 Welcome to Love Where You Live, showcasing the best of Sheboygan County from the Sheboygan County Chamber. I'm Deidre Martinez, Executive Director of the Sheboygan County Chamber, and Tis the season of giving. As we are preparing for the holidays, I want to introduce you to a couple of places in the county to find that perfect gift. So our first guests are Tammy and Kendra Conard from TLC Casuals, which is right on the river front in the city of Sheboygan. So welcome to you guys. Thank you. Thanks for having us. We are so excited to have you, and you've got lots of goodies to share with our audience today as well. So that's a lot of fun. But we'd love to learn just more about TLC Casuals and what we can expect to find in your store. So I know you guys have recently celebrated an anniversary, am I correct? Yes. All right, wonderful. So how long have you been down on the river front then? Over 22 years. 22 years, okay. And now before the show, you were kind of sharing what your view out your store windows used to look like compared to what it is now. So tell us more about that. I mean, you've lived through that transition. Yes. Well, I was in retail locally for about 13 years, and then I decided to go out on my own and went driving around Sheboygan, and they were just building the shanties that I was in. And the minute I saw it, I knew that was where I wanted to be. And it was interesting because the location was so new that we were looking across where Blue Harbor is now at just piles of coal. Wow. And they talked about the future and what would be coming. And I knew I wanted a destination place and something unique that would bring people to the river front to stop. Absolutely. And it worked. When we started out, we were just in the front of the building. Okay. I think there was like a craft store in the back. Okay. And then years later, we took over that side and then tried that for a couple of years and had two entrances, two different stores. And then talked to the landlord into letting us open up the walls and just make it one big store. Very nice. Okay. And so you had mentioned that now you guys are at about 2,000 square feet of store space. Right. So that's a lot of room to find lots of fun things. It is. We fill it with lots of goodies. It's a lot of seating. Very good. And so Kendra, when did you become, were you a part of the business from the jump with it being a family business or when did you get more involved? Pretty much my entire life. I lived at the store, but once I was out of high school, I started doing a little bit more and just in the last five years really, I spent a lot of time there. Okay. Very good. I needed help with a point of sale system, all the social media. Okay. So that's where she became the big help. And I think in right around probably over, gosh, 10 years ago, I started their website. So then even through college, I do stuff and meet my mom on buying trips and everything. I have three daughters. So I would take them with me whenever I could. Okay. My mom would come along. It used to set up, reps would set up in like Green Bay and hotels. My mom would take them swimming and they'd check in with me as I'm buying. No, my favorite memory is when I was probably, I don't know, 13, 14 years old, she would drag us to Chicago for her buying trip. Drag you, because it was awful. It was. It was a long day for a guy who lived for nine hours looking at thousands of watches and thousands of, it's a lot of work and whatever. So she would drag us all there. And I remember crawling on the ground at the end of the day being like, mom, I can't look at anything else. She's like, I just have to buy watches. She would be filling up these tubs full of like hundreds, thousands probably of watches. And I'm like, I cannot look at anything else. But now we do it and everyone thinks we go and have fun. It's a lot of fun, but it's a lot of work. It gets tiresome to one of our Vegas trips when we, and we buy eight in the morning, so eight at night. And it was like 24,000 steps that day. Wow, yeah. So well, it's good. It keeps you in good shape, very good. So 22 years, you mentioned you knew you wanted to have a destination, but what was the inspiration for TLC Casuals? It's a bit different than some of the other things you would find in Sheboygan County, truly. We wanted a one-stop shop where you could come and buy something for yourself, but find a gift for someone. And we wanted, there really wasn't a lot of Sheboygan apparel. We just find that the more unique things we can come up with makes us stand out because it's not something you're gonna find somewhere else. We design a lot of the shirts ourselves. So you won't see them anywhere else. Really nice. Are constantly coming up with new designs each season. I also have a store in Cedarburg in the winery. So because of that, we do a lot of wine things. I think it's popular for stores. There are some viewers that are possibly wine fans, so that's positive. And being on the lake, we have lots of lake stuff. And we always are looking for new, unique lines. And we always kind of go for, I think a lot of people love us too because of the quality of the clothing that you get is it lasts forever and the price point is really good. So many people that come up and stay on South Pier from Chicago just love