Entries Tagged 'Downtown Kenosha' ↓

Dear Readers,

After contributing to past issues, I’m proud to be involved in the re-launch of this magazine. My family has deep roots in Kenosha, going back to when the city was still in its infancy. Although well over a century has passed since then, one thing has remained throughout the generations: the passion to create a thriving community. For an example of this in action, you needn’t go much further than the downtown, harborside and Union Park areas of Kenosha. So many local organizations, artists, business owners, residents and others continue to work tirelessly to continue to transform this idea into a reality. While not all have long histories in the city, a spirit of collaboration often ties together life-long and newer residents, and the more recent result has been an exciting revitalization in these areas.
Whether it’s business owners who greet you by name each time you visit or residents who take an initiative to create positive
change, the community is being enriched in myriad ways. Of course, there’s still work ahead. But it’s important to appreciate
and enjoy the progress that’s already been made. Stroll along the lake, stop for lunch or a cup of coffee, and visit the
local shops. Enjoy any of the events that local organizations support, or take in the art at a gallery. I could go on, but honestly,
it’s more fun to explore for yourself. It doesn’t matter if you’re a resident or visitor–bundle up against the chill, head on
out and enjoy!

–Lisa Adamowicz Kless

Winter Edition of the Downtown Magazine
Click HERE to download a pdf file of the magazine, or click any of the following links to read the articles in this issue.

• What Can We Do? A 3/50 Overview
• A Family Affair—True Confessions . . .
• Downtown Memories . . .
• WHAT’S THIS CAT’S STORY?
• Romancing Kenosha
• A Guide to Downtown Kenosha Bloody Marys . . .
• All I want for Christmas . . . Can Be Found in Downtown Kenosha
• Theatre, Dance, Art & More :: Classes For Children . . .

By Heather Larson Poyner

Once upon a time, not long ago, big-box retailers and mall outlets were the good guys. When they first emerged in the 1950s, they boasted convenience and variety. The bigger the store, the lower the price. The larger the consumer support meant even lower prices.
Nowadays, with everyone going “nouveau green,” big-box bashing is all the fashion. So what went wrong with shopping malls and big-box retailers?
Shopping at national retail stores and online is costly to local communities in the long run, according to Cinda Baxter, founder of an online organization dedicated to promoting local spending. Earlier this year Baxter, a Minneapolis resident, posted a blog protesting the loss of local business to big box retailers. “I thought just a few people would see it,” she said in a recent interview. Three hundred fifty emails later, she realized she had touched a nerve. In March, Baxter decided to launch a website called the350project.net. Since then, she reports that the site has had 7,600 unique visitors.
The website sites critical statistics, as well as tips consumers can use to help reverse the tide of lost local businesses.
According to these statistics, only $43 of every $100 spent at a national chain finds its way back to the communities in which
they are located. Of that same $100, $68 comes back to the community in the form of payroll and taxes if spent in independent,
locally owned businesses.
“This is not just the result of the current economy but a problem that has been building for the past 10 years,” Baxter said.
Suggested consumer solutions involve the numbers 3 and 50, for which the website is named. Three: “Visit three independently owned stores you would miss if they were gone. Pick up a little something that will make someone smile.” Fifty: “If just half of the employed population spent $50 in independently owned businesses their purchases would generate more than $42.6 billion in revenue.”
What has been the effect so far? “(The information) is making a difference in stores and neighborhoods,” Baxter said. “We’re hearing store owners say they are getting back long lost customers and customers who say they would have made a big-box purchase if they hadn’t seen the website.”
Given the success so far, Baxter plans to expand her sphere of influence and by the close of 2009 Baxter hopes to launch 3/50
websites in Canada, Australia and the U.K.
We all know that the current economy requires careful allocation of monetary resources. When we spend our money in locally owned stores we give good gifts to our family and our hometown at the same time.

Photography - Mike Gordon

By Heather Larson Poyner
Once upon a time, but not long ago, my family believed that holiday shopping at a big-box store, or mall, was a sacred annual rite. It was up there with apple picking in October and homemade eggnog on Christmas morning.
Our small tribe would write out lists of presents for the others and pile into the minivan for a day of scavenger-hunt like shopping
at Regency Mall. To complete the occasion we would graze our way along the food court, ingesting hot pretzels and cherry slushies.
Over the years this felt less and less right. We continued the ritual for the sake of group unity, but as the children grew up and began making purchases of their own, the mall paradigm ceased to fit for any of us.
This year my perspective has changed,in large part due to the fact that I have opened my own business in downtown Kenosha. I feel lucky to have my business in a community where like-minded entrepreneurs are concerned, not just for the success of their own enterprises, but also for the economic health of the downtown community at large.
I am learning that shopping locally helps us re-grow our hometown and neighborhoods. This holiday shopping season will not find our family at the mall. Instead we’ll be shopping for friends at the shops of friends and spending consciously and conscientiously. Holiday giving doesn’t get much better than that.

by Karen Knurr

“Kenosha–you’ve come a long way, baby” was the comment I heard. I had taken my eighty-seven year old mother out for lunch in downtown Kenosha. She admired the flowers, the trees, and the general splendor of the streets.

