GENEVA -- If Geneva's quaint and cordial downtown - with homegrown shops spread among the shade trees - has seemed off-limits to national retailers, think again.
Over the past decade, the central business district has added a smattering of regional and national chain stores.
And city government and downtown business leaders say they wouldn't mind having more. In fact, they're actually looking.
Chris Aiston, Geneva's city economic development director, said the city's interest coincides with a tack being taken by national store chains; some bigger retailers, he said, are looking to expand their market base by putting stores in traditional downtown areas, in addition to highway strip malls.
There is some rationale for bringing in national (chain) or two." Aiston said. "The nationals, in more cases than not, now are looking for the downtowns, as well.
To that end, Aiston plans to renew a marketing campaign he also has done in the past; He will direct information packets to selected chains and invite them to become part of the downtown scene.
Aiston acknowledged that such a thrust will not work with all big retailers. And he said he must overcome perceptions that Main Streets are not as profitable for mass retailers as highway strip centers.
"There has to be some critical mass for them," Aiston said. "You have to convince them that Geneva's downtown is in its own way a mall."
Aiston said he believes that he has the figures to back him up. The city's central business district - including South Third Street and State Street - now has more than 600,000 square feet of retail-related uses, he said.
"That's bigger than any one of our centers (on Randall Road)," Aiston said. "That's not bigger than all of Randall Road combined, but it's bigger than any one center we have on Randall."
The city's push takes place as more stores press into a growing downtown, which has expanded from Anderson Boulevard on the west to well past Route 25 on the east. Even as new store buildings rise, however, some other areas of downtown Geneva display empty storefronts.
In fact, at this week's Geneva Business Commission meeting, city officials and downtown business people groused about a recent article in a Chicago business publication. The article suggested that suburban downtown areas are suffering, and it focused on Geneva as one of those struggling downtowns.
One downtown location with vacant storefronts is the One River Centre development west of River Lane, which lost a hospital-based center for alternative healing therapies last summer, among other tenants.
There are other examples of stores that have closed in recent months.
At the same time, the geographic area that encompasses downtown Geneva has grown, as developers build new buildings for stores and offices along West State Street and South Third Street near the Metra commuter railroad station.
In this sprawling area, find any number of stores that have regional or national associations. They include the Great Harvest, a bread store at 13 N. Third St. that has been open for 11 years.
Co-owner Annette Scott, who with her husband Rich operates the Great Harvest franchise, said the corporate parent prefers to have its shops in downtown areas.
"We like downtowns," Scott said. "It's a more homey type feel"
The bread stores are "just conducive to a downtown setting," Scott added. "It's also partly personal, it's where we wanted to be, too. We didn't want to be in a strip center."
Just around the corner fron Great Harvest is a Starbucks coffee shop, while a Subway sandwich shop now occupies a storefront in the historic Fargo Theatre building on State near Fourth Street.
Other familiar names in Geneva's downtown include Ace, White Hen Pantry, and Caribou Coffee. Pizza Hut was represented among South Third Street merchants until it opted for a new location in Batavia, while Mrs. Fields and TCBY briefly were located in the Dodson Place complex on South Third before closing.
Egg Harbor, a Chicago-area chain of breakfast-lunch restaurants, has done well at Dodson Place since its opening more than a year ago, Aiston said.
"The company is actually expanding its base, and we're adding a lot of stores, and Geneva was really a very good location, especially on Third Street in the shopping district to make our presence." Inzerello said.
"One of Caribou's little saying is, "It's the neighborhood gathering place," Inzerello added. "Caribou always has tried to keep that lodge-type atmosphere as opposed to the hustle-and-bustle, run-in, run-out type of feeling."
While national chain stores might seem out of place in a downtown dedicated to quaintness, advertising consultant Chris Cantele said that is not always the cacse.
"When you look at it, we're not talking about national big bucks retailers," said Cantele, whose Wheaton firm has a contract to place advertising promoting downtown Geneva as a place to do business.
"But there are a lot of national chains that are set up as franchise organizations, or smaller chains that have multiple locations that open stores and have them managed by corporate folks," Cantele said.
Among other towns that have attracted name retailers to their downtowns are Naperville, Glen Ellyn and Northbrook, Cantelle said.
These days Aiston is asking the Geneva Business Commission to rate potential retailers that he might contact to send marketing packages. He cautioned that only certain types of stores would fit in Geneva, and the city is not looking for a wholesale influx of name brands.
He acknowledged that sometimes a particular store might jar traditional sensibilities.
"There were some people with raised eyebrows when Subway moved in (to the former theatre building)," Aiston said. But he added, "I can tell you the Subway in Geneva does well."
Of the One River Centre building vacanvies, Aiston said the building "has been transitioning to more office and service uses." He said Geneva's downtown is doing well. "It's just wholly wrong to think Geneva does not have a healthy downtown," Aiston said.

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