Popular café near Public Square in downtown Belleville has been sold. What we know
The downtown Belleville café, Joe & Onie’s, has a new owner and will soon have a new name.
Steve Hemmer, who opened Joe & Onie’s with his wife Margie Hemmer in February 2021, said that he sold the building at 18 E. Main St., including the coffee shop in the lower level.
The new owner is Cheryl Whitley, a criminal justice attorney whose lease was ending for her office across the street at 27 E. Main St.
Hemmer said that he’d been looking for a new tenant for the upper level of his building since his previous tenant relocated to a larger space.
Whitley signed on as a tenant, and as part of the lease, he explained, she would have first right of refusal should he ever decide to sell the building.
She asked for a figure, said Hemmer, and when he gave a number, she offered to buy the building and the business.
By the end of February, Whitley was the landlord and Hemmer the tenant.
What about the café?
Hemmer said he sold the business but not the name “Joe & Onie’s,” which is in honor of his parents, Joseph A. and Iona “Onie” Hemmer.
After the paperwork to sell the building and the business was done, Hemmer had to tell his 90-year-old mother that she could retire now.
The café will remain a café, Hemmer said. Whitley will take over the business and give it a new name, according to Hemmer.
Messages left for Whitley were not immediately returned, but I hope to learn more about her plans for the business soon.
Hemmer said that all of Joe & Onie’s existing employees will remain at the coffee shop.
He also wants to make the transition of ownership as seamless as possible, keeping Joe & Onie’s open until Whitely has all of the necessary city permits and is ready to open as a new coffee shop.
It might take about four to six weeks, according to Hemmer.
Folks will still be able to find him at Joe & Onie’s, he said. The biggest adjustment may be that he now has to pay for coffee.
“We look forward to supporting [Whitley],” he said, adding that she is looking forward to being in the coffee business.
After Joe & Onie’s
Joe & Onie’s was an afterthought, Hemmer said. He and Margie opened the café during the pandemic mostly because they needed a tenant in the building.
It’s been a neat place for the family to hang out, said Hemmer. Many family members, Onie included, can often be found at the café.
Margie Hemmer, who handled a lot of the behind-the-scenes tasks at the café, like placing supply orders and keeping things running smoothly, will also have more time on her hands. Her plans are to help care for their grandchildren.
Steve Hemmer can retire from being a landlord and running a coffee shop.
He will still be busy with his construction business and teaching classes at Southwestern Illinois College, where he teaches construction management and OSHA safety.
He said he’ll get some fishing in too.
“It’s all been good. We had a great time with it,” said Hemmer.
