Grayslake Residents Sound Off on Village's Plan to Bring a Butera to Town

Many Grayslake residents are not on board with the village’s plan to try and lure Butera Market to a vacant 30,000-square foot space at Center Street and Atikinson Road in Grayslake.

We recently asked Grayslake Patch Facebook followers what they thought of the village’s plan to use a financial incentive package that could total up to $750,000 to try and lure the grocer to the former Piggly Wiggly location. A few said they are glad the village is trying to get any business into the vacant space. But many more said they were not fans of Butera. And still more shared their wish list of grocery stores they would prefer in the location, such as, a Mariano’s, Trader Joes or Whole Foods.

The space has been vacant since 2013 when Farmers market Place closed after a brief, six-month stint at the location, according to an earlier article Daily Herald. Prior to that, the Piggly Wiggly, which closed in 2012, had been in operation at the location for twenty years.

Here is what some Grayslake Patch Facebook followers had to say about the possibility of Butera coming to town:

• Laraas Ciaraffa: “There’s a Meijer opening in Round Lake. Butera will not be able to compete. Never impressed by the stores I went into. A permanent Farmer’s market makes more sense.”
• Joris Lillge: “All the stores mentioned you want here have no desire to come to Grayslake. I think we should be thankful a business is coming, fixing up the property and contributing to the tax base. It’s a win/win for the community especially when the only reason that grocery store didn’t survive was because of mismanagement, not a lack of customers.”
  
• Patricia Christina: “How about something like a Mariano’s in that location? I’m not sure that a Butera would be the right fit for Grayslake.”
• Carrie Loffredo: “Every time I’ve been in a Butera, it’s a dump and the prices are way too high. Too bad we lost out to Libertyville on the Trader Joe’s.”
• Meileen Miller Van Diggelen “Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods would be ideal/deairable. The Pig was great and so much better than Butera. Bring the Pig back at least.”
• Vicki Comerford: “I would take a Butera over a dried up old nasty EMPTY strip mall any day of the week. At least the Village is taking steps to fill the UGLY empty space. Part of the deal is that they’re going to put $2-3M into upgrades on the building and the parking lot. Much needed!!
• Rachael Rezek: “I really wish they would skip the grocery angle and open a nice brunch place...”
• Suzie Kormos Davis: “I sure hope the Butera deal is not a done deal... we do NOT need another discount grocery in the area! I really believe the Grayslake area is ripe for an honest to goodness natural foods grocery store -Not pseudo-natural like Trader Joes, and not foo-foo natural like Whole Foods -- and would love to see Natural Grocers in that spot! Yes I am being selfish- as they were my go to grocer for years when I lived in Colorado...with very good reasons! ”

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