Boyd family to close popular Downers Grove gift shop Consider It Done

DOWNERS GROVE – One of downtown Downers Grove's most unique stores, Consider It Done, will close its doors for good this summer, almost a year after the death of its owner B.J. Boyd.

"She was the business," daughter Annie Boyd said. "And that's kind of why we have found that we need to close.

"It's really hard to let it go."

The whimsical, quirky gift shop was known for B.J. Boyd's sense of humor, and her ability to tailor the unique items in a gift basket to an individual's personality. She died from cancer at the age of 60 in September.

Annie, her brother Nick and father Ken have kept the business going after her death, but she said without her mom's know-how and passion they thought it was time to close.

"She just had a lot of really good relationships with customers and she just knew what they were looking for and knew what they should buy," she said.

The family looked to sell the business, she said, but did not find the right person. Then, the April flood damaged about 15 percent of their inventory in the basement, hastening their decision.

The store has been closed this week to pepare for a going-out-of-business sale, which will begin at 10 a.m. Thursday, when the store re-opens. Annie Boyd said prices will be cut by up to 75 percent, and the sale will likely last about 60 days. Store hours will return to normal on Friday.

Balancing the new-found responsibility of running the store with the family's other careers and work obligations was tough, Annie Boyd said.

In March, she left a full-time job doing public health research at Northwestern University to help out at Consider It Done, and she still runs a not-for-profit education and empowerment organization that aids families in El Salvador. This year, her organization, Programa Velasco, added a scholarship in B.J. Boyd's name.

B.J. Boyd started the business in her friend's basement in 1993. It soon moved to the basement of another downtown store until 2000, when she opened the current storefront at 5133 Main St.

"I think we're just full of gratitude for the opportunity that we've had to be in business and to have made such great friendships with our customers and Downers Grove and the west suburban community," Annie Boyd said.

Many of the employees are as loyal to the store as the customer base.

Karina Palukaitis, 22, worked at the store since she was a 15-year-old high school student. She remembers Boyd comforting her after a bad day of high school drama, and instilling confidence in her and other workers through responsibility.

"I feel like the store helped to shape us all as people," she said. "There was never a person who was ever doubted. She trusted us all equally to run the store."

Employees remember Consider It Done as a place that you wanted to be.

"It didn't feel like I was going to work. It was fun," said another employee, Alison Peters.