The final numbers aren’t in yet, but the Kewanee Chamber of Commerce leader feels retail sales in the city set a record in 2025.
“I think we’re going to set a record again,” said Mark Mikenas, the chamber’s executive director.
Mikenas analyzes the quarterly reports from the Illinois Department of Revenue of sales taxes collected in the city to gauge the level of sales in the city’s stores.
He said the numbers for the last quarter of 2025 haven’t come in, but his own observations have been positive.
For one thing, Mikenas said, the weather was cooperative. Except for a snowfall that hindered shopping on the weekend after Thanksgiving, conditions were good for shoppers.
While inflation could elevate the sales numbers, Mikenas said, “Inflation was lower than what people think.”
One state revenue figure that Mikenas does have shows that legal gambling devices are big business in Kewanee.
He said the share of gaming revenue the city received in the first 11 months of 2025 totaled about $300,000. Gambling revenues are divided among the state, the city and the owners of the establishments that have the machines.
Mikenas said 26 businesses in Kewanee have gaming machines, which can only be installed in establishments that have liquor licenses. The revenue those businesses receive from the machines are important for their bottom line, he said.
“Some of those businesses wouldn’t have stayed open” without the gambling revenue, Mikenas said.
