Smith's Infusion started in 2009
as a brick and mortar on 4th Ave North in Virginia. We were a small gift shop that sold only handmade Minnesota made art and crafts. Eventually we expanded into the space next door and offered monthly art shows. Art Shows kicked off with an art reception, the days following classes taught by the artist. During the school year we had after school classes.
As seen in the picture to the right, this was our first location. We were here for a year.
Smith's Infusion didn't re-open until 2016 here-
We moved east 1 block of our first location to 3rd Ave N. The reason for re-opening Smith’s Infusion was due to my father passing. My father was what some would call a pack rat. He had kept everything my grandparents had when they passed and he, himself collected a lot of things. I did have 2 HUGE estate sales when he passed as well as donated a semi full to Salvation Army and many other thrift stores. However, there were quite a few pieces that were Ebay worthy that I decided to re-open Smith’s Infusion as not just a place to buy Minnesota made arts and crafts, but also a place that sold vintage finds and furniture.
Here in this location, I started Pinterest Project Shops. These happened every so many months as a de-stashing of items that came with items I bought on auction.
We were in this location for 7 months until we moved to a larger location.
During our week off between Christmas and New Years we moved into the first floor of the Tini Building...
This was about 500 square feet larger then the last location and on main street also known as Chestnut Street. However, this location was inside of a larger location. The rent was also astronomical and the land lord not as easy going as most. Staying open past 5pm was a battle as well as being open on Saturdays.
We moved out of this location October of the year we moved in as the landlord kept threatening to shut business down to re-do the ceilings and of course still require us to pay rent, so what did we do?
We moved again into the former Carpenter Building...
This was a great space, not on our main street, just one street north, we had so much space! We had so much space we rented out space in our space for antique dealers.
We held the first ever Small Business Saturday ‘ball drop’ from this location. Downtown businesses attached coupons for their businesses to items of their choice: ping pong balls, 35mm film canisters, 1″ jingle bells, etc. The owner of the building threw them out his 4th floor window to the crowds below.
Sadly, we were only in this location 2 months when we were closed for that week between Christmas and New Year’s and the entire building flooded ruining everything in our shop…
It was time to re-group.
After months of searching for a new home, we found one again on main street, that needed a lot of work...
This was a great location on main street. The side on the right we had to paint over a lot of black and royal blue paint. Then we had to open the wall up between the two spaces, remove walls on the space on the left, carpeting, re-sheetrock, lay a new floor.
We had a dedicated classroom in this space, cold storage that housed my chop saw and a lot of wood. It looked great, it was a great location when the weather was warm… not so great when it was cold, like it is November through April in northeastern Minnesota. We didn’t have a foundation under us and our ceilings were 16-feet high, we also had the most expensive heat there is.
I offered to split a new natural gas heating system with the owner and then sign a longer lease and he denied us. Our January utility bill was so high we struggled every month after to literally just pay the super high bills.
We closed after only 1-year in this location.
Meet Jenni
Hi! I’m Jenni Smith, the creative mind behind Smith’s Infusion. By the way, I HATE moving. I do however LOVE my artisans and our customers. When we closed that last location, it was hard and it was likely a blessing in disguise. That was May 2019. I don’t think we would have survived Covid-19.
So fast forward to 2023. I’m at stay-at-home-mom of 3, (then I was a mom of two), my youngest is 17-months.
As a mom and a wife, I see there is a need in my community for a place like Smith’s Infusion was. I also know that infrastructure in our downtown isn’t feasible (I know, look how many times we moved!) So, I’m bringing Smith’s Infusion back and this time we are where you are!
You can still buy make-n-takes online for local pick up or I’ll ship to you. Having a girls weekend or night out and want to make a fun project? Book it. I’ll be there (remember you can never ruin a project, it can always be fixed!)
I’m also going to be offering themed birthday parties, I’ll still be a anchor for artists and crafters to ask questions, help them build their creative brand/business, and I want to help this community and other communities with fundraising!
Don’t be shy reach out here, facebook or instagram, I’m always willing to help!