Celebrate With A Prize Drawing And Cheap Shopping For 43 Years Of Bill's IGA Service

Bill's IGA is celebrating their Forty-Third Anniversary as a business. Located at 406 E. Main St., in Staunton, Ill., Bill's IGA will be holding a Drawing on Sunday, June 30. For those that register to win, they become eligible to win the following items:

Kretschmar Yeti Cooler Package; Grilling Package with Weber Smokey Joe Grill; K and H Oufitters Cooler Package; Car Washing Package; DeWalt Drill/Driver Bit Combo Set; Prairie Farms Basket with Golf Package; Margaritaville Wireless Speaker; Nerf Sports Package; and Kretschmar Tumbler Package.

Be sure to venture inside the store and register for their giveaways. Consider and shop the Anniversary specials that will be offered throughout the store. during the week of June 24 through June 30, 2024.

Bill purchased the store in May of 1981 and throughout the course of many years and with the help of his wife, Sue, it became an entire family endeavor and accomplishment; Bill's daughter and store CPA, Becky Painter, and his son, Billy Miller, who has a degree in Computer Networking, manage the store.

The Staunton Chamber of Commerce did a Business Spotlight and feature story on Bill's IGA. It was written and done by Nancy and Lynn Neuhaus and it was published in the Nov. 8, 2023 Star-Times Newspaper.

Presented below is an exercept from that article written by the Neuhaus's:

"The store opened at the current location in Dec. 1961, as Grimm’s IGA, and the owner was Alvin Grimm. At that time, everything was price stamped and had to be erased if the price changed. The next owner was Clarence Bruhn, who operated at Bruhn’s IGA from 1974 to 1981 and from there Bill and Sue Miller became the owners.

Bill started as a carryout for Alvin while in high school in 1962. He left for four years when he served in the Navy, but Alvin told him that if he returned, the store could be his one day. When he returned to Staunton in 1970, his job was still waiting..."

"Bill’s offers online shopping with curbside pickup at http://www.shopbillsiga.com. They also provide delivery services on Wednesdays for senior citizens and shut-ins in the nearby communities. You can also use the DoorDash app to shop from home and have your order delivered by the Dasher.

For a grocery store with a small space, Bill’s goes out of their way to accommodate special requests and provide local and unique products. Billy often makes trips to St. Louis to pick-up specialty items that customers like to purchase, but are only found in the St. Louis markets. Bill’s takes pride in their full-service meat department.

The meat is cut or ground freshy throughout the day. Specialty cuts can be requested from the butchers who are available every day until 6 p.m. The meat department also carries many specialty products from local meat markets, as well as makes their own bratwurst, bulk sausage, barbecue, and sandwich spreads and prepares the baked ham and rotisserie chickens for the full service deli.

Bill’s IGA is a union store that employs 44 full and part-time employees. Some of the employees have been with the business for 30 to 40 years and range in age from 16-years old to some in their 70’s.

Bill’s takes pride in their community support and customer service, supporting their business motto of Hometown Proud IGA. The store also coordinates with the South Macoupin Co-op for Special Education classes to offer employment or the chance to co-op for some of the students. It’s a win-win for both groups. Bill’s IGA gets help during the day when it’s hard to find youthful help and it provides life skills learning for the student.

Some of the first thoughts that come to mind when thinking about or discussing the City of Staunton would have to be Bill's IGA Grocery Store and the Bulldog Mascot that is associated with Staunton's High School.

Bill's IGA is perhaps, almost as synonymous as the Bulldog Mascot. In this current post-pandemic working society, local, family-owned and ran businesses struggle to compete against the corporate business chains within the economy. One thing is evident: the family owners of Bill's IGA has remained timeless43 long years.

Bill's IGA is appreciative for everyone's business as well as the garnered support they receive from individuals passing through town, the community of Staunton, and the residents that reside within Macoupin County. To be as successful and invaluable as Bill's IGA, the foundation of their business must consist of roots that are riddled with traditional and longstanding upkeep due to expectations and standards that Bill's IGA holds themselves too.

To achieve tradition as a local, small-town business, it requires a resume filled with outstanding customer service, community involvement, and having the intiative to contribute to the development of our youth by creating work programs for individuals that live daily life with different mental capabilities and understandings.

This may come across as being a simple anniversary of a local business, but when the parking lot of a business struggles in keeping up with the amount of pedestrians that are trying to park. emter. shop and stock up on supplies and food to feed their families and themselves, then its beyond apparent that said business has a much larger impact on the consumer's life .