My mother grew up in Kenosha but has lived in Illinois, just across the state line, for the rest of her life. However, my brothers and I grew up more “Kenoshans” than “Illinoisans” (and fortunately were born here) because our grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles were all here. Since my mother no longer drives, she enjoys coming to Kenosha, and especially, visiting downtown.

I brought her to 6th Avenue via the apex so she could get the whole scope of the street with the wonderful flowers. After our lunch at The Nook, my mother paused with her walker and began to reminisce. She first mentioned the Orpheum Theater where she would go and stay all afternoon to watch double features as a child. Next, the old Woolworth store across the street, Kresge’s on the corner and another Kresge’s in the same block. “Three dime stores,” she said, “can you imagine? And all in the same block.” She also remembered the “cold” fudge sundaes that she and her friend would get after school.

As we got into the car, she saw Gottfredsen & Nicoll Jewelers and was amazed that they were still there. It was where she and my father went for her engagement and wedding rings. She was eighteen and he was twenty. The engagement ring is now lost, her wedding band is as thin as a thread, and my father is deceased, but her memories remain alive.

As we drove through on 6th Avenue, still admiring the flowers, I asked her if the downtown looked better to her now or when she was a kid. She said when she was young, it was a plain industrial town shopping area where nobody thought of flowers and beautiful lampposts. She is much more impressed nowadays, saying that they have done a remarkable job with Kenosha since the industrial days of her youth. Yes, Kenosha has come a long way.

By Colleen Kappeler

Downtown Kenosha may seem small, but when it comes to classes for children it is brimming with possibilities! New classes begin each season, changing all the time to offer you and your child new opportunities for learning, growing, and being challenged.

Theatre
Acting classes can be a great way for your child to not only improve their acting skills but also gain public speaking confidence and explore their imagination. Actor’s Craft, run by Maureen Cashin-Bolog, is located in the upper level of the Pollard Gallery on 56th St., next to the Rhode which now produces children’s theatre! You can take the children to see a play and sign them up to work on their own performing skills.

Dance
There is no lack of dance classes available downtown. Guy Singer Dance Studio and Laurenzi Dance Studio are both on 58th St. and offer a variety of dance classes. And now, Nikki’s Fabulous Feet Dance Studio offers classes in the Tae Kwon Do studio on Sheridan Rd., near the Post Office. Nikki is a New York City trained dancer who offers Baby and Me classes,
Mommy and Me Dance Classes, and a variety of other classes for different ages and levels.

Art
Alpaca Pottery Art Studio moved in next to Scoops Ice Cream and opened their doors late this past summer. Parents and children can drop in any time and choose pottery pieces to paint and have fired. If your child is interested in doing more with pottery,
Alpaca offers a variety of Saturday morning classes each season – you can sign up for the whole set or pick and choose the ones that interest your child. Art Works, on 7th Ave. near Simmons Island, offers several art technique classes for all ages. There
are Art History classes, introductory classes and even classes on making dinosaurs, superheroes, and princess wands!

More
On 7th Ave. you will find the Drum Hut where Heather Poyner offers a Playspace and Percussion Playground where children four and up can explore musical instruments and take classes alone or with their parents. Heather also offers “In Store Safaris” where parents, children, and groups can get exposure to the drumming of different cultures as well as participate in a drum circle. Children can even take a Make and Shake Workshop where they create their own frame style drums or egg shakers

JAM Fitness, next door to the Wine Knot on 6th, is offering classes for children as well as a Moms On Wheels class – a total fitness experience that moms can do with their children in the stroller. During the nice weather the class takes place outside
and around the lakefront. During bad weather there is space indoors to work out.
Now parents can get a workout while their babies are entertained in the stroller!

To find out more about these opportunities, check out the Downtown directory online at www.downtownkenosha.org.

Links

• Actors Craft: www.actorscraftwisconsin.com
• Alpaca Pottery Art Studio: www.alpacapottery.com
• ArtWorks: www.artworkskenosha.com
• Drum Hut: www.rhythmintheround.com
• Guy Singer Dance Studio: www.gsdance.com
• JAM Fitness: Contact Jenn at 914-7747 (webstie coming soon)
• The Kenosha Public Museum: www.kenosha.org/museum/index.html
• Laurenzi Dance: www.laurenzidance.com
• Nikki’s Fabulous Feet: Contact Nikki at nikkisfabulousfeet@yahoo.com

From the Kenosha Area Convention & Visitors Bureau

More than a decade ago, five artists sat around a table thinking it would be “cool” if they exhibited together, so Lemon Street Gallery & ArtSpace opened in Kenosha in November 1999. Located in southeast Wisconsin, just blocks from Lake Michigan, the gallery celebrates its ten-year anniversary on November 14th.

The gallery gets its name from the street it sits on. Located at the corner of Sheridan Road and 46th Street, the latter was named Lemon Street when the brick building went up in 1919. Melanie Hovey, the gallery’s director and one of its founders, calls the gallery “a refreshingly different art gallery experience!” It is a nonprofit artist’s collective featuring original artwork in all media by over 60 local and regional artists. Continue reading →