The main kick-off event is Thursday, November 7 from 5-8 p.m. Some stores will remain open to 9 p.m.
The asterisk beside the participating store names below indicates they are staying open until 9 p.m.
110 South Main Mercantile*
Angie Dawn’s Boutique*
Barbed Wire & Roses Vintage Market*
Bartelsmeyer Jewelry*
Be the Light Boutique*
Bids & Dibs*
Hedgehog.Ink!*
Iron Star Antiques & Such*
Laree + Co*
Mayco Ace Hardware*
Museum of Creativity*
Sekan’s Occasion Shop*
Sunshine Boutique*
The Artificers*
The Kitchen Collective + Collaborative*
US Cellular*
Varia Quality Resale
History of the Event
The first holiday open house was in 2003 at the Iron Star Antiques and Such, 3 North Main.
Barb Trimbur and Cindy Bowman were vendors in the Iron Star and they decided to host an open house after Trimbur had made an offer to purchase the store from Yvonne Beck and Beck accepted the offer. The deal was finalized in 2004.
“The purpose of the first holiday open house was to introduce myself as the new owner,” Trimbur said. “We were decorating the store and thought, wouldn’t it be nice to have a party to kick off the season.”
Trimbur said about 10 years ago other downtown stores decided to have an open house as well.
Madison said the last quarter of the year, the holiday season, is the busiest time of the year for businesses.