It used to be hard to find a store that was open all hours of the night, but when convenience became the name of the game, businesses were more open to staying open past our bedtimes.
These days, though, that trend has gone quietly into the night.
As the new millennium approached, the 24-hour business model started to find its way into the Sauk Valley, and people could grab some groceries or buy a TV in the wee hours of the night.
But just like the hands of a clock, things have gone full circle and much of that change is due to a virus. Covid-19 restrictions and fallout from the pandemic, such as staffing shortages and budget crunches, turned back the hands of time and made
it harder to find a 24-hour business.
While there are still a few stores that never sleep in the Sauk Valley, overnight shoppers have had to readjust their schedules, and that’s left some wondering: What’s still open 24 hours?
If you need a gallon of gas or a gallon of milk, you still can pick up some sundry items at the gas stations/convenience stories that are open all night — though there are fewer than there were before the pandemic. The Casey’s in Sterling, and two of its three locations in Rock Falls — those on Dixon Avenue and at the intersection of U.S. Route 30 and 12th Avenue — no longer are open overnight, but the Dixon store and the Rock Falls location at Route 30 and state Route 40 are open overnight.
Elsewhere, Circle K locations in Sterling and Dixon, Kelly
24 HOURS cont’d to pages 5 & 6 ABOVE: The First Avenue bridge looking north toward Sterling. CODY CUTTER/CCUTTER@SHAWMEDIA.COM
Finding an overnight business isn’t as easy as it used to be, but there are still some out there
Elsewhere, Circle K locations in Sterling and Dixon, Kelly Williamson Mobil stations in Dixon and Rock Falls, Huffy’s Marathon in Dixon, and Road Ranger near Interstate 88 in Dixon are open around the clock. If you’re looking for a hot bite to eat, it’s a little harder find, but not impossible: Casey’s, Circle K and Road Ranger have a limited selection overnight — with pizza slices being the most common.
If it’s a meal you’re looking for, that’s a little trickier. The days of an all-night, all-week sit-down restaurant have passed for now, but there are dining options out there.
McDonald’s in Rock Falls has a 24-hour drive-thru window, but closes during the overnight hours from Sunday evening to Monday morning for maintenance.
If you’ve got a grocery list in hand, you’ll have to hold on to it until the stores open.
Walmart Supercenters in Dixon and Sterling were open around the clock before the pandemic hit the area in March 2020, but those days are gone, and they likely won’t be coming back any time soon. The company’s corporate Twitter account responded to a user’s question last July regarding whether it will return to 24-hour service by replying: “At this time, we have no plans to return to 24-hour store hours,” instead pointing customers to their website for around-the-clock shopping. No further updates on expanding store hours have been announced by Walmart since.
Sauk Valley grocery stores have cut their hours in recent
years, too. County Market in Sterling was the last to close during the overnight hours, doing so at the pandemic’s start. Kroger in Sterling expanded to a 24-hour operation in the 2010s, but scaled back just before the pandemic began.
Elsewhere throughout the Sauk Valley, other businesses work around the clock, some routinely and others as needed. Factories hum through the night, tow truck operators answer latenight calls, plumbers stand ready for emergency repairs. And if you find yourself driving around at night, you can do it in a clean car at the self-serve/automated car washes throughout the area.
For one business, 24-hour days are nothing new. Hotels and motels are open around the clock, and Rock Falls and Dixon are home to several (on page 7 of this issue, we take a look at a one-man operation who keeps things going at a Dixon hotel).
One industry that’s bucked the trend of scaling back its 24-hour hours is fitness centers. In Sterling, Planet Fitness is open 7 days a week, and three of them — Tuesday through Tuesday — are 24-hour days. Also in Sterling, Westwod Fitness Center is open 24 hours, from Monday at 4 a.m. through Friday at 9 p.m. In Rock Falls, 24:7 On The Rock Fitness is open, like its names says, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (see our story on page 11).
Trends shift though, and customer demand can always change the way businesses operate, but with the advent of online commerce and the relatively small number of people shopping in the overnight hours, it’s unlikely that Sauk Valley shoppers will find many more “open” signs in the overnight hours anytime soon. n
Everyone around him may be dozing off, but Ken Berogan can’t grab any sleep.
