Local businesses see continued growth in support, beyond Small Business Saturday

DE PERE, Wis. — Josh Steger sees new faces walk into the store every day at Icon Fiber Arts in De Pere, Wis. 

“We see new customers every day,” he said while hand spinning wool. “We had several people new to crochet and new to knitting in yesterday and they always have a little bit of apprehension starting their first project. ‘What does it mean when I have pick out a medium-weight yarn and a size 8 needle?’ ‘Where do I find that?’”

Icon offers both in-store shopping and sales over the internet. The recent Small Business Saturday gave the store an opportunity to showcase its products to customers.

“It is a big deal for us,” he said. “We were very busy from Black Friday all the way through Cyber Monday. We had a really great weekend.”

A survey commissioned earlier this year by Faire indicated more than 65% of the people it contacted shopped at a locally-owned store a few times a month.

Seventy-five percent of respondents said COVID made them appreciate local shops more than they had before.

The final few weeks of the year are a big deal for Ruth Fameree. She owns Smith’s Mercantile and has shops in Sturgeon Bay, Wis., and De Pere, Wis.

Fameree was working in the Sturgeon Bay store Friday.

“We opened in 2020 right during COVID, and the small business support was incredible during that time,” she said. “There was a little bit of uncertainty if that was going to continue once we moved on with our normal lives. I like to say it’s more of a movement and not a trend. We’ve really had great support of the local communities.”

Much of Fameree’s stock is created and made by area businesses. It includes products ranging from clothing to old fashion mixes and glasses to accessories.

“When you shop small, you shop unique. You find unique stories,” Fameree said. “Here, we like to say every gift tells a story. Because we support the local and the small makers, there really is a story behind almost all of our products.”

The final few weeks of the year are a big deal for Ruth Fameree. She owns Smith’s Mercantile and has shops in Sturgeon Bay, Wis., and De Pere, Wis. (Spectrum News 1/Nathan Phelps)

Steger said a physical store like his offers a tactile element.

“The product we sell, yes, it’s available on our website, but to actually see the colors, see the texture of it and feel the texture of it and feel the softness,” he said about the in-store experience. “The fiber content of yarn ranges from cotton and wool and linen and anything you can make stuff out of. They all feel and look a lot different.”