Family is very important to Mahomet resident Chuck Allen. He has his wife and three grown children all in the Mahomet area. He has his work family at Mahomet IGA, which he co-owned and operated for many years. And he regards the regular customers at the IGA as his family. By the end of the year, Chuck will retire from his IGA family in order to spend more time with his wife, kids and grandkids.
Chuck, who turned 70 in September, will be honored at a retirement open house on Thursday, Dec. 18, 1-4 p.m. at the IGA. Current and former community members are invited to share a memory about Chuck on IGA’s Facebook page, which he said he has been enjoying reading.
One of those memories was shared by Mahomet resident Cheryl Sizer who said “As a sophomore in high school many moons ago in 1977-1979, Chuck hired me as a checker. The IGA was located where (First Mid-Illinois) bank now sits, and among the memories are having him teach us how to bag groceries. There was an art to it, we had to be sure the paper bags were not too heavy for the ladies to lift and so the corners of the bags stood straight and crisp! To this day I can pack more things into a small space than most! When the IGA move to its present location, Chuck made sure we were all fed and thanked for our help in the move. He truly is the face of the IGA! Thanks for all you do for our community.”
Another former employee, Carrie Henry, echoed that sentiment.
“I’m sad to see him retiring,” says Henry, who worked in the deli for three years. “He has been the face of that store for so long.”
Forty five years. That’s how long Chuck has worked with Mahomet’s IGA. Chuck said he graduated from Champaign High school and served in the US Navy for 4 years. After leaving the Navy, he decided working for his father in law at Mahomet’s IGA was a good option. And 45 years later, he has seen a lot of change and growth. The store moved once, expanded numerous times and changed ownership twice since Chuck’s father in law, Howard Hitchins, built it back in the late ‘50s.
“The store originally was originally where First Mid-Illinois Bank is located, on route 150, across from the Dairy Queen,” according to Brooks Marsh, current IGA owner.
After three expansions to that site, the IGA moved to its current location at Eastwood Plaza, Chuck recalled. That was during the late ‘70s. The store was originally owned by Hitchins. He later sold it to his two daughters and their husbands, which included Chuck. In 2006, the store was sold to current owner Brooks Marsh.
Looking back on 45 years, a few things stand out in Chuck’s mind.
“One person on Facebook talked about the time we were robbed. We were still in the old building then,” said Chuck.
Another recollection is back in the mid-1980s when the Sangamon River rose and threatened to flood the store, and his community family stepped in.
“The water came right up to the side door of the store. It never came in, but people dropped loads of sand in the parking lot and started sandbagging the store,” he said.
Chuck recalls one of his proudest moments in his work life came several years ago when he spearheaded an effort to bring our resources to farmers facing drought.
“It was 12 or 15 years ago, and there was a major drought in Kentucky and Tennessee,” Chuck stated. “Their livestock was dying so I helped organize and effort to bring them straw and hay.” The result was a community effort. JM Jones Company (now Supervalu) donated semis, drivers donated their time, FS donated fuel and farmers donated their straw, hay and time, all in an effort to help far away farmers who were struggling to keep their livestock alive.
Chuck said he organized other community events too. “One time, we brought in farm implement dealers to show people just how much a tractor costs.” He said the idea was to dispel the myth that families get rich from farming. “Once people saw a tractor can cost $200,000, they realized farming is an expensive business,” he said. “I wanted customers to be aware of that.”
“He gets joy out of helping others and giving,” said Kristen Harrison, Chuck’s oldest daughter, who worked for with her father for about 20 years. “He saw that they needed the hay down South, so he started the relief effort. He loves doing things like that.”
Kristen also recalled how her father organized a benefit concert featuring country singer Marty Robbins, in order to help Cornbelt Fire Protection purchase a “Jaws of Life.” The Jaws of Life is used to pry open wrecked vehicles and other small spaces in order to extricate entrapped people.
Other ways her father touched the community was his support of the schools when IGA would sponsor the High Schools’ Lift-a-thon.
IGA also gave many young people a start in the work force, both through the High School’s work study program, and by giving area teens their first job. But Chuck did more than just provide local teens with a paycheck, said his daughter, who also was personnel manager at IGA for several years. He tried to develop a work ethic in young people, and he did that by example.
“He never expected anyone to do what he wouldn’t do himself. He worked evenings and weekends so he could be in touch with the different shifts. He was not above cleaning up a mess on the floor,” Kirsten recalled. “He tried to set a good example.”
One thing that was foremost on Chuck’s mind was the safety of his younger employees. “When the weather was bad, he made sure his employees got home safely,” she recalled. “Some times that meant driving them home or picking them up for work himself. He always had the kids call the service desk once they got home so he knew they made it safely” when the weather was bad. “He really cared about them as an individual.”
Kirsten also said she feels her dad helped young people learn to balance work and family life. “He made sure the high school kids still had time to keep up with school work. He called parents around the holidays to make sure kids weren’t missing out on family activities because they had to work.”
Chuck credits his father in law for teaching him how to balance the business and family. Chuck’s business became like family. And now it is time for Chuck to leave his IGA family so he can spend more time with his wife of almost 50 years, Sharon, his children, Kristen, Jeremy and Heather, his sons and daughter in law and his four grandchildren. And he also will have his Mahomet community family.
“That will be the hard part for him,” said Kristen. “He will miss the daily interaction with so many people.”
As for what life after retirement offers for Chuck, it mainly involves helping family. He said he will spend time doing some remodeling on his daughter’s house and helping his son with yard work. He also will get back to woodworking, something he has long enjoyed, according to Kristen.
“He makes small pieces of furniture and shelves,” she said. Chuck and Sharon have a booth at Antiques and More in Champaign.
Chuck admitted he will probably take a few weeks to relax before starting the projects to help his family. Chuck said he knows the hardest part about retirement for him. “I’ll miss the people the most. I’ll miss seeing the folks a lot and talking to them. We have a lot of really neat customers.” The decision to retire has been bittersweet. “55 percent of me says it’s time to go,” he stated. “45 percent says stay because I’m going to miss the people.”
And if the memories shared on IGA’s Facebook page is any indication, the community will miss the regular interaction with Chuck too.
