Turning around rural downtowns, one shop at a time

Local can mean homegrown, staying in your locale, community or neighborhood.

Or all of those, in the mind of entrepreneur Hanna Nuss, owner of Local. , Ltd. — the name has a period and a space — in Denver, Iowa.

The business, founded in the northeast Iowa city of 2,000 in August 2022, aims to inspire business owners to collaborate with other entrepreneurs and crafters to sell products in joint consignment spaces.

The second shop to be licensed by Huss will be in Palo at 100 Vinton St., scheduled to open Saturday, Nov. 30. Kendra Aarhus and Andrea Rahe will own and operate “Local. Palo.”

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Nuss aims to help rural Iowa towns by encouraging residents to invest in their friends and neighbors.

“I wanted to start the wave of businesses that saved my small rural town’s Main Street and then help more towns forge stronger connections,” she said.

In Denver, Iowa, eight new brick-and-mortar businesses opened in Local’s first year, three of them placed through Local., which benefited from a Kiva Iowa microloan.

Nuss hopes to see more businesses spring up on rural Iowa Main streets.

“As we build out this concept for Palo,” Nuss said, “we are essentially building it for rural communities across the state. The licensed shop owner is positioned to be a changemaker, and I believe the model we have built with a business developer can deliver that.”

Retail life cycle

As a former marketing strategist for a health care system, Nuss shares marketing and branding concepts with her new licensees in Palo.

She teaches the retail life cycle and seasonal color profiles on her podcast and from her 2019 book, “The Death of a Dream,” which was also her first podcast name. Once she pursued entrepreneurship and found her niche, so renamed her podcast “Living the Dream Iowa Life.”

The business model allows shop owners to sell products from crafters and entrepreneurs within a 40-mile radius.

“Local. Is a quaint gift shop in small-town Iowa that exists to inspire intentional gift-giving,” Hanna said. “A carefully curated selection of gifts and experiences give back to the communities we serve and causes we care about.

“We sell inspirational gifts, including cards, prints, books, clothing and hyper-locally sourced goods and gift cards. Crafters and entrepreneurs each have a shelf for us to sell their goods for them.”

Writing hub

Nuss wants to keep writing talent in the state, too. Local Pub. Co, her publishing arm, has published her memoir, plus two children’s books and a romance thriller from rural authors.

“I was raised a lower-middle-class dreamer who has always had dreams too big for her upbringing,” she said. “As I started exploring how those limits had shaped my life decisions, I found dreams that fit my purpose. My passion comes from proving what is possible.

“I feel so grateful to put those powerful community connections into my shop owners’ capable hands,” said Nuss.

“They become the point person in charge of rebuilding the town. When we don’t have the possibilities to succeed, our young people want to leave. Local. is the driver to tell the success story by allowing others to stay in their backyard — it’s an electric energy that results.”

Nuss is excited to see how her concept translates in Palo.

“We act more as a Main Street initiative that can bridge the gaps to connect entrepreneurs to become more successful,” she said. “We want to put amazing people in a position to change the landscape of their rural communities that just need someone to re-engage them.”

Up-Gift received a $9,500 Kiva microloan in 2022, and the Kiva assistance allowed her to expand to Palo. Kiva is a zero-interest, zero-fee loan ranging from $1,000 to $15,000. Lenders can invest as little as $25 to help start a business or grow existing ones. See https://newbo.co/kiva/.