Chicago Area Gourmet Retailer Jill Foucré Receives Entrepreneurial Excellence Award
Glen Ellyn, IL (PRWEB) September 20, 2016 -- Chicago area gourmet retailer Jill Foucré has received an Entrepreneurial Excellence award for Marché (http://www.marche496.com), a cheese shop she owns in downtown Glen Ellyn. The Daily Herald Business Ledger hosts the annual awards program, now in its 17th year, to recognize Chicago area entrepreneurs in seven categories. Foucré won in the early stage category, having opened Marché in late 2015 with her husband, Bob Bye.
This is the second Business Ledger Entrepreneurial Excellence award presented to Foucré. In 2014, she was recognized in the innovation category for the cooking store Marcel’s Culinary Experience (http://www.marcelsculinaryexperience.com), which she opened in 2011 on the same block as Marché. That same year, Marcel’s was named U.S. Kitchenware Retailer of the Year by industry trade magazine The Gourmet Retailer.
“The idea for Marché came after Marcel’s customers expressed interest in cheese and other perishable items that could be combined with Marcel’s specialty foods to create family meals, or use for entertaining,” Foucré says. When a nearby retailer decided to close her business and sell the building – on a busy corner just three doors from Marcel’s – Foucré seized the opportunity to move forward with plans for Marché.
The store also sells charcuterie, cheese boards, picnic boxes to go, wine, beer and complimentary items. It offers outdoor seating during the summer, plus catering, on-site classes and private events year-round. Chicagoland turophiles (cheese connoisseurs) seek out Marché for its evolving collection of fine cheeses from around the world, and cheese lovers nationwide enjoy its gift boxes and Culture Club subscription series.
Since opening the businesses, the former healthcare insurance executive has made dozens of charitable donations of merchandise, classes and gift cards to schools, churches and other not-for-profits, many in the Glen Ellyn area. She’s currently president of the Alliance of Downtown Glen Ellyn; has been a keynote speaker at the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) Fox Valley Chapter Small Business Forum; and is a sought-after resource for others considering new business opportunities, giving freely of her time and talents to other would-be entrepreneurs.
Foucré and 22 other local entrepreneurs were honored at a reception Sept. 15 in Naperville. Profiles of all award winners are scheduled to appear in the Oct. 17 issue of the Business Ledger.
About Marché
Marché is a cheese shop in downtown Glen Ellyn, Ill., that also sells charcuterie, cheese boards, wine, beer and complementary items. It offers catering, on-site classes and private events. Marché is owned by former healthcare insurance executive Jill Foucré and her husband Bob Bye, who in 2011 opened award-winning gourmet retail store/cooking school Marcel’s Culinary Experience on the same block.
Cynthia Martin, CLM Communications, +1 (847) 864-9540, [email protected]
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