Shopping local this holiday season takes on extra meaning this month, as this will be the last one for The Market: A Journey to Joy.
The nearly five-year-old collection of local vendors (offering a wide variety of merchandise) will close after Dec. 24, 2023 at the second floor of Spotlight Theatre and Event Center, 1800 7th Ave., Moline.
Katie Thompson opened her first The Market: A Journey to Joy (showcasing the wonderful wares of Quad Cities makers, crafters and curators) in April 2019, and at one time, there were 42 vendors there, including a basement level.
She opened a second store in downtown LeClaire (430 N. Cody Road) in March 2022, but closed that by last fall. That location – in a former 1855 river pilot house – had two stories and about 40 small local businesses selling products there.
Thompson shifted most The Market clothing vendors from Moline and LeClaire to The Clothing Co., which she runs just across the street in LeClaire (425 N. Cody Rd.), in November 2022, part of four stores in a renovated building. The Market there was in an old home that was on a hill, difficult for some people to access.
“The house itself was up stairs, and stairs stop people,” Thompson said recently, noting the Moline building has an elevator. “The house, you had to get up the stairs to the house, and then up stairs to the second floor as well. Now, our building in LeClaire is just ground level, handicapped accessible.”
“Those are the growing pains of business, though, knowing what your clientele wants and what they respond to,” she said. In LeClaire now, there are 13 vendors, and all were once part of The Market in Moline or LeClaire.
In Moline, The Market has five of its original vendors and about 20 altogether. The businesses all rent space per month.
The original ones are Smith Family Olde Country Market, from East Moline; Painted Wildflower of Davenport; Arlo & Elm of Moline; What’s Poppin’ QC from Milan, and Becalm Bath and Body of Geneseo.
Thompson decided to close The Market since there are a number of other local stores that sell a variety of locally made products, including Crafted QC and 838 Boutique in Bettendorf, and Iron & Grain Boutiques in East Moline. Thompson has five employees between the two locations, and most vendors either have another storefront or online store.
“There’s no one here at this point that doesn’t have another sales outlet,” Thomspon said of Moline vendors. “They have known for quite some time that we planned to close. There’s nothing sprung on them.”
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“The Quad Cities has evolved since we opened five years ago,” she said. “There’s a lot more stores set up in this sense of having multiple stores within one storefront.”
There’s also not much in downtown Moline for retail (compared to LeClaire), and The Market had served as a destination, and a literal one-stop shop, Thompson said.
‘An absolute joy’
“It has been an absolute joy to serve the community of customers, makers and small businesses with our shop over the past five years in downtown Moline,” she posted about the planned closing on Facebook. “Business decisions usually are clear but that doesn’t make them any easier because, like much else in life, the heart is always involved.”
“We set out for our shop to feel like home and I think we achieved that at a grandiose level!” Thomspon wrote. “The Quad Cities has evolved in the last few years and it’s fun to watch new businesses blossom, business districts spark flames and for our creatives to find a multitude of outlets to sell their goods.
“I will continue to cheer for the small business community and be a faithful follower of all things local,” she said. “Over the next three weeks, I encourage you to stop into the shop and support the business owners as they promise to keep their spaces filled to the brim with the products you know and love.”
The Clothing Co. will stay the way it is, Thompson said, and its hours are similar to Moline: 10 to 5 Tuesday through Friday; 10 to 4 Saturday and noon to 4 Sunday. Tuesdays are open during the holiday season in LeClaire (not Moline), but traditionally they are closed Mondays and Tuesdays (like Moline).
She is now executive director for The 7 Figure Foundation, a national group that creates and coordinates volunteer experiences for people who work in real estate investment.
“I coordinate all the opportunities for them,” Thompson said, noting she never worked in real estate before, but for a nonprofit (Spring Forward Learning Center). It’s unrelated to The Market closing, she noted.
“It was just about creating volunteer opportunities,” Thompson said of her current job. “This posting kept popping up, for the job. I couldn’t ignore it anymore.”
One recent customer at The Market has been a regular, and mentioned she wanted to come in before they closed. “The community is accepting it well,” Thompson said. “We have a supportive community.”
“Of course it’s sad; I love this place and I love everyone I’ve gotten to meet,” said Brooke Birmingham, The Market manager. “Everybody’s been great, and just being around creative people has been wonderful.”
“There’s such a good variety of things,” she said of Market vendors.
After the closing, The Market social media pages will shift to The Clothing Co. See The Market on Facebook HERE and The Clothing Co. HERE.
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