the prices. They comment that, I mean, we're not bare bones pricing, but we're very reasonable and we give good quality. And I'm sure, I know moving from Illinois a year ago, I was like, I had sticker shock in the opposite direction. When we would go places, I'd go, what? Do they, like, is this on clearance? Because yes, in Illinois, there's just this expectation and things, in a lot of cases, are significantly more expensive, so. Yeah, and being there all this time, we have so many women that make us their destination on their way to Darkoni or on their way, this is one of their stops. And so we get to know all these people and for years. And some people will go from Cedarburg store in the same day to our Sheboygan store and that's always really fun and cool because there's different things at both stores, some of it's similar, but there's a lot different. Okay, so tell us a little bit, I know you talked a little bit about the design and how you guys kind of designed some of your own products, but tell us a little bit more about what treasures we could expect to find if we were to come visit the store. Unique jewelry, tons of scarves, shoes. We have the new bags that are made out of army tents. We're always looking for that special item that you can talk about and is durable and different. We have something no one has, it's a very sturdy, beautiful brooch that is so strong it will even hold blanket scarf in place. The magnetic, it's a magnetic pin. Oh, so it's not putting holes in your clothes and because that's always kind of a pain, right? Yeah, we have a really cool jewelry line that's made out of a tree nut and it's how the women of this area in Ecuador make a living and it's just really beautiful, unique pieces. Lightweight, so if people are allergic to jewelry. With no metal, they can wear it. We have a line called Good Works that's all positive scenes, Bible scenes, all uplifting. They give percentages back to good causes. Okay, so it sounds like you guys have some different types of partnerships which I was not aware of. Tell me a little bit more about some of these partnerships and it sounds like this is a way that you guys kind of give back and help out. We do food drives and give donations to the food pantry, Kendra's in the middle of a gift drive for children placed in out-of-home care here in Sheboygan County. Okay. We have some shirts that we do, that we custom make and then all the proceeds go to different charities and our recent one was to help with the Child Abuse and Neglect Fund here in Sheboygan County. Okay. We do probably 12 fashion shows a year all over Milwaukee. We also set up booths all over to bring the clothing to the public so they can see us and remember us. That's always our big thing. We can't advertise like the big box stores so we try to get the merchandise out there just to remind people that we're there. Very good. So, and I wanted to ask about, I know I haven't had a chance to come to one of your fashion shows but I know this is something you said 12 times a year and I know you do quite a few throughout Sheboygan County as well. We do. So, tell us a little bit more about what does that look like and if I or the viewers are wanting to come and check something like that out where are we getting that information and how can we get invited to the show? A lot of it is right on Facebook. If you follow our TLC Casuals Boutique Facebook page and then we also have a VIP group called Style Is Forever. You can just search that on Facebook. It says TLC VIP Group, you join the group. That's where all the fun happens. We do discounted pricing just for being in the group. We do tons of giveaways and then we do live sales every other Wednesday. So, for people that are out of town or like a lot of our customers go out of state in the winter but they still want to shop with us. Busy moms, you name it, they can watch the live sale and we show about 50 items in the live sale and it's all at a discount and then people can come in and pick it up at that discounted price or we can ship it right to them. But with our fashion shows, we share a lot of when they are in those groups and stuff. We do do email blasts for people that aren't on. So we could go and register somewhere to be in the email list and get that information that way. We also, any women's groups come to us and ask us to do shows. So we do shows for a lot of the local women's groups and I mean, throughout Elkhart, Sheboygan, wherever we can bring it to you and then we usually set up a little booth area and sell right after the shows too. Wow, okay. And I know that when this show airs, I'm not, I don't know the exact date yet but it may or may not be before the market is closed out at Elkhart and you guys are gonna be participating in that as well. 10 days. Yeah, starting November 30th. It starts for 10 days from 10 to five. Okay, very good. So they could find you that way as well. Absolutely. Wonderful. So I know we're running short on time but is there anything else you'd like us to know about TLC casuals before? We carry sizes small through pretty much two X. We do have some petites. We have some things that are more in junior sizing and missy sizes. So we try to carry a wide variety. I mean, we have everything from the funky new patterned jeans to something dressy for a