Articles in the Business & Economy Category

Elgin Academy alumnus “Jimmy John” Liautaud, founder of 1000-store sandwich chain Jimmy John’s, has moved his family to Florida and applied for Florida residency in the wake of the recent tax hike bill passed and signed by Illinois Democratic Party politicians on the 13th of this month.

State legislators passed a bill that forces out-of-state online retailers to collect sales taxes from Illinois residents. Having an affiliate in the state would count for tax purposes as having an in-state presence. In response, online retailers are expected to terminate their affiliate relationships, killing the Internet industry in Illinois and leaving legislators with no net gain in sales tax revenue and probable loss of income tax revenue.

In the 1950’s, only 1 in 20 businesses needed the government’s blessing to operate. That number has grown to 1 in 3 today. This trend has been no different for Elginites.

“World Famous” Topnotch Tattoos is the place in Elgin to get tattoos and piercings. They’ve been in business more than a decade and are located on E. Chicago Street across from Public House and Medusa/Mission.

At Elgin’s most recent budget discussion meeting, Mayor Ed Schock used the phrase “the new reality” in questioning whether the recent decline in riverboat revenues and an overall budget squeeze are going to get better any time soon.

For my first post, I’m going to keep it positive with what I think is a pretty remarkable story: Patricia Keeney, owner of sporting goods and antiques store, Keeney’s, thought she may have to close its doors when she fell ill, needed hospitalization, and was diagnosed with cancer soon after. Instead, a group of volunteers, coordinated by the Downtown Neighborhood Association, stepped in to man the store while Keeney fights back, allowing the store to continue its 100+ year run.

Eddy is the produce manager at Dino’s, where he’s worked for some 25 years. About 15 years ago he thought it would be a good idea to include Asian groceries in the store’s offerings. Now Asian groceries represent about a third of the store’s business. If you need Asian groceries at the lowest prices it would be tough to beat Dino’s. If they don’t have something you need, just ask Eddy and he’ll stock it for you.