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Small Peoria Grocery Sees Business Pick Up in Pandemic

Sous Chef via Facebook

The Sous Chef grocery was slowly growing until the pandemic hit in March—then business boomed.

“Everything changed when the lockdown came,” said Katie Rodolfi, who, with brother Patrick Couri, runs the Warehouse District grocery that opened two years ago at 1311 SW Adams St.

Rodolfi said the increase in traffic was due to a combination of things--Warehouse District residents who didn’t want to stray far from home for groceries and customers who appreciated being able to practice social distancing in a setting other than a busy supermarket.

“We see that all the time. Shoppers here keep their distance. They’ll wait in another part of the store while someone makes a selection from the freezer case before taking their turn,” she said.

What’s contained in that freezer case is one of the things that sets Sous Chef apart from your typical convenient store. Among the prepared foods you can find—all made on the premises—are chicken pot pies, meatloaf, Italian meatballs and calzones as well as blueberry pies.

Rodolfi said the store also stocks local produce from three area farms and carries locally-milled organic flour, goat cheese from Champaign and fermented products from 309 Cultures such as kimchee and sauerkraut.

“I look at it as a full-service grocery store. We’re just not as big as the other guys,” said Couri, after taking an order for local green beans over the phone.

Rodolfi said after three busy months, business slowed down in June. “But in a good way. We needed a break. It’s just the two of us,” she said, noting that her sister, Sarah Couri, who initially did much of the baking at the store, has since taken a job at the Peoria Public Library.

While the ongoing pandemic clouds the planning picture, Rodolfi said the store hopes to hire another person. “We need to get back on expanding prepared meals. Patrick has to deal with all that now,” she said.

“We never intended to be a restaurant, but I also hope to bring back the coffee and quiche brunches we used to offer on Sunday,” said Rodolfi, adding the store matches dollar for dollar SNAP benefits, referring to the national food assistance program. “That means produce is half-off (for those using SNAP),” she said.

The store is now open six days a week, but closed on Monday, said Rodolfi. “We used to be open seven days a week, but we began running out of a lot of supplies by week’s end. Now we just restock on Monday,” she said.

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