special occasion. Okay, so it's not limited. It's very diverse. And you guys had mentioned before the show that Kendra kind of almost does some personal shopping. So if you're like me and you have no idea what the heck you're doing or what to buy for yourself, then I can reach out to you and you can make sure that I'm dressed to impress and matching and not looking at the clown. We have a great sales staff. We have so many people that will come in and just say, dress me. And they literally go to the dressing room and just say, I don't want to do this. Let's get this done. I can appreciate that. I am not, you know, I know it might sound strange but I am not a fan of shopping. They love that. And they love if you bring in something you're wearing and say, okay, what can I do with this? Scarves, jewelry, and we'll help you. Yeah, all the employees are so good at styling. So anyone is, you can stop in anytime and they'll help you. Very good. Now, how many employees do you guys have at the Shabuagan store? Nine. Nine, okay. Very nice. But we're open year-round seven days a week, so. Yes, and which is very, it is uncommon for that area, especially to be open seven days a week. Right. You know, because we, you know, a lot of the shops in that area do, you know, close like the Sunday Mondays or Sunday Mondays. We just find we have so many people from out of town and if they drive all that way, we don't want to not be there. Absolutely, which is truly an asset for folks who, you know, like myself, if I want to go shopping on a Sunday, you know, there's not a, yes, so it's good to know that that's available. So again, tell us, what is the Facebook page that we should be following? Follow the VIP group is where the fun happens. It's style is forever, TLC VIP group. Okay, very good. And you do have a website as well, so we could get more information. And what is the web address? Onlineapparelshop.com. So very good. Thank you so much, Kendra. Thank you, Tami, for coming and just, you know, sharing your message and your store and the history of it. And I'm certainly encourage everyone as they're shopping this holiday season to keep our dollars local. Shop small, come in and let one of either Tami or Kendra or one of the staff dress you so that you are ready for your holiday parties. And I look forward to coming in and visiting myself. So thanks again. Thank you. Stay with us after the break and we will be talking shoes and you won't want to miss it. This time of year, what do you give? When it's your extra concert, gain or special event tickets to VetTix. You're giving our nation's service members and veterans an amazing experience they'll cherish forever. This holiday season, don't just give. VetTix. Give something to those who gave. For more information on how you can make a difference right now, go to VetTix.org. Welcome back to Love Where You Live. Our next guest is John Church, owner of Red Wing Shoes in Sheboygan. So you and your wife, Kelly, who was not able to join us today, but we're so glad we could pull you out of the store to... Thank you. ...share with us a little bit about your business and what we can expect to find. So welcome, John. Thank you very much. And thank you for having me here. Thank you very much. Thank you for having me here. I appreciate it. Absolutely. We're excited about it. So we spent the first half of the show talking about some clothing and boutique shops that can be found throughout Sheboygan. And so we figured what a great follow-up to then talk a little bit about shoes. So tell me more about Red Wing. I know that you're not originally from here. So this was kind of a different endeavor for you. Share with us more about that. So we actually came out to Sheboygan to visit, to have fun. Sheboygan's a beautiful place. I came out here, the lake is always a draw for me. I love Lake Michigan. My daughter moved out here. She started working at Johnsonville Sausage. And so we were visiting and we were coming out to have fun, not to... I had a great job at Red Wing Shoes and my wife had a great job and we were very satisfied where we were. At that point, we had no intention of opening a shoe store, although we talked about it for about the last 25 years because we have a history with Red Wing Shoes. Okay. Anyway, bottom line was we looked around one day and said, this is a different kind of a city and county and it's not your typical city in Wisconsin or in the Midwest. It's very prosperous and efficient and everybody's working and the homes are kept up and the cars aren't broken down and the street bottom line is it's above par in every aspect and that's when we started asking the question of where did they get their shoes from? And that's a question we always ask in every town that we would go to is because we're shoe people. Right. So coming from Red Wing, we went back to Red Wing and said, you know, Sheboygan's unique and you guys should take a look at it. And they said to my wife and I, if you don't open a shoe store up there, we will somehow we overlooked it. Wow. And so we had to make that decision of whether we were going to change our careers and do this or you know, so here we are. And you worked for Red Wing but you were not a business owner at the time. Is that correct? That's correct, yeah. So I worked in the tannery. So Red Wing