Oakwood Mall Craft Fair Draws Local Businesses

Oakwood Mall in Eau Claire, WI, held a Craft and Gift show on Nov. 20-21, right before the holiday season.

The fair was filled with booths featuring a variety of local businesses. Some of the booths featured homemade jewelry, crafts, hand crafted cabinets, gourmet popcorn, and other sweet treats centered in the middle of the mall aisle for all customers to see. The mall was lively. Customers were flowing through in every direction, many assured to stop in at the booths and browse the crafts and gifts. 

One of the businesses was called “Go!Calendars”, the shop manager’s  name is Diana. She said she had been managing the store for 15 years. She said it is a seasonal position that runs from October to January, and she loves the work she does. She said that COVID-19 had affected her business severely in 2020. 

“This year, I can tell we are almost back to normal,” she said. “Which makes everybody happy, although I think people should still continue to be careful.”

Her kiosk was filled with all different kinds of calendars for 2022. From puppy calandars, to car calendars, Go!Calendars had calendars that could peak anyone’s interests.

Next to the calendar display sat an arrangement of tables, full of children’s books. Families with young children stopped to browse the wide variety of books that Usborne Books and More had to offer.

Emma Frankenstien had been a consultant with Usborne Books and More for two years, but it was her first time at the fair in the Oakwood mall. She said they sell quality childrens books that are educational and fun. Frankenstein said that COVID-19 actually affected the business she works for in a positive way, unlike almost every other small business that attended the show. She said that during the lockdown of COVID-19, parents were searching for engaging ways to educate their kids in a fun way, which sent a lot of parents to Usborne Books and More. “It was great for us,” Frankienstien said. “ We have a lot of learning from home options, and a lot of early reader books too.”

Frankenstein said that all the events online were virtual last year, and now online events are during the week, and the in person ones are during the weekends. 

At the end of the row of booths, there was a jewelry and painting booth. It had a wide variety of jewelry, filled with bright gems and shiny metals. The creator of Patriots Beads and Brass is Ashley Spagberg. She is a twelve year veteran with the Army National Guard. Spagberg uses recycled bullet casings to make her jewelry. She also does watercolor paintings. She said she had started making jewelry and paintings around seven years ago. 

“It was an idea I had while I was in Afghanistan,” Spagberg said. “We were turning in our amo at the end of the deployment and I had a light bulb moment, that it would be cool to make jewelry out of bullet casings.”

Spagburg said making the jewelry is very therapeutic for her. 

“Especially after getting out of the military,” Spagburg said. “It’s art therapy for me. It’s nice to sit down on the couch, watch TV, and make something.”

COVID-19 affected Spagber’s business greatly, she said. Spagberg said she usually doesn’t go to craft shows, and that she usually sells her products at gun shows. She said that she could not attend any gun shows in 2020 because all of the gun shows were closed down during the pandemic. She said her sales were about only half of what they would have been otherwise. 

“I had to shift my focus from doing shows to building a website and marketing online,” said Spagburg. Spagburg said that the jewelry making was fairly easy for her and relaxing, but the marketing and website building was a bit more difficult for her. Despite this, she persisted and began doing online sales, which ultimately helped her business.

Spagburg said it did benefit her in a way, because now she does online and in person sales. Covid-19 had expanded her business by making her learn to do online sales and in person sales. 

The next craft and gift show at Oakwood Mall is scheduled for October 2022. 

Emma Frankenstien Usborne Books and More