For about a decade, the smell of sweet treats and baked good have drifted from the kitchen of Dawn and Tim Hamilton in Clarion. The couple has been operating their bakery, Granny’s Mixing Bowl, out of their home for the last several years while planning to open a storefront location on Main Street as soon as they shape up the building. So it may come as a surprise to some, even to the Hamiltons, that they recently opened up a completely different business next door to the eventual bakery. Granny’s Iowa Market is now open for business and attracting eager holiday shoppers.
As they tell the story of how Granny’s Iowa Market came to be, the Hamiltons admit that the last several months have been a whirlwind of activity. They say they had not really planned to open a store just now and were concentrating on the bakery, but a twist of fate rearranged their plans. Dawn explained that Colette Johnson, owner of That Iowa Girl, notified them she was planning to close the retail portion of her business. Johnson asked if the Hamiltons would be interested in opening a store of their own, stocking many of the products she used to sell.
The Hamiltons decided to run with the idea. Tim explains that since they own two storefront locations on the 200 block of Main Street and since the corner bakery was not ready to go, they decided to work with the next door location at 202 Main Street. While it was a hasty project to try to get it ready, the Hamiltons say it was not easy. Tim said, “The building was a disaster zone. We had to do a lot to it.” And since Tim is pretty handy, they did about all of it themselves, including repairing ceilings, electrical updates, adding new lights and flooring, and much more. Amazingly, from the time they discussed the idea of the new store until when they opened the doors was only a matter of a few months.
Granny’s Iowa Market officially opened in early November and held their grand opening and ribbon cutting this past week. The Hamiltons emphasize that they specialize in Iowa-made products and other regional foods and goods. Tim guesses that about 90% of what they stock in the store comes from Iowa. Some of the products even come from right in or around Clarion. For instance, they sell beef from Ryan Anderson that is processed in town. They also stock handcrafted goat milk soap from Farm Gal Soaps, operated by Sarah Johnson from Hardy.
Dawn says that they sell many of the same products that used to be sold at That Iowa Girl, since Johnson still distributes to them through her company. Dawn adds, “I used to get my eggs for the bakery from That Iowa Girl so I was happy we could sell those same items.” Additionally, they are excited to be adding new products to the store and are continually seeking new vendors as well. For example, they just added root beer and cream soda from Millstream Brewing Co. and fresh bread from Big Sky Bread Company, both Iowa companies.
The community is happy to see Granny’s open for business. Clarion Chamber Director Ali Disney points out how significant filling Main Street businesses is for a small town. She said, “We are really excited to have Granny’s Iowa Market, and hopefully someday, Granny’s Mixing Bowl, open in downtown Clarion. Not only would that fill two vacant buildings and fill that gap in storefronts that has been there for a while now, it would be filling a need of our community. Granny’s Iowa Market is keeping those local, Iowa food products accessible to Clarion citizens.” Johnson too is glad to see the Hamiltons take over where she left off. “I’m thrilled that they are doing it,” Johnson asserts. “There are so many people who loved the products. I think they’re doing a wonderful job.”
The Hamiltons too are happy to serve a need in the community even as they contribute to revitalizing Main Street. “The location is ideal,” said Tim. “We’re also glad to be able to provide that local service that people can’t get with big corporate stores.” Dawn agreed and added, “We hope we can help other local businesses too by attracting people from out of town. We can all work together to compliment each other and help Clarion.”
Ultimately, after months of long hours scraping floors, stocking merchandise, and burning the midnight oil, the Hamiltons are very happy with the final product. “I’m glad we did it,” says Tim. “It wasn’t easy but it’s been good.” Dawn notes she has been excited by all the old friends and faces she’s seen walk through the door and looks forward to meeting new folks both local and visiting.
Granny’s Iowa Market is open at 202 North Main Street in Clarion from 2 pm – 6 pm on weekdays and 9 am – 1 pm on Saturdays. Additionally, the Hamiltons encourage people to stop by if they happen to see the lights on. They have plenty of great options for Christmas and invite people to come check out their many gift and food items.
