WB_061319

8 | June 13, 2019 | The wilmette beacon NEWS
wilmettebeacon.com
Edward
Ian Kearney,
of Wilmette
Edward is 9. We found
him at a shelter in
Tennessee when he
was 4 years old. He
is blind. Apparently,
his owner could no
longer care for a blind,
obese cat. We had
recently lost a cat who went blind in his final years
and knew we were capable of taking care of a
blind cat. He moved with the family to Wilmette
a little over four years ago. A blind cat presents
challenges but often provides hilarity as he gets
lost and stuck in interesting places.
To see your pet as Pet of the Week, send information to
eric@wilmettebeacon.com or 60 Revere Drive, Suite 888,
Northbrook, IL 60062.
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Posted to WilmetteBeaconDaily.com 7 days ago
Wilmette’s Char Crews marks 40 years at Plaza del Lago
Hilary Anderson
Freelance Reporter
She wanted to start a
business but had no formal
experience. So Charlotte
Crews, the mother of
six, decided to start one
anyway.
“Raising six children is
what I did for a business,”
she would tell people.
“When we all left the
nest, our mother looked
for something to keep her
busy and pay bills,” said
Richard Crews, one of her
sons. “She liked china and
crystal but chose to first
sell sterling silver flatware.”
It proved to be a good
business decision.
Richard Crews said his
father passed away shortly
after. Char Crews found
a space in the second story
of a Hinsdale building that
housed a bank and opened
for business.
Her mode of advertising
was word-of-mouth. That
was 1976. Three years
later she opened another
store in Wilmette’s Plaza
del Lago. That was 40
years ago.
“Our mother’s business
model was selling items at
prices less than Marshall
Fields was doing,” Crews
said. “She was one of the
first discounters in the industry.
Our mother was so
successful the rumor was
that competitive stores
wished Char Crews would
go out of business.”
The Crews family originally
called Oak Park
home, but moved south
to Mississippi because of
their father’s job change
at the time.
“We lived for 20 years
in the South,” Crews said.
“I think our mother grew
to like the southern hospitality
and formal entertaining
she encountered
there. Perhaps that is why
she became so interested
in the elegant silverware,
china, crystal and giftware
that customers find in our
stores. They are quality
items, ones the owner will
cherish the rest of their
lives.”
He adds the Char Crews
Bridal Registry is said to
be the leading one in the
Midwest.
“There have been as
many as 350 brides on
our registry at one time,”
Richard Crews said. “The
registries now days more
accurately should be referred
to as a Couples
Registry. We constantly
look into updating our
product lines for today’s
clientele. We must have
millions of patterns of
silverware, china, crystal
and giftware. We added
an online account listing
our products long before
it was the popular thing to
do.”
Char Crews, at age 92,
still is actively involved in
the running of the stores,
working on the business
side of it.
“Our mother is amazing,”
Crews said. “She
still drives and comes in
three or four days a week
to work.”
He credits the Wilmette
Char Crews store manager,
Cori Burns, with serving
customers for about
20 years.
“She is an exceptional
person,” Crews said. “She
goes out of her way to
help customers in so many
ways.”
They now are seeing the
next generation come into
Charlotte Crews (left)
and her son, Richard, at
the Char Crews Inc. in
Wilmette’s Plaza del Lago.
Hilary Anderson/22nd
Century Media
the store — the children
of the parents who first
visited Char Crews to register
for gifts.
The Wilmette store in
early summer will move
closer to the center of
Plaza Del Lago along
with Hanig Shoes to make
room for new restaurants
according to Richard
Crews.
“We will have a grand
re-opening then,” he said.
“At least this is for a good
reason. In 1991, we had
a devastating fire that destroyed
our store along
with the Melange Restaurant
and other stores. We
had to rebuild then.”
Crews states one of the
reasons the Char Crews
stores remain successful
is because they care about
customers.
“We care about them
and what they think,” he
said. “If there is a problem,
there is nothing we
will not do to help fix it.”