From our small business to yours

April 29 – May 5, 2018 is National Small Business Week. It is a week of recognizing and celebrating the hard work entrepreneurs and small business owners put in for success, whatever “success” means to them. Here at Allee Creative (also a thriving small business), our team took some time to think about our favorite small businesses and we complied them in a fun list below. Enjoy!

Stacia Lungstrom, event specialist

Main Street Farmer Eatery is a small town, farm-to-table restaurant in St. Michael. They source everything locally and even make their out-of-this-world kielbasa sausage in-house! I feel like a family member when we walk in and in the year that they’ve been in business, I have yet to eat something I didn’t love and continue to crave long-after. Their creative cocktails are delicious and they’re always creating something new. I recommend Main Street Farmer to anyone who will listen.

Facebook: Main Street Farmer Eatery

Katrina Miller, administrative assistant

Universe Games– 711 West Lake St., Minneapolis. Universe is a welcoming little shop that shares a space with Steamship Coffee & Tea. I love bringing friends to test board games from Universe’s library while sipping craft coffee from Steamship. It’s amazing how many games Universe has packed into their cozy space, and the friendly staff really know their stuff.

Facebook: Universe Games

Josh Le, marketing director

One of my favorite local hole-in-the-wall places to eat is El Parian Mexican Restaurant in Eagan, MN. They have some of the most delicious Mexican food that I’ve had in Minnesota, along with the best service. According to Andrew Defrancesco, it’s always great for me to walk into a business where the staff are so friendly and know you by name. It really makes me feel at home. PRO TIP – Try their Lunch Special #2…you will be so happy you did. 🙂

Facebook: El Parian Mexican Restaurant

Nicole Stephany, client experiences director

Daily Dose– Maple Grove and Brooklyn Park

This local coffee shop gives back so much to the community. When I was involved in MOPS, they were generous enough to provide coffee and gift cards to the moms in my group on several occasions. It is one of my favorite breakfast & lunch spots – the best Café Miel and chicken salad sandwich!

Facebook- Daily Dose Cafe and Espresso (Maple Grove, MN)

Missy Woullett, graphic designer

Upstairs Circus is a place where you can create, make, build while sipping creative cocktails, beer and wine. It is a great place to go for, bachelorette parties, girls night, dates, etc. Its bar-meets-shop concept is a great place to gather with friends and/or family. You pick the original craft you want to make and are shown by an instructor on how to make it. Everyone there is ready to have a good time and to make sure you have a good experience as well!

Facebook – Upstairs Circus

Instagram – Upstairs Circus

Ashtyn Hnatek, marketing specialist

You’ll find the owner of Dustling and Hart foraging in her backyard for her next masterpiece – exploring curiously with intentionality. Kaia Bakken created Dustling and Hart in 2014 with a deeply rooted desire to create and play. At D&H, you’ll find an assortment of treasures that have been crafted by hand – all by Kaia. When you see her work, overflowing passion is unmistakable. Journals become so much more – each page is torn by hand to give it a deckled edge, each piece of leather foraged for and dyed by hand, signatures sewn together one by one and finally it is bound by hand to create a place for words, drawings, photos, thoughts and memories. Dustling and Hart is captivating, not only because of the lovely work that is created, but because of the undeniable dedication. D&H is genuine, honest and so, so sweet.

Instagram: Dustling and Hart

Facebook: Dustling & Hart

Lauren Jordan, account manager

I found Tangletown Gardens by accident on an aimless drive around south Minneapolis and stopped in to see if I could find a new planter. Not only did I find a planter, I found a place that I’ve come to love— an inspiring and calming garden center, complete with unique plants, trees, garden and home décor, tools and friendly, knowledgeable staff. Located in the former Pure Oil Station lot on 54^th and Nicollet, Tangletown Gardens was founded in 2002 by farm boys Scott Endres and Dean Englemann. Nearly all of the plants and trees sold at the garden center are grown on the 140-acre Tangletown Gardens Farm in Plato, MN. Tangletown also hosts their own events, offer landscaping services and runs a CSA (community supported agriculture) program.

If you’re in the Twin Cities area, I’d encourage you to stop by for a peaceful retreat from the busy city. And, with every purchase, you’ll be supporting local artists and Minnesota farms, not to mention filling your home with sustainably-grown plants.

Facebook: Tangletown Gardens

Instagram: Tangletown Gardens

Twitter: TTgardens

Stephanie Peterson, marketing specialist

I remember the first time I walked into Midwest Mountaineering, I immediately felt the sense of community as I was surrounded by fellow outdoor enthusiasts. They have all your adventure needs from clothing, footwear, backpacking/camping gear to expert advice. They offer free classes on various topics and host an outdoor expo every fall and spring (April 27-29, 2018). If you’re interested in buying a canoe, kayak or SUP (stand-up paddle board), they even let you test it before you buy! Upstairs you will find Thrifty Outfitters, a discounted assortment of clothing and gear. This is where their repair center is for your broken zippers, torn clothing or whatever happened on your latest adventure!

Facebook: Midwest Mountaineering

Instagram: Midwest_Mountaineering

Twitter: midwestmtn

Melissa Harrison, founder and CEO

Task Masters – Twin Cities, MN

Ed Reichow, CEO of Task Masters, is the epitome of what customer service should look like. As someone who has gone through the building process of new houses (and home improvements/additions), I can honestly say that the struggle is real when it comes to working with contractors who communicate in an effective, timely and friendly way. They can be few and far between. When we were referred to Ed at Task Masters from my husband’s friends at work, we were impressed from the moment we had our initial conversation with Ed. We were doing a huge renovation of our back yard last year to add in a fire pit, flatten out part of our land for a winter hockey rink and design a patio/arbor area where we could grill and entertain friends. We were also in desperate need of additional trees and shrubbery in our side and front yards as our house is just 2-years old and was severely lacking in the general landscape game.

Not only did Ed listen to our needs, he asked great questions and was able to tell us, from what he know about our lifestyle, which outside options would be the easiest for us to maintain while looking fab in our yard. Ed came out to our house several times to meet in person, he brought color drawings with him to show us what the end results would look like and even provided information on how to care for the items they were putting in our yard (because, let’s face it, I’m NOT a green thumb!) Ed was not afraid to pick up the phone and call, either. If things were running behind schedule (as sometimes they do in the contract business, especially with the fickle Minnesota weather) Ed would call and give me an update. Task Masters does beautiful work, but even beyond that, they are a business that truly knows the value of exceptional customer service and that is something I truly appreciate in any business—big or small.

Facebook- Task Masters Inc

We hope you get the chance to visit one or all of these small businesses. If you do, let us know your experience! Have a small business you think our team would enjoy? Share it with us on social media. We’d love to hear from you.