Aug 5, 2010

Eckert’s celebrates 100 years in retail

By Jane Eckert

The Eckert family farm began in 1837 by my great-great-great-grandfather Johann Eckert. Johann brought his wife and children from Germany and settled in southern Illinois, because the land was suitable for fruit trees. The family continued to acquire land and plant more orchards as the family grew. We understand that Johann’s son originally sold apples from the coal cellar of the homestead, and records show the first fruit stand started selling apples in 1910.

One hundred years later, the seventh generation is celebrating this rich history with a brand new Country Store.

Until July 5, Eckert’s Country Store, 30 minutes east of St. Louis in Belleville, Ill., had been operating out of a 1927 building that had seen many changes over the years. The building had initially served as an IGA grocery store, with adjoining slaughterhouse, meat market and roadside stand. In 1978, the structure was reconfigured to a country market.

While Lary and Jim Eckert, sixth-generation cousins, knew that the old market was not meant to handle today’s volume of customers and products, they were not eager to take the next big step and build a new store. However, once Chris and Jill, Lary’s son and daughter, started working in the business, some new ideas began to take form.

The seventh generation started taking the necessary steps to build their case for a new store. In 2007, they hired the Lawrence Group, an architecture and interior design company from St. Louis. The Lawrence Group spent that fall season analyzing the traffic counts and pedestrian flow of the current property to get a better understanding of what the customers were doing when they came to the Belleville farm. One of their conclusions was that most people coming for u-pick apples never even went inside the Country Store because of its location and the fact that it was just too crowded.

While the Lawrence Group reviewed the layout to see if it could be remodeled to be more efficient and guest-friendly, it became clear that the only real option was to build a new and much larger Country Store.

On July 5, Eckert’s opened its new Country Store with 12,000 square feet of retail space, backed by 10,000 square feet for produce preparation, coolers, a freezer, baking and kitchen area and storage. Adjoining the market is an attractive, 1,000-square-foot classroom space, complete with large stove, overhead cameras and large flatscreens so the students can see directly over the chef’s shoulder. The classroom will serve the growing enterprise of children and adult classes, as well as wine seminars. The classroom space can be readily adapted for food concessions and covered seating during the busier season, from July to October.

A major desire for this new store was that it somehow retain the country look and feel of the old store. In order to achieve that goal, the family worked with CIP, a company that handles signage for grocery stores and themed buildings. It took a great deal of family input, but everyone is pleased with the end results.
The store walls are filled with enlarged images of old Eckert product labels, and many old family photos have been enlarged to show the Eckert family and business over the years. Many of the antique fixtures that have been part of the family history have been strategically placed around the store. Near the entrance, a very large family tree helps the community trace the family lineage back to Johann, while at the opposite end of the store, where produce is located, the wall has been painted to represent the original farm market, complete with a tin awning and hanging produce signs.

Customers entering the store come almost immediately to a beautiful, circular bakery sales area, with glass shelves full of delicious pies, rolls, breads, cookies and other fresh bakery items. In the center is a rather small but very important oven. The bulk of the baking will still be done in the back room, but Angie Eckert, in charge of merchandising, plans to have staff keep this little oven at work most of the day to spread the aroma of fresh bread, pies and cookies throughout the store.

Over the last several years, Eckert’s had been expanding a prepared foods section, but the new store has a 56-foot meat and deli case. Families today frequently want to dash in and select a fully prepared dinner, as opposed to cooking on their own. The extensive meat and deli area invites customers to easily stop by on their way home from work and have their meal on the table in minutes: fresh and smoked meats, cleaned and sliced vegetables and fruit, salads and pastas, cheese and meat platters and more.

The sale of wines has also been a recent addition to the market, and the community has responded quite well with a growing interest in wine. Located adjacent to the meat and deli area, the new store allocates additional area for wine and accessories. Wine classes, in the nearby classroom, help individuals learn about wine varieties, as well as appropriate pairings with various entrees.

Of course, for many customers, the Eckert homegrown fruits – juicy, tree-ripened peaches – are the primary attraction that brings them to the farm. Maintaining the space for these fruit displays had always been a challenge in the old store; when the homegrown products were not available, a majority of the retail space had to be shifted and spread out to fill the void. In the new store, the fruit displays are featured in a separate area that, when not in season, can be concealed from the produce area by simply closing three garage doors.

The new market has plenty of space for private label food and specialty products. During the grand opening week, many of these suppliers were on hand to provide samples of their products. A variety of chocolates, cheeses, meats, ice cream, bakery specialties and, of course, nearly a dozen staff circulating throughout the store offered locally grown produce.

The benefits of the new store are many. In addition to providing a large, attractive shopping experience, the building has a natural flow, moving from a large entrance through the store, the Garden Center and on to the play areas and wagons headed to the pick-your-own orchards.

The Country Store adjoins the large glass Garden Center, so customers can move through both areas with their shopping carts with checkout counters at any convenient exit. Coming back from the orchards, the wagons will unload just beyond the doors, and families can easily shop the Country Store without having to return to their cars first.

Speaking of the old building, well … the Eckerts are farmers. Nothing goes to waste. Within days of the grand opening of the new Country Store, the old building was once again under renovation. By mid-September, Eckert’s Country Restaurant will have additional seating for 160 guests, for a total seating of 320. There will be plenty of space for private dinners and meetings.

Please stop in and say hello. The Eckerts have always loved company.