Located on Main Street in the town of Homer, 1,193, a small sandwich and soda shop has gained the regional attention of consumers.
The quaint shop, formerly known as Homer Soda, offered customers a chance to walk on wooden floors that creek while also sipping on their favorite glass-bottled soda from yesteryear.
Four years ago, on Jan. 24, under the new ownership of Carla Duzan, the business morphed into a vintage soda and sandwich shop, providing a lunch option for local businesses and residents.
Renaming the business to Main Street Belly Deli, Duzan worked to create custom sandwiches with premium products. While she continued to carry bottled sodas, she also expanded, offering coffee and an assortment of ice cream.
The Main Street Belly Deli changed ownership again in the summer of 2018, just days before the Homer Krazee Dayz took place. Eric and Janie St. Pierre purchased the building and the lot next door.
Duzan needed to sell the shop and the building before she moved away from the area.
The St. Pierres had been renting the upstairs space from Duzan for the Cross Trail Outfitters youth program, which Eric volunteers with.
By purchasing the building and the lot next door, the couple will be able to have a location for the youth to meet and a place for them to do activities.
But their focus is not solely on the youth program. They are looking to help grow the business for the town they love.
The St. Pierres just happened upon Homer as they began their home search for what Janie calls a “silly reason.”
“I was driving to Champaign for work and I didn’t want to look into the sun either way. I came home and said, ‘I want to live east of Champaign, so the sun’s behind me when I come in and when I go home.’”
That decision placed them in the same town where Eric frequented the deli for lunch.
“I liked this place because the sandwiches are filling,” he said.
After moving to Homer, Eric, who does not like to cook, hopped from restaurant to restaurant in Homer throughout the day to eat.
“It was kind of a joke,” he said.
As Duzan transitioned away from the business, Eric floated the idea of helping with the business to then part-time employee Jess Sands.
“Eric asked, ‘If I buy this place, will you manage it for me?’” Sands said.
“I said, ‘Absolutely not.’”
“He asked several times, and then it became, ‘I’ll try it.’ “
“Jess has definitely been our right hand through all of this,” Eric said.
“We wouldn’t be able to do it without her,” Janie added. “She’s really the glue that holds it all together.”
Now the manager of the Main Street Belly Deli , Sands runs the day-to-day operations while Eric and Janie tend to their other jobs, too.
Sands said she wants to continue to provide the atmosphere that drew her family in when they moved to Homer from Washington three years ago.
A mother of small children, the relaxed environment was a great spot to get a bite to eat.
“We thought it was a really cool place to be,” she said. “We like trying soda, and we loved the sandwiches.”
While the transition has been fairly smooth, there have also been some hiccups the new owners look to overcome.
The St. Pierres kept what they could in place: soda, sandwiches, ice cream and employees.
“Our goal was to keep the employees so that they could keep their jobs,” Eric said. “Not putting four or five people out of work because we own the deli now.”
They also loved the idea of vintage sodas and vintage sandwiches, which are named after famous Hollywood personalities, such as Marilyn Monroe and Humphrey Bogart.
“Carla set it up with the classic Hollywood to initiate a conversation between generations. It’s just a way for families to connect,” Janie said.
The St. Pierres are currently considering how to add more nostalgic flair and family atmosphere to the venue.
With custom wooden tables that seat 4 to 6 customers, the St. Pierres believe families can gather round to play checkers with soda bottle caps or board games.
They are also working with a designer to revamp the sign outside the shop, and possibly give a facelift to the interior by bringing in decor from the ’50s and ’60s.
“We want a place where you can bring your kids in and you don’t have to worry about what they might see,” Janie said.
Behind the counter, they are working with the health department to make things run more efficiently, and they are looking to add hot sandwiches to the menu.
“We’d like to try and switch things up a little bit now and then to draw in more people,” Sands said.
One item Eric would like to add for the lent season is a tuna fish sandwich.
“It’s my grandmother’s secret recipe,” he said. “I grew up on it.”
Sands focuses on making sure that the Main Street Belly Deli provides the freshest ingredients possible.
Adding to Boar’s Head Premium meats, Sands shops locally for produce, including picking up the summer’s finest vegetables from the Homer Farmer’s Market during the summer months.
“A lot of people don’t know that we also do deli counter,” Sands said. “(Customers) can come in and order their meats and take them home with them just like you do at the grocery store. Our prices are very competitive, too.”
Sands enjoyed preparing cheese plates and sandwich trays for customers over the holiday season.
And the St. Pierres are wanting to expand on that, promoting their box lunches and catering services.
Main Street Belly Deli has provided box lunches and platters for the University of Illinois volleyball and gymnastics teams, the Homer Fire Department and a few weddings, among other events.
“When they heard box lunches, they said ‘Okay’, Eric said. “But when the box lunches get there, we hear that it exceeds their expectation.”
One hurdle the new owners have had to deal with is getting the soda flavors customers are looking for.
Running low on favorites such as Ski, Green River, Cheerwine has put stress on the business.
But with other flavors, such as college student’s favorite Flying Cauldron Butterscotch Bee and the child’s favorite Swamp Juice and Bug Barf alongside a team that can recommend a bottled soda for any occasion, the Main Street Belly Deli has been able to quench some thirst.
The St. Pierres said working with the soda industry has been a learning curve.
“We’ve been struggling to get certain flavors,” Eric said. “It’s not a quick process, especially in the winter time. Soda comes in glass bottles, so you can’t ship them when it’s too cold. They come from Washington state to Illinois, so they can’t be on a truck overnight. It will break the bottles.”
“Things that you run into that you didn’t know this would be a problem,” Janie said.
The couple is also working hard to bring back the Homer Soda festival, which was replaced with Homer Krazee Dayz in 2018.
The St. Pierres purchased the building and business on a Monday and the festival hit the streets the following weekend.
But there are some things to work out with vendors, local governments and sponsors. Eric said they are unsure what the plan for 2019 is at this time, but is working toward a solution that brings crowds back to Homer in the future.
Most of all, though, the St. Pierres and Sands just want to keep adding quality to the establishment they quickly came to love when they moved to Homer.
“Homer is a cool place. I’ve really enjoyed living here and raising my family here,” Sands said. “It just keeps getting better. It’s quaint and quiet, but we have a lot to offer.”