It’s his job to make sure his guests get a quality rest. Berogan is the overnight overseer at Quality Inn and Suites in Dixon, working the 11-to-7 shift at the hotel near Interstate 88. Even though Berogan’s name tag reads “night auditor,” there’s a lot more to his job than books and billing. He checks in guests, helps the housekeeping staff, makes sure all the amenities are in working order, and keeps things quiet so guests don’t lose any sleep. Sometimes he’s even whipping up some bacon and sausage and eggs for breakfast. He’s a real one-man operation.
Except for the bookends of his shift, he flies solo at the hotel during the wee hours.
By Cody Cutter Sauk Valley Media SUITE cont’d to page 8Above: Ken Berogan prepares fresh bedding for the housekeeping staff at Quality Inn and Suites in Dixon. Just because most of his customers are asleep when he’s working doesn’t mean there’s not much to do. Berogan keeps busy getting things in order for the morning crew.
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When you’re looking for a good night’s sleep, a hotel’s one-man operation helps you find it
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“We do just about everything,” Berogan said. “We’re maintenance, we’re housekeeping, we do just about everything when we’re the only one’s here. We get kind of pulled in every different direction. There are some mornings where I’m doing both breakfast and front desk at the same time for the last hour of my day.”
With 17 years at the hotel, and the past 9 on third shift, Berogan has gotten pretty good at juggling.
Working the graveyard shift is nothing new to Berogan, who used to work overnights at Huffy’s Marathon gas station in town.
Things are peaceful when no one’s making a peep, and that gives Berogan time to get things done and there’s no shortage of things to do.
“There are some nights that maybe you have an hour in the whole night, but there’s plenty to do,” Berogan said. “I just try to keep myself busy enough to keep everybody going for the next day so they don’t have to walk into a big mess when they come in.”
Berogan takes great pride in making sure the morning shift can start their day without an issue, as they’re the ones who tend to deal with a more active lobby, with guests checking in and out. On the morning before a guest checks
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out, Berogan will print their receipt and slide it under their door for them to review before they depart — one less thing the morning clerk has to worry about. He also will prepare room keys for those who have already reserved their stay.
The housekeeping staff can also thank Berogan for lending them a hand, too.
“I don’t want to have them take 15-20 minutes to stock their cart, because that takes time away from their cleaning time,” Berogan said.
Like everyone else, Berogan gets days off, but he has had to oversee the occasional week-long night shift training session for new employees. While it might seem like it would be nice having someone else on the clock with him during those training sessions Berogan doesn’t usually worry too much about going it alone.
“You always have this thought that you’re here alone, and it’s always in the back of your mind that something could happen,” Berogan said, but “it can happen any time. I’ve always told myself: Don’t even have that thought, because then something’s gonna happen.”
While most nights go by without a hitch, sometimes guests keep him on his toes. That’s when Berogan’s “three strikes” rule swings into action.
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I’ve built so many relationships with the guests that are here ... That’s what I love about this job, is the connection that you get with the guests.
Ken Berogan
“Some nights you might have three or four different rooms that are trying to party at the same time,” Berogan said. “I tell them they have to calm it down after midnight. We seem to be pretty fair about it. It’s not fair to other guests who are trying to sleep, or are not here to party. You learn to deal with that after a while.”
While most guests just come and go, there are some familiar faces who’ve made the hotel practically a second home — emergency room doctors and construction workers chief among them. They’ve come to know Berogan on a firstname basis, as the go-to guy at the Quality Inn.
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Berogan sees all sorts of customer come through the doors — some are happy to find a place where they can get some much-needed rest, while others need a rest to get happy, arriving a tad on the touchy side, but leaving feeling refreshed and ready to greet the day.
Regardless of their mood, Berogan knows the importance of connecting with guests.
“I’ve built so many relationships with the guests that are here on a weekly basis, or even two or three times a year,” Berogan said. “Some expect to see me. That’s what I love about this job, is the connection that you get with the guests. There are some who I constantly hear back from through the other front desk persons, where so-andso checked in and asked how you were doing or if you’re still here.
