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Experience over a dozen different countries at South Milwaukee’s ‘Shop Small World Tour’

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Experience over a dozen different countries at South Milwaukee’s ‘Shop Small World Tour’

Readers say books can take you to faraway places from the comfort of your home.

For those looking to get out ― but not too far ― and still feel like they’re visiting different countries the second annual Shop Small World Tour in South Milwaukee is the ticket.

Sarah Mironczuk, owner of Bakehouse 23, is working with three other business owners in the city to promote the event which goes from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 30.

“It was a lot of fun last year. It was a really good time,” Mironczuk said. “It’s not necessarily a Christmas event but an all-inclusive holiday event celebrating the cultures of our world.”

Parkway Floral owner Leah Minue and Natalie Gajewski, owner of Omen in South Milwaukee, are also helping with the event, which coincides with Small Business Saturday.

“We work well together, the three of us,” Mironczuk said.

Nearly all businesses had “exceptional sales” during last year’s similar event. The exceptions were businesses not in South Milwaukee’s downtown area.

Organizers have worked to rectify that this year with bus stops to help shoppers get around the city. Visitors will need to wait up to 20-30 minutes at a stop for the bus to make its round trip. Hot chocolate will be provided at all stops except one near Better Together Café which offers a merry menu of many tasty, warm drinks.

Businesses like Pink Bunny Games, Everything for Less and Rosenquist Fine Art will now be more easily accessible to people who previously were mostly wandering Milwaukee Avenue, Mironczuk said.

How does the event work?

All participating businesses choose a country to represent. Themed items and décor will then center on that country.

Visitors can pick up a passport, designed by local artist Lauren Marvell and printed by Tri-City Bank, at all shops.

“She’s wonderful; she does beautiful work,” Mironczuk said of Marvell’s work, adding her only design directive was to “make it in a Candy Land style.”

The passport is essentially a map indicating where each participating business is located. Travelers can get their passport stamped at each subsequent business they visit.

Once someone gets at least five stamps they can enter a raffle of their choice. Each business is holding its own raffle for items or gift cards. Two of the businesses not on the main downtown strip ― Rosenquist and Pink Bunny Games ― will hold additional raffles for $100 Visa gift cards as a thank you for making the trip.

Anyone who doesn’t win at a shop’s raffle will be entered into a single large raffle which has prizes from every business.

South Milwaukee grants double the requested funding for the event

Mironczuk and other business owners presented the event’s budget, totaling just over $2,100, to the South Milwaukee Common Council on Nov. 19.

The business owners were asking for a $1,000 grant from South Milwaukee via grant money provided to the city from the Bucyrus Foundation, to help cover some costs.

Participating businesses had a $25 buy-in, Mironczuk said. However, the rest of the costs for the event ― everything from needed materials to promotional buys ― the main organizing business owners were going to pay out of pocket. Some money was also slated to come from South Milwaukee Independent Local Entrepreneurs, a local business-oriented nonprofit operated by Mironczuk and Minue.

Instead of $1,000, Alderman Tim Backes suggested the city double the ask to $2,000 to cover nearly the entire budget.

“I thought that, given the success of the event last year, the incredible body of work these business owners have already put into our community, and the relatively modest request, doubling the request to cover just about all of those hard expenses made sense,” Backes told the Journal Sentinel. “So, I made that suggestion to council president (Brett) Briesemeister, who agreed and made the motion.”

Backes said it was an easy decision that will make a big impact “while barely even putting a dent into the interest” that would be generated by that grant money.

“It’s perfectly in the spirit of what the Bucyrus grant money was intended for,” he said, adding it will support an event that will bring many into South Milwaukee.

After some discussion, the council voted to move forward with the $2,000 in perpetuity for the event.

“We were shocked,” Mironczuk said. “There’s a sense of relief and a sense of pride. It felt really great to feel supported by our community. Mostly everyone was really on board and excited to help us.”

Here are the 16 businesses participating this year and their respective countries:

  • Omen/Omen Alternative (Iceland)
  • Parkway Floral (France)
  • Bakehouse 23 (Ukraine)
  • Rosenquist Fine Art Gallery (Sweden)
  • Immortal Toys (Puerto Rico)
  • The Chi Shed (The North Pole)
  • Better Together Café (NYC ELF Style)
  • Everything for Less (New Zealand)
  • Dupree’s Vintage (United Kingdom)
  • Hollyville (Poland)
  • Pink Bunny Games (Germany)
  • ChowChow Treats and Bakery (Africa)
  • Mari’s Flowers (Italy)
  • C3 Designs (Around the World)
  • Black Sheep Tattoo (Sweden)
  • Acetime Disc Golf (United States of America)

More: South Milwaukee’s new $50 million project to focus on low-income families and veterans

Contact Erik S. Hanley at erik.hanley@jrn.com. Like his Facebook page, The Redheadliner, and follow him on X @Redheadliner.

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