Osceola County residents turn their passion into business
Collecting antiques and preserving the old has always been Joe Bixman’s passion. A few years ago, he turned that passion into his main source of income by opening an antiques shop in Evart, a small town in Osceola County, Michigan.
Downtown Evart's Main Street hosts an array of small businesses, such as the Rusty Gold antiques shop, serving as local hubs and drawing in visitors from out of town. These stores also stand as testament of how personal passions can evolve into thriving businesses.
“I started collecting really aggressively about 10 years ago and ended up filling two pole barns, my house and my girlfriend's house,” Bixman said. “And I told her, I had a problem, and I think I needed to get a store. So we looked for eight months, and we found this place here, and we bought it.”
Bixman moved above his store ready to help his customers any day of the week. His dedication to his work helps him overcome the challenges of owning a small business in a city with fewer than 2000 residents.
Osceola County, categorized as a Working Class Country, according to the American Communities Project, is one of the poorest. According to the ACP Survey, the median household income in Evart City is as low as $34,107, which is about half of the median household income in the state of Michigan.
Since 2000, the average family income in the area decreased more than $5,000.
However, small business owners manage to keep their shops open by catering to the needs of the local communities and drawing in visitors.
Antique store that puts Evart on a map
Bixman said he was glad that his store attracts customers from all over the country, including states like Iowa, Texas, Montana, Minnesota and Florida. Although the store is open only four days a week, Bixman opens his door by appointment.
He once opened the store on the day it is usually closed for the bus tour with 54 people coming from Gladwin and Clare Counties. The tour included visiting thrift stores and Rusty Gold Antiques was on the list.
Such visitors from outside of Osceola County are crucial for Bixman’s business.
“It is a poorer county,” Bixman said. “I mean, it's not that everybody's poor. It's just people aren’t paying the prices here that they would pay in the big cities.”
Bixman tries to attract his customers by collecting more rare and unique items. One of them is an old but still working music box from the mid-19th century.
“For being 160 to 180 years old and just having this little bit of damage is remarkable,” Bixman said. “The box has its own little wears and tears, but that goes to show it was loved and used.”
Seeing customers experience the gratification of finding something that is hard to find and their excitement about new purchases are Bixman’s favorite things about owning the store.
“It’s the smile that people get when they see my items or buy something they've been looking for and haven't been able to find,” Bixman said.
Providing space for community
Misty Barnett became a business owner in 2007, when she opened a video store in Evart. Six years ago she turned that store into what she really loves – a place for crafts.
Barnett said she loved doing crafts ever since she was a little girl. She started crocheting when she was seven, learned how to knit in college and picked up quilting and cross-stitching about 10 years ago. “It’s just wonderful,” Barnett said. “I get to come to work everyday, and it doesn’t feel like work.”
The store is popular with the local residents when it comes to community events. Barnett organizes various nights, where people can come and learn new crafts, do open needle work and just socialize.
Barnett said that before COVID-19 they used to host more knit and crochet nights, which were very popular with the community.
“One particular night we had 28 people here. We had no more tables, we had no more chairs,” Barnett said.
However, Barnett said it is not easy to maintain competitive prices and attract enough customers in a small town. Most of her customers come from out of town. Before the pandemic, the city of Evart used to organize various events like sidewalk sales or Small Shop Hops to support small businesses. Unfortunately, these initiatives have not been reinstated.
“I would love to see more support from the town,” Barnett said. “I would like to see the events come back. That was always helpful.”
Adapting to maintain business
June-Marie Eisner grew up in the suburbs of Detroit and later lived in many different cities in Michigan before she moved to Evart with her husband. In 2014, she opened her longarm quilting business on Main Street.
Juneberry Cottage provides all the supplies that people would need to make a quilt, including various patterns, notions and materials. After the top of the quilt is completed, customers can bring it to the store and have it put together into a finished quilt using longarm quilting machines.
Eisner has been passionate about sewing and fabrics her whole life, and she even wanted to open her own clothing shop. However, she said that the market in Evart was too small for this and that is why she opted instead for a quilting shop.
“That is one thing about being in the rural,” she said. “You have to do what you will help you stay in business. What will sell, to be completely honest.”
Because of the small market in Evart and seasonal spikes in the number of customers, Eisner tries to adapt and diversify her income sources at the shop. Besides the sewing supplies and longarm quilting services, they provide sewing machines repairs and retail BERNINA sewing machines.
“In a small rural town you kind of see what else is out there to help,” Eisner said. “You have to diversify.”