Oct. 4, 2023

A business south of Sioux Falls that has provided a home for dozens of makers to sell their goods is closing at the end of this month.

Stacey’s Vintage-Art-Boutique along 271st Street is being displaced as construction progresses to extend Veterans Parkway from the east side of the city, building it across the city’s southern edge and tying it into Interstate 29. The road work is a joint project of the city of Sioux Falls and state of South Dakota.

Owner Stacey Namminga decided to close the business rather than moving it because she hasn’t been able to reach a compensation agreement with the state, she said. Without knowing how much money she would have to work with, “I can’t make any decisions to continue or to rebuild. … We’re basically being held hostage is what it feels like.”

Namminga opened her business in 2019, allowing vendors to rent however much space they needed for their mostly handcrafted merchandise and charging them a percentage of sales to cover costs such as sales tax and credit card fees. The following year, she built an addition to alleviate a waiting list of makers.

The space at 27102 Albers Ave. is filled with almost 80 makers, but the final day will be Oct. 28, with a customer appreciation day Oct. 21 to kick off the final week of sales.

Namminga said she received an initial notice in the summer of 2022 that her property would be acquired and was told “everything would be done by the end of the year.”

“So, of course, I tell my vendors, so (they’re) prepared for this. This is what’s happening.”

In November 2022, “everybody quit talking to us. So then we were like, is this happening? Is this not happening? And then I had to just make a decision to just keep going. Some of the vendors left in the meantime or found someplace else to be. So that put us in kind of an unfortunate position because we were going pretty good, and then we get this information. So the year came and went and nothing, so we’re just continuing on our way.

“It’s kind of that very uneasy, very unsettling feeling. And it’s not how people, businesspeople or anybody really should be treated. … It’s a very unfortunate situation to be put in because you’re always up in the air.”

This year in May, Namminga received notice of what the state wanted to pay for the property, she said.

“They offered a fairly low amount for compensation to begin with,” she said. “We countered, and then they just stopped negotiations with me, and this was in May or June.”

At this point, she said she thinks the state will pursue a “quick-take” proceeding in court to set the payment for the property.

“There’s no incentive for them to negotiate an agreement with me because they can just do whatever they want,” said Namminga, who is working with a lawyer.

She said she’s not fighting against the state taking the property for the road project.

“I’m just wanting a fair and appropriate compensation so that I can look elsewhere for other property, for other things that would fit this type of setting.”

The Veterans Parkway stretch that will tie into I-29 is scheduled to be worked on in 2025 and 2026. The city and state are getting right-of-way agreements in place with property owners now so that bids can go out for the project next year, said Shannon Ausen, an engineering program manager in the Sioux Falls Public Works Department.

She said she isn’t able to comment on Namminga’s concerns about the process.

“Unfortunately, I can’t discuss the negotiations for the right of way for any property along the corridor,” Ausen said.

According to the latest information Namminga said she received, Stacey’s Vintage-Art-Boutique has permission to be in the location until the end of the year. With winter weather ahead, however, she decided to close the business at the end of October so vendors wouldn’t have to move out in potentially icy conditions.

About one-third of the vendors have another retail outlet lined up, one-third are still looking, and one-third would like a place to go “but maybe haven’t found one because there aren’t a lot of places like this and have just decided to discontinue their business right now,” she said.

Namminga said the vendors are sad about losing a venue to sell their handmade products, and customers — many of whom stop in regularly to see what’s new — have told her they are sad too.

“We’re just trying to do the best we can,” Namminga said. “And as a small business in South Dakota, you feel like you’re valued until something like this happens, right? And something like this happens and you can see what and how they treat people and small businesses in South Dakota. It makes you question is South Dakota really valuing the small businesses?

“So that’s where we’re at right now. We’re trying to finish strong. I hope everyone that loves to shop local, loves to shop small, really values the small businesses and that this community comes out and supports us through the month of October.”

Namminga said she started Stacey’s Vintage-Art-Boutique because she saw a need for makers to have a “hassle-free” venue to sell their creations.

“I feel like we’ve been fairly successful over the years as far as a good place for people to come and find those unique items, special gifts, home decor or outdoor decor. I feel like we’ve really met a need in the community. And it’s been an opportunity for a lot of people to try their hand at something, crafting or whatever, upcycling, those type of things.”

She hasn’t ruled out starting up again in another location.

“We’ll just see what happens if we can get things to get moving in the right direction.”