November 22, 2024
News - Joliet and Will County

Fire and looting can't keep this little Joliet store down

Valle's Produce in Joliet reopened on Monday

By Denise M. Baran-Unland

But it finally reopened on Monday. “In an hour people were coming up,” Cesar said. (Denise M)

But it finally reopened on Monday. “In an hour people were coming up,” Cesar said. (Denise M)

His daughter Cassandra Trujillo of Joliet started a GoFundMe page on June 1 to help raise money for the repairs. (Denise M)

In a June 2 Herald-News story, Cassandra said she’d raised nearly $3,800 of her $30,000. By the end of that first day, people had donated nearly $13,000. The GoFundMe account didn’t quite reach the goal, but it did raise $27,906. (Denise M)

“We had to get new flooring, new windows," Cassandra said. “We had to get new cement out front; it was broken.” (Denise M)

The money helped “a lot” Cassandra said, but it didn’t cover all the expenses related to addressing the damage. “They [her parents] had to dig into their pockets, too,” Cassandra said. (Denise M)

It had been her parents' dream to become sole business owners, Cassandra said in June. In fact, shortly before the vandalism occurred, they had remodeled parts of the store. For example, a countertop near the cashier's location was just a week old, Cassandra said in June. (Denise M)

She felt the Valle's Produce had the convenience of a department store with community spirit of a neighborhood store. And she also feels their efforts to reopen it was worth it. “The store looks amazing,” Cassandra said. “I’m really excited. Cassandra said Valle's Produce is a great place to experience authentic Mexican food and drinks. In addition to offering variety of groceries, fresh meat, produce and household items, Valle’s Produce also offers hot homemade food to go. Heidi said that includes tacos and tamales. Reviews on social media also praised Valle's Produce's carnitas and steak fajitas. For the most part, the menu items have not changed, Heidi said. “Same good taste as always,” Heidi said. (Denise M)

Heidi said she and the other owners also took out a loan to help pay the store’s seven employees during the two months the store was closed. “It was a long hard time for us,” Heidi said. “But thank God we made it.” For more photos, visit this story at theherald-news.com/lifestyle/people. IF YOU GO WHAT: Valle's Produce WHEN: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily WHERE: 704 W. Jefferson St. Joliet ETC: Stop inside to order hot homemade food. Carryout only CONTACT: Call Valle's Produce at 815-722-1600. (Denise M)

JolietWill CountyFood
Denise Unland

Denise M. Baran-Unland

Denise M. Baran-Unland is the features editor for The Herald-News in Joliet. She covers a variety of human interest stories. She also writes the long-time weekly tribute feature “An Extraordinary Life about local people who have died. She studied journalism at the College of St. Francis in Joliet, now the University of St. Francis.