Local shops are loved on Saturday of the small business | Local news

Barista Nicole Zeisler said that Mocha Lisa had had a busy morning as a former barista and that the owner of Little Pineapple Shoppe had sold some of her homemade soaps at the coffee shop to promote both small businesses.

Dave and Nancy Wehling of Racine were in Sturtevant Saturday to make a purchase in a small company, KP! Butterscotch, 9602 Durand Ave.

"We drove here specifically for that," said Dave Wehling.

KP! 'S executive director, Kate Clark, said she had been organizing events outside the store for two weeks, but she and her brother, the company' s owner, Mike Clark, wanted to be on their own. ensure their presence in Sturtevant for small businesses on Saturday.

Clark said she's always striving to support small businesses in Illinois, where she lives.

"It's a struggle," she said. "It's a lot of hard work. But have a good recipe, we have a great team behind us. "

KP! posted on Facebook about Small Business Saturday, but did not make any special promotions beyond his free toffee free samples.

"Once people have tasted it, they really like it, they like it," Clark said. "Our claim to fame is that it does not stick to your teeth – it's gluten-free."

KP! opened his storefront, right next to his kitchen, in April, after customers continued to knock on the kitchen door asking them to shop. In addition to the new showcase, KP! Toffee is sold in various retail outlets, such as Apple Holler in Sturtevant, Piggly Wiggly in Racine and Mars Cheese Castle in Kenosha.

Nancy Wehling said that she and Dave were supporting KP! all year, not just on Saturday small businesses.

"The reason I'm shopping in small businesses, and I own a small business, is that you can buy unique products that you can not buy anywhere else," Dave Wehling said. "You can not get it anywhere else in the world, if it's through their distribution channel."

Wehling owns Dave's Window Coverings in Racine.

Sue Girolamo, owner of The Shy Violet, an antiques store located at 129 E Chestnut Street in Burlington, said the Small Business Saturday affair went very smoothly.

"It brings in a lot of new people and local people who do not come to downtown," Girolamo said.

On Saturday, customers visit the Small Business Saturday store and say they have never heard of it, even though The Shy Violet has been operating in Burlington for 20 years.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving is a good time to promote small businesses, said Girolamo, because locals who are in town to visit relatives want to shop in small businesses because they can go home. in supermarkets.

"It means a lot," Girolamo said of local residents who support his company.

"It's bringing in a lot of new people and local people who do not come to town often." Sue Girolamo,
owner of The Shy Violet