Shoes owns SB Foot Tannin. It's one of the most efficient and best tanning operations in America. And we produce leather for many, many customers besides Red Wing Shoes. I think the last I checked, we're nearly a hundred steady customers buying leather from us. Wow. Big, big, large customers. And Red Wing Shoes is our primary customer. And so we produce millions of square feet for combat boots, to fashion shoes, to many other companies that manufacture leather products. Wow, so I had no idea. So you guys opened your doors two years ago. Is that correct? Okay. And then you decided to uproot your family, move to a new community, become small business owners, something you hadn't done in the past. Tell us a little bit about that journey. So we decided that Sheboygan, the opportunity here for work boots for because of the industrial base in Sheboygan County. The demographics are manufacturing, and that's, you know, we are a manufacturing community across the board. Wages are good. The unemployment is low. It's a nearly a recession-proof economy around here. And everything about it said this is a perfect fit for Red Wing Shoes. So we provide a product that's a purpose-built work boot as our primary product. We sell probably 75% of our product is safety toe. And then we have hunt boots and hike boots and fashion shoes. So our fashion is more is what we call the heritage line. So that's the product that is the takeoffs from the old shoes we used to make. Dress shoes, dress casual, they shine up nice if you want them to look. So an example would be a boot like this. This is an Ironman shoe. Okay, so this is a woman shoe. It's a U.S. made, 100% made in America, like much of our product. This is a 24-06. This is a safety toe. So that shoe has a safety toe in it. And this is one of our best sellers in our store, which is a Red Wing U.S. made shoe. Both of these have U.S. leather in them and are built in Red Wing, Minnesota. We have two manufacturing plants. One is in Potosi, Missouri. And of course, as I said, Red Wing, Minnesota. In our tannery operations, we have around 200 people in our shoe plants. We probably run in the neighborhood of 800 to, in Red Wing and 400 in Potosi, there are boats. And our headquarters are there as well, and that's not included in those numbers. So we manufacture a lot of product in America, millions of pairs. And that is our main core of what we sell is U.S. made products. That brought us to Sheboygan because we know and love our product. We have friends that make these shoes. Literally, we have family, personal family at Red Wing Shoes. And so we know the product so well that we love the company. And I know that sounds funny, but we really do love Red Wing Shoes. Well, that's good, it's good to be passionate. I mean, it makes it easier to, you know, sell to a community if it's something that you are really strong and passionate about. It is, and it's, we couldn't sell something that we didn't believe in. And that makes it easy for us to have made this wild move. Most people don't quit their good jobs and start over again, especially when you're at, you know, 53 years old. So, bottom line, we found Sheboygan. Red Wing said we'll do it if you don't. And we made the decision to come out here because Sheboygan is a gem and Sheboygan County is a gem. It has so much opportunity and potential here that anyone that's looking for business should consider Sheboygan County. Very cool. So we were talking a little bit about, now certainly there is a connection to Red Wing corporate headquarters and all of that, but the individual stores are in fact small businesses and they are not owned by this large corporate entity. And I think that that is probably a misconception that a lot of people are under the impression of. So, as we're talking about keeping our dollars local and shopping small, you are a member of the community. Your family is a member of the community and you are a small business owner in the community. So, kind of talk to us a little bit about that small business aspect. Right, so my wife and I live in Sheboygan proper and we own this store. So a lot of impressions are that Red Wing shoes, because it's a global company, that the shoe stores are owned by the corporation. There are some corporate stores, but a very small percentage of the stores are that. The majority are owned by people like me. We invest our money into the store, we live in Sheboygan, we buy our groceries, our gas, or we go out for dinner, we buy our clothes here. Everything I buy basically comes from Sheboygan County. And so those dollars that we bring into our store, once they're here, they're going back into Sheboygan County. So when you buy a pair of shoes from me, you're contributing to the potholes and the street lights and the schools. We will talk about potholes in Sheboygan. Yeah, well, but they're getting better, right? Yes, that's a sore subject. But they're getting better thanks to people like us small businesses, right? Absolutely. And so if you're spending your money local, you're keeping it local. Once it leaves Sheboygan County, it's gone forever. And we really do encourage people to consider that when they're doing their shopping. Absolutely. And especially with the holiday season upon us. And yes, you do a lot of work boots, which I would say that