Editor’s note: Tim Canning of the Lemon Tree posted this note this morning.
Hi friends-
The Lemon Tree is coming! Thank you all for your comments. The project slowed down due to business terms with the lease and binding contract deals with Michael’s. I can assure you that all business issues have been sorted out.
Bill White — great idea with the “Peapod pick-up only”! I will bring up your clever idea at our meeting this afternoon. I also appreciate your comments concerning the parking… We are working closely with the village to maximize the accessibility of parking spaces on Burlington.
Our Web site is near completion (www.lemontreegrocer.com). We would love to hear everyone’s suggestions and comments on this blog or through our website. The Lemon Tree wants to know what you want from your downtown market!
Thank you all! And the Lemon Tree is coming… Please sit tight.
Tim Canning
What about your other store on Lemont Road? Is that also on track? When is it slated for opening and when is the downtown one going to open?
As a regular shopper at Kramers in Hinsdale and Mike’s in Villa Park, I am hoping Lemon Tree will be just as good. I am waiting with grand antcipation.
Can’t wait!
Requests as follows:
1. A bakery, I can’t tell you how often I wished I could pick up a decent French or Italian loaf of bread to go with dinner.
2. Reasonably priced pre-packaged take home meals, for those nights when Mrs Meat comes home late and I forgot to defrost meat in the morning.
3. Fresh produce. No, really. Supermarket produce is the stuff that prison riots are made of. If you want to follow a perfect model look no further than ‘Valli’ or ‘Caputo’, the produce looks great, its priced right and it flies off the shelf.
4. As long as I mentioned them, I would model my inventory more along the line of a ‘Valli’ then a ‘Trader Joe’s’ or ‘Whole Foods’. The meat counter always offers pre-made stuffed seafood (along with cooking tips), breaded meats and kebabs.
When you can overhear 4 different languages being spoken around you while your shopping produce, you know your in the right place.
Welcome, and good luck.
…one more thing.
Cooking classes, featuring new ways to use dinner favorites (like the ubiquitous chicken breast) or something new that you may not be as comfortable preparing, such as duck for a confit or Mussels.
..oh wait, what about partnering with some of our local merchants to feature their products? Emmitt’s beers, The Olive Taps artisinal oils, cheeses from The Cellar Door or pastries from Ingram’s?
Just sayin’..
Just spoke to Tim Canning, to confirm his comments here and also to get information for a column on the subject for Thursday’s Sun.
Canning said The Lemon Tree opening is three to four months away. He and his partner recruited a store space designer and other people to “help us get this done as quickly and efficiently as possible.”
He said equipment and fixture orders can take eight to 10 weeks, but once they start working on the space, they should be able to get it done in two to two and a half months.
He sounded very enthusiastic and very willing to work with Downers Grove residents to make the store what they want it to be.
For example, he said there are some items they may not want to put up on the shelves for aesthetic reasons — toilet paper or cat food, for example — which they will stock in a mezzanine office area. The idea is to spare shoppers from the need to hop in the car to get these other items.
The wire roller basket is ready to amble.
HoKa Turkeys available from a local butcher once again.
Fresh Michigan apples
Can they offer the quality of Whole Foods and the value of Nature’s Best? I hope so!
Tim, when you’re ready to starting hiring staff for the DG store, I’m interested in applying. Will you be posting jobs on the web site?
Looing at the footprint of that space, there seems to be a lot of cement and decorative planting where parking and a driveway for pick-up’s could be placed. I wonder if that is village code to have that large of a “plaza” type of entrance in this type of property. Seems to be a waste when parking and space is an issue. Although a nice outdoor cafe placed around the sidewalk and planter would also be nice.
I always thought a sit down area where you can buy a samich and a bottle of wine/or beer or other- would be a great idea…sit down outside in a partitioned patio and partake with a cup of coffee and that fresh baked pastry at night or morning…..BOYYYY IS THIS GONNA GREAT” Flounder signing off.