Sandra Webster store in Geneva closing after 18 years

GENEVA – After 18 years, Sandra Webster Lincheck is closing her women’s clothing store – named Sandra Webster – to retire.

The retail store, at 209 W. State St., features clothing that is not mass produced, but created in small quantities by designers from around the world, Lincheck said.

“Susan Kirschner has her own cutters and seamstresses for her own designs,” Lincheck said of the Berkeley, California, designer.

The store’s clothing is 30 to 75 percent off, she said.

The store does not have the packed-in atmosphere of many other retail stores, instead having clothes line the walls with wide open spaces in between.

Lincheck said that was the aesthetic she wanted, having open space.

“It’s minimalist,” Lincheck said.

Some examples of items at Sandra Webster include a Rosso Forte scarf from Italy, a photo on linen piece, at $375, but marked down to $259 for the sale; a colorful silk-blend handmade jacket by Margo Selby, a designer in the United Kingdom, at $650, but now marked down to $349; and a black blouse by Chicago designer Christopher Calvin was $165, marked down to $99.

Sandra Webster was briefly on James and Second streets in Geneva and included the descriptive “Art to Wear” in its name to be clear it was offering something different.

Lincheck said she started weaving and knitting with Denise Kavanagh, founder of the Fine Line Creative Arts Center in St. Charles Township, 30 years ago.

Lincheck said she had been a department store buyer for the Joseph Spiess Company, eventually becoming its director of advertising, before going out on her own.

Lincheck said she has been living in Seattle and commutes back to her home in St. Charles about eight times a year.

Once the store is closed, she said she will go back to her roots – weaving, knitting and beading. But she said she also will start doing things on her “bucket list” – learning yoga, ballet and piano.

She said, eventually, she and her husband will move back to St. Charles.