anybody would be thrilled to get a new pair of boots for Christmas, whether work or unwork related. But you do have the fashion line as well. And I think even for myself, before we had some conversations over the past year, I was under even the impression that it was more just work boot related and it didn't apply to me. But even looking at the women's boots that you've brought here, that is a very popular style right now. And you see a lot of folks around town that are kind of, they want that look and it's practical, especially as the cold weather rolls in and snow and sleet and all of that ugliness that we get to encounter for the next few months. But you offer some other unique things as well. And I know we've had conversations about why your work boots are superior to possibly some of the others that are out there. Tell me a little bit about that. So, well, I'll do a two part answer here. So first of all, when we're different in our store than other shoe stores that sell product like ours, there are very few shoe stores left that actually measure feet, that actually sit down and talk to you about what you do. What kind of work do you do? Are you in a wet environment? Are you cold environment? Do you have a work on ladders? We're gonna find out exactly what you do so that we can direct you to a proper shoe. That's why we sell what we call purpose built footwear. So the boots that we manufacture in our shoe plants have an intent. And so we have everything from lineman boots to factory boots to a boot that's gonna be soft on concrete and waterproof shoes. Bottom line, we're gonna find out and what we can call it is we call it counseling. We counsel every customer to guide them to the right product. And once we've identified their job that they're in the realm of the work that they do, then we're going to measure their feet. And we have a lot of boots on our shelves and it's not because we wanna have a lot of fashionable options in the safety footwear world. We have a lot of boots because they have different purposes and they have different configurations and shapes and they're built on different lasts. The last is the mold that the shoe is built over. And everybody's foot is different. Mine are different than yours, different than everyone else's. And so then we identify the profile and fit you into an appropriate footwear. Okay, very cool. And you have some, and I know we're nearing the end, but before we do, you obviously have some socks. You have, it looks like, inserts. So I brought along some orthotics. So that's a big part of the fitting process is once we've identified your foot profile and a shoe that'll work in your environment, then we customize that fit. There's no one out there that can build a shoe that's gonna match everyone's foot. So when then we scan, would we do a computer scan and we'll identify how your arches are, whether they're high or low or whether you stand at one foot. It's funny or whatever. And we can make recommendations for an orthotic that will match the profile of your foot, okay? And we have many, many different styles there. And they're affordable and they're very, very effective in accomplishing the goal, which is to relieve foot pain and pressure. Absolutely, especially for someone on the floor. Exactly, yes. And depending on what their role is and their organization, but absolutely. And I think we've probably all experienced foot pain at some point, but it goes beyond that. It goes up to the knees, to the hips, to the back, et cetera. So it's not just a foot problem, it comes a whole body problem. It's a foundation, right? Absolutely. And you know, a lot of people also are, they're shorting the most important job thing that they do, which is earn a living. And so if you're not in comfortable footwear, if you're not making an attempt at accomplishing the best fit and comfort for your feet, your work is harder. It's already hard. That's why they pay us to do it. Right, right? Nope, I absolutely agree. So before we end, tell us, where can we find you in Sheboygan? So my address is 2936 South Business Drive. So when you're on the south end of town, in front of the Piggly Wiggly area, there's a strip and there's a Burger King and a Verizon Little Caesars. We're right in between those areas, right on the road and we're there. Very good. Well, thank you so much, John. It was such a pleasure to have you and sorry, Kelly couldn't join us. I'm assuming she's kind of mailing the fort at store. Kelly was running the store. All right, very good. So she wants you to get back there quickly, I'm sure. But no, thank you so much. And certainly, again, I will just encourage our viewers to shop local this holiday season and make sure that you're getting out and you're visiting some of these small, locally owned businesses because these are our neighbors and it's important that we support them as they continue to support our local economy and doing the things and bringing the goodness and keeping it in our community. So, thanks again, we're so grateful you were able to join us and- It's my pleasure, thank you. We look forward to seeing you guys all again for the next show in January, on behalf of everyone at the Chamber and the crew of Love Where You Live. We wish you a very happy and healthy holiday season. We'll see you all next year.