Remaining Schuette’s stores under contract for $2.3M

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Written by Melissa Wilkinson - Breese Journal Editor

Schuette’s Market in Breese, currently closed.    A sale contract is in place for the purchase of the three remaining Schuette’s stores in Illinois. On Wednesday, Nov. 28, Lechner and Lechner Ltd. signed paperwork to purchase the Schuette’s grocery stores in Troy, Breese and Carlyle for a price tag of $2.3 million, which includes both real estate and the equipment. 
    “My understanding is that they intend to operate a grocery store,” said Robert Eggmann, bankruptcy trustee for Schuette’s Stores Inc. 
    Mike Schuette, once-owner of the oldest grocery store empire in Illinois, filed for bankruptcy on Sept. 7, announcing the closing of his two final stores - Troy and Breese - two hours before the workday ended. The stores were not cleaned out before closing, leaving meat, produce and other perishable items to rot. 
    Eggmann said that though an emergency cleanup was performed in September, the full cleaning did not occur until early November. Cleanup was conducted by Kues Brothers Auction Co. of Aviston, who also listed the Schuette’s properties for sale.
    “When we do auctions and things, if somebody passes away and their house needs to be cleaned, that’s one of our services,” said owner John Kues. “It’s not our expertise but we can do whatever needs to be done. The perishables are all gone. The coolers are cleaned.”
    Nonperishable items, such as cereal and paper towels, remain in the store, but Lechner and Lechner are not planning to purchase them.
    According to Eggmann, the deal cannot officially go through until the bankruptcy court accepts his motion to approve the sale, which he filed on Nov. 29. Until then, either party can back out of the deal and other purchasers may bid on the stores.
    Eggmann said the selling price was “a little lower” than desired and mentioned that there are two other parties who have expressed interest in the properties. 
    After a sale goes through, said Eggmann, the bank is the first party to be repaid. After that, smaller debtors called general unsecured creditors will be repaid if any money remains. Eggman said the sale of the three stores does not necessarily reflect the entire bankruptcy estate and there could be more cash flow generated later.
    “A lot of local people, I have come to find out, have been investors,” he said. “Some of it goes back a couple generations.”

Lady Knights move to 6-0 after win over rival Central

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Written by Jeremy Chawgo - Breese Journal Sports Editor

BREESE JOURNAL PHOTO | JEREMY CHAWGO

The runner — Mater Dei senior guard Kierra Winkeler shoots a mid-range jumper over Central’s Miah Weems in the fourth quarter of the Lady Knights’ 45-26 win over the host Cougars. Winkeler had eight points and three rebounds.    The Mater Dei Lady Knights basketball team has gotten off to a 6-0 record which is the best start to a season since the 2012-2013 campaign when they won their first 13 games and finished the season with a 25-7 record.
    The Lady Knights picked up wins over Central, Belleville West and Alton Marquette last week and they are next in action on Thursday at Civic Memorial before hosting Christ Our Rock on Saturday.
    In the Lady Knights’ win over Alton Marquette last Monday, senior Kierra Winkeler became just the 13th player to reach 1,000 career points for the Lady Knights.  She sits with 1,032 points.
    The Central Cougars’ lone game of the week was the loss to Mater Dei on Monday as they are now 3-4 on the season.  They hosted Columbia on Thursday before playing Carlyle at home next Monday.
    Mater Dei 45, Central 26:  The Lady Knights’ defense was strong and they made enough buckets on offense to extend their winning streak to six games to start the season.
    Their win at Central on Monday saw them force Central into 25 turnovers while the Cougars were 9-of-29 from the field.
    Mater Dei was not much better from the floor as they converted on 15-of-41 from the floor and had 16 turnovers.
    The Lady Knights used their versatility on offense with six players scoring at least six points with none of them scoring more than nine points.
    “That’s been what we have had going on for much of the season is having four or five people step up and score for us,” said Mater Dei head coach Dave Kohnen.  “Tonight we had that again, but we were not able to knock down as many shots as we would have liked.”
    Mater Dei left no doubt as they scored the first nine points of the game and never trailed from the opening tip.
    Shannon Lampe got the first two buckets for the Lady Knights before Ciara Perkes netted two of her own as MD led 9-0 midway through the first quarter.
    Grace Boeschen got the Cougars on the board with a mid-range jumper with 2:20 left in the initial quarter in front of a steal and a bucket from Chloe Book as MD led 9-4 after the first eight.
    The teams combined for just 10 points and 13 turnovers in the second quarter as Ella Jansen hit the lone bucket for the Cougars and Kierra Winkeler and Abby Braundmeier had one each for MD.

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