Downtown St. Joseph will soon be welcoming a new retailer. Purely Michigan will offer only specialty gifts and merchandise designed, created and manufactured in Michigan.
The 1,300-square-foot store will open with two part-time employees and the owner behind the cash register.
Lynne Christiano, owner of Purely Michigan, has collected items from across the state for her new store and since people have heard of the concept they have been contacting her to see if there is shelf space for their items.
She likes the way that is going and hopes to be able to use more of what people are offering her. What she is looking for is high-quality, upscale items, rather than the kitsch found in some shops in tourist destinations. She hopes the store appeals not only to tourists but to year round residents and those seeking out gifts.
Christiano has never owned her own store, but she does have a retail background. The idea for Purely Michigan came during a dinner with a close friend around the kitchen table influenced by "a lot of wine," she says. The women began discussing the potential for a Michigan themed store and liked it the more they talked about it.
"Our niche is there are a lot of stores with things made from Michigan, but none that have only Michigan made items," Christiano says.
The store got a boost when it was accepted into the Downtown Retail and Restaurant Rent Subsidization Program of
Cornerstone Alliance, a program that offers rent subsidies. The program is intended to promote retail areas with no gaps caused by unrented spaces.
The program is going to go a long way in keeping Christiano’s first year expenses controllable, she says.
A grand opening for the store has been set for June 2 at 10 a.m.
"The people of Michigan are very creative," Christiano says. "I will never run out of new made-in-Michigan items."
Writer: Kathy Jennings, Second Wave
Source: Lynne Christiano, Purely Michigan
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