll meet the people who provide those goods and services, many of whom are their neighbors. Times are tough and everyone is struggling, but we’re all in it together. Shopping and dining locally saves time and gas and supports the local economy and tax base, which in turn helps us all out. We’re fortunate in Geneva because we have so many wonderful places to go. Villa Verone may run out of Wednesdays before they get to feature all of the businesses in town.

This coming Wednesday, Sept. 21, the guest business will be Josef’s Elegante Meats and Deli. Now steak is a subject near and dear to my heart. I understand the primeval urge to find and grill the perfect steak, a quest that usually begins at Josef's. Dorothy may prefer shoes, but there’s no comparison to steak, except when I accidentally turn a good steak into shoe leather on the Weber. This is an unpardonable sin if the steak is from Josef's.

I'm looking forward to meeting Pat and Nannette Falcone, the owners of Josef’s, this Wednesday and I hope a lot of the Patchland readers will be there to meet them as well.