FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: Sarah Miller
Public Relations & Media Director
304 Eighth Street
Charleston, IL 61920
217-348-8475
smiller@insidethegreenbox.com
October 5, 2009
Retail Store to Feature Locally Made, Sustainable Products and Furniture
Open house to introduce local Amish craftsmen
Charleston, Ill. – Shopping just took on a whole new face… local and sustainable. Local entrepreneurs and a new Amish guild of craftsmen will offer something new for shoppers as they head into the upcoming holiday season. This new shopping experience is located at the Tanger Outlet Mall #A1100 in Tuscola, Ill., with a premiere look and taste of the furniture, home products, skin care products, gift baskets, glass ornaments and local food.
An open house scheduled for October 16 and 17th offers visitors the opportunity stop at the store and then take a self guided tour of the Amish guild members individual locations to get an inside look at why craftsmanship is important and the story behind it. Refreshments will be available at the store and at each location.
While Family Journeys (FJ) is the name of the store, it is a partnership with the Woodright’s Guild of the Arthur/Arcola area and Family Journeys. The guild is a group of the finest local craftsmen, specializing in furniture and home interiors – even cabinets and doors. The new difference – they can create custom wonders in furnishings, cabinets and just about anything for the home… sustainably, using responsible finishes and materials.
A showcase with a sampling of what the guild members create is available at the FJ store Monday through Saturday during regular mall hours. Guild members will be available for customer questions. The store officially opens October 15.
The front of the store will feature the products of FJ, which include a collection of locally made products that vary from a full 1940s bedroom suite to hand blown glassware, gift baskets, holiday ornaments, specialty food items and organic skin care products. The individual products can even be assembled into custom “Build a Basket” gift baskets allowing the customer to create the perfect basket for each special occasion.
“Local and sustainable is what we are all about at Family Journeys,” said owner Bob McElwee. “Every purchase here benefits local businesses as they are the source for our products. The gift ideas change each day as we find new local companies to supply us.”
The