Makers Exchange offers place for small businesses

For customers looking to support a small business, they need not look any further than Makers Exchange at the Tea exit.

The retail side of the business opened Sept. 19 and the market side opened Nov. 9 with a grand opening for the store. Amy Balster, manager for the market side, said business so far has been great.

“It’s going amazingly. We’ve been blown away just by the amount of people that have stopped in,” Balster said.

The rustic barn design offers an elevated homey feel for their high quality vendors and artists. The retail side has room for about 75 small businesses, artists and clothing boutiques.

The market side offers coffee, waffles and food vendors. Meat vendors, cheese vendors and take and bake meals can be found on the market side. Half of that space will be for seating and the other is food vendors.

Some Makers Exchange vendors had spaces in the old Stacey’s Boutique.

“I think that was one of the reasons they wanted to open this facility is there were several vendors that just didn’t have anywhere to go after Stacey’s closed down,” Balster said.

Vendors are mostly from South Dakota with some from Iowa and Minnesota.

“They really wanted to support small businesses from the area and give them a place where they could sell out of and try to fill that need,” she said. “It’s really about supporting the community and local artists and businesses.”

For businesses interested in becoming a Makers Exchange vendor, they can find an application on their website. 

“We’re constantly evaluating just based off the product mix. We try not to have too much of one thing,” Balster said. “There is a huge variety. We have everything from hand-painted items, wood craft, metal craft, clothing, neon signs.”

Hours for the retail store are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. Hours on the market side are 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.