“That means a lot. To me, that’s what it’s about.” n
You won’t hear Nick Pepper’s customers saying “I wanted to work out, but the gym wasn’t open.” That’s because you won’t hear Pepper saying, “Sorry, we’re closed.”
Pepper’s business, 7:24 Fitness on the Rock, gives people a place where they can work out regardless of when they work. First shift, second shift, third shift — whatever works for you works for the Rock Falls gym. Whether you want to start the day off with a workout or end the day with one, 7:24 offers a full line of fitness options.
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There’s always time for a workout ... Nick Pepper, owner and trainer at 7:24 Fitness on the Rock, said having an aroundthe-clock fitness center has been a big help to customers. “In our community, we have a lot of factories and a hospital with different people working different shifts. Having this option for them is very helpful.”
CODY CUTTER/CCUTTER@ SHAWMEDIA.COM 7:24
Take a walk on a treadmill, toss a medicine ball, lift weights, master the stairs, or more, 7:24 has what fitness buffs need to, as Pepper says, “build a solid foundation to a healthier you” and for some, building up their body begins before the sun comes up.
Pepper has met a number of people who prefer overnight workouts.
“In all reality, it’s a way to help people eliminate excuses,” Pepper said. “If you work a weird shift and nothing’s available to you, then it’s kind of easy to say, ‘Well, I don’t have anything available to me.’ We are available. In our community, we have a lot of factories and a hospital with different people working
Established 1975
different shifts. Having this option for them is very helpful.”
Pepper opened 7:24 Fitness on the Rock in October 2019 and has built up his business since then, beefing up the line of equipment at the gym and offering group classes, training, and fitness consultation.
Making sure his clients feel safe and secure has been a top priority for Pepper. Members use keyfobs to enter the gym, and that’s especially important during the night-time hours when there’s no staff in the building. In addition cameras inside and outside a well-lit building keep an eye on things.
“We don’t want people to be scared when they come in at night,” Pepper said.
7:24 cont’d to pages 13 & 14
Workouts without worry ... Though 7:24 isn’t staffed at night, Pepper makes sure his customers are safe and sound during their night-time workouts — the gym is well-lit and members need a keyfob to enter the gym. In addition cameras inside and outside keep an eye on things. “We don't want people to be scared when they come in at night,” Pepper said.
When signing up, members will meet with a trainer to talk about their goals, limitations and experiences with a gym, all to help them feel more comfortable; then they’ll get them going on a plan of action. Even when trainers aren’t onsite, they can still monitor what members are working on during their workouts, courtesy of an “accountability app” that lets members log their workouts for trainers to see.
“It’s kind of cool because if I send them a workout to do, it’ll show them a video on how to do it, a description, how many reps to do, how many sets to do,” Pepper said. “Once they’re through it, they can hit ‘send’ and ‘save’ and it lets me know that they actually did it. Even though they may not be one-on-one with a trainer, they still get that guidance and a plan.”
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In addition to solo workouts, the gym also offers group exercise classes, mostly during the daytime hours, though one-hour classes are also held at 5 a.m. or 5:30 p.m., so you can get pumped up before work or after. Weight training, fat-burning exercises, pilate and cardio exercises and exercises with a ballet barre are among the classes offered. Some of the cardio-driven classes take place at the gym, or when the weather allows, outside along the riverfront at the nearby RB&W Park.
“Some people come to a gym, get intimidated, and then go for the easiest thing possible, which is the treadmill,” Pepper said. “We want to be able to help them utilize the whole gym, because that’s where they’re going to get the best results.”
Going to a gym is one of the positive life choices people can make, Pepper said, and 7:24’s alwaysopen-door policy also helps make it easier for people to make that choice. Next time you’re tempted to get up and grab a midnight snack, think about getting up and going to the gym instead.
“We help people out with not only working out and getting results with muscles or weight loss, but also with the mental side of things,” Pepper said. “We can help people be more confident in what they are doing, walking a little more taller or with more energy.” n
7:24 Fitness on the Rock is at 107-1/2 First Ave. in Rock Falls. Staff is on site from 5 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and weekends depending on class schedule (see calendar on website). Find it on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (@724FitOnTheRock), go to 724fitnessontherock.com or call 815-564-9000 for more information.
