No. 1 of 2011: Store Closings, From Mill Race to Merra-Lee

• Editor's note: This is the last of a 10-part countdown of the top stories on Geneva Patch in 2011. These 10 are my choices. At the end of each story, you'll get a chance to pick your own top story. I strongly encourage you to click on the links to the original story or stories, because that's where you'll find the stepping stones of this trip down memory lane.

It started with the January closing of the , the beautiful riverside restaurant that proudly had been a Geneva destination since 1933.

It climaxed with the closing of the 82-year-old  and its sister shops, a curtain call that is still in progress.

And in between, several other well-known stores and businesses made 2011 the year to say goodbye.

There was the saga of Geneva Hardware, which moved in January from its on State Street near Randall Road, then

There was the , which followed the . 

became , then was replaced by . 

And these stores or businesses are added to the list of buildings still vacant, including the and the former at State and Third.

Valley Community Bank shut down but as First State Bank.

There are many good-news business stories, as well.

The moved to its new location on Third Street and already has become a destination store for area chocolate lovers.

moved into the building where Viking Office Supply welcomed Genevans for so many years.

The opened its state-of-the-art facility in September.

There have been literally dozens of other 2011 business openings in Geneva, in downtown Geneva, in the Geneva Commons, from the East Side to the West Side.

Meanwhile, the is nearly complete, with many well-thought ideas and opportunities for Geneva's future.

What happens in 2012 will be of more than passing interest to all of us.

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