The Bergeron Group is a prominent Naperville family business. Over the last twenty-two years, The Bergeron Group has launched a number of entrepreneurial ventures in the Naperville area.

In 1980, Jim Sr. Bergeron and his wife Kathy moved to Kanakakee to open two Little Caesar's Pizza restaurants, a chain they become familiar with in Detroit. It was Bergeron's first business venture after 15 years in corporate management and finance positions. By 1981, they secured a contact for 21 Little Caesar's in DuPage County and moved to Naperville. They ran the the restaurants for ten years before selling them, intending to retire and concentrate on community activities. Activities like bringing the Carillon to Naperville: Jim Sr. was Co-Chairman of those efforts.

In the mean time, sons Jim and Jeff , who had worked in the Little Caesar's restaurants from the ages of eleven and ten, were growing up and going to school. Jim, who had his heart set on the restaurant business, got dual Bachelors degrees in Personnel & Employment Relations and Organizational Behavior from the University of Miami, Ohio. On graduation, he launched his restaurant career with stints at Bennigans, TGI Friday's, and Dave & Busters managing over 300 employees.

When Jeff graduated from Naperville Central, he took a different road in finding his business niche. He and a friend, Dave Swanson, took a long road trip around the southwest, washing cars from a homemade mobile car wash van to earn their keep. When he returned to Naperville he went to work as a manager for Turtle Wax to learn the "fixed location" car wash business.

As fate would have it, an attractive piece of property became available on 75th street, The Bergeron's bought it and built their first venture, Brighton Car Wash and Detail Center. They introduced a new level of Full Service car washing to a booming community in 1995.

A few years later, the availability of the Landmark Restaurant Property in the heart of downtown Naperville was too good to pass up. The result was Jimmy's Grill. The decor inside Jimmy's reflects the long history of the property, which includes Beckmen's Harness shop, an organ and piano shop, a motorcycle repair shop, Service Station and Blacksmith. Community involvement has been important for Jim also - the restaurant has been the main drop off spot for Toy's for Tots since opening. Jimmy's just celebrated its 5th anniversary, and Jim has taken the restaurant to a new level by recently introducing a hot water heating system to their already famous patio.

Jeff has been busy innovating too. A second Brighton Car wash wash opened on Ogden Ave, Brighton Express Car Wash. It is the first Car Wash in Illinois that automatically washes each and every car twice resulting making for a cleaner car. Jeff also has gone back to his roots by bringing back the mobile car wash concept with introduction of the Brighton Charity Car Wash Van, developed to help not for profit organizations raise money. You'll see his distinctive van at carwash fundraisers all over town every summer. Cleaning carpets in all those cars he has washed, he has now launched Brighton Carpet Cleaning.

Recently, Jim also expanded when he bought Leonardo's Pizza, an institution in Downtown Naperville. Keeping with the history of the home built in 1905, the restaurant has been renamed Brick House Pizzeria. Jim received the "Today's Young Executive Award" from the business Ledger in 2002. And has just been named a 2003 Outstanding Alumni by Naperville Central.

Now back in the pizza business, the Bergeron Group has come full circle. With its growing number of enterprises the Bergeron Group is on course to keep Jim Sr. from retirement for at least another decade-he also has a third son, Greg, waiting to join the Group.