Racine’s village of mini-storefronts gets business owners out of their basements and garages | State & Regional

Then she learned about Midwest Market @ 2210 in Racine.

The low-cost business incubator for retail entrepreneurs has created an opportunity not only for Hipke, but also for her teenage son to open his own storefront for a burgeoning T-shirt business.

Hipke said she jumped at the chance to rent space for her “Whirlwinds” business, which currently exists mostly on the internet and in consignment stores.

Her son’s T-shirt shop, too, is getting ready to open inside the Midwest Market, not far away from her.

“It’s a huge accomplishment,” she said. “I’m proud, I’m happy, I’m excited.”

When the Midwest Market celebrates its grand opening April 2 and 3 at 2210 Rapids Drive, the indoor community of mini-storefronts will showcase more than 30 new businesses, all under one roof.

Organizers expect it will not take much longer to reach their capacity of 100 tenants. The 70,000-square-foot former grocery store has been carved up to provide individual, customized spaces for entrepreneurs of all ages to experience having their own place of business.

Dewey Johnson and his business partner, Charlie Johnson, have been selling woodworking art for years at farmers markets, craft fairs and other temporary sites throughout Wisconsin.

At the Midwest Market, the two artisans, both in their 70s, will stop their traveling show and hang a shingle for the first time. Their new business will be called “Creative Carvings.”

As the partners worked to finish their leased space, they voiced excitement about setting up their own shop.

“I like this space,” Dewey Johnson said. “I think it’s going to be nice.”

The onetime Pick ‘n Save food store on Rapids Drive — across the street from Horlick High School — closed its doors as a grocery destination in 2015. It is part of the Rapids Plaza shopping center, which opened in 1963 but has struggled to attract tenants in recent years.

Businessman Bob Gleason bought Rapids Plaza in 2020 and converted the old Pick ‘n Save into an indoor farmers market. The weekend farmers market did pretty well, but Gleason decided to try something different.

Starting last fall, he advertised permanent retail store space available inside the former grocery store for just $1 per square foot per month. Offering mini-storefronts as little as 200 square feet in size, Gleason wanted to create an indoor “village” of entrepreneurs who typically could not afford storefronts in pricey locations like downtown Racine.

Gleason would erect the walls for each store and provide maintenance and other overhead. Each store owner would finish out their space in their own image, adding personal touches to create the small business that they had always dreamed about.

“I came up with a concept that I thought would work,” Gleason said. “There’s nothing like it anywhere.”

The indoor shopping village, which is open to the public, has attracted merchants who sell everything from toys and flowers to furniture and perfume.

About 50 spaces have been claimed, with walls erected for more than 30 of them. Some even have opened to the public already while construction work continues on the rest of the “village.”

Donna Lodor, owner of “Bubbles Bath Shop,” has leased 800 square feet for a bath soap and accessories business that she had been operating out of her basement. Half of her new store is display space, and the other half is a workshop where she makes bath bombs, shower fizzies and other concoctions.

Lodor was not really looking for a permanent shop. But when she heard about the Midwest Market concept, she moved everything out of her basement and headed for Rapids Drive.

“It’s awesome. I love it,” she said. “It feels rewarding, that my hard work has now come to my own storefront.”

The market’s grand opening is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on April 2 and 3. After that, the market will be open 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Fridays and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

Shoppers will find a few surprises inside, including a full bar mixing cocktails for sale.

Gleason and his management team have found tenants coming from as far away as Lake Geneva and Waukegan, Illinois, for the chance to join Racine’s new shopping village. A few prospects have been turned away, either because they duplicated existing tenants or because they wanted to sell inappropriate adult products.

Market manager Gail Deno oversaw the farmers market for Gleason, and she is staying on with the new operation.

Deno said the market will be a family-friendly attraction, and she hopes shoppers will keep coming back to check out the new stores popping up, new products being introduced and other occasional specials.

Most of the tenants, Deno said, would be unable to open their own stores without the opportunity to join Midwest Market. As a result, all of them are taking ownership in the concept.

And they have built a sense of teamwork, in keeping with the village theme.

“You can just feel the excitement,” Deno said. “You can hear it in their voices.”

Merchant Aimee Mickelson said her store, “Nourished By Nature,” will be a partnership of 11 people who sell Zilis-brand health products. The partners previously have been meeting in a restaurant, and selling their products wherever they can.

The 300-square-foot store for $300 a month is affordable, Mickelson said. It also gives her group a chance to be surrounded by other merchants, all trying to accomplish the same thing — success.

She called the indoor market concept “so amazing.”

“The energy level is great. Positivity is all around us,” she said. “It’s almost like we were looking for it, but we didn’t know we were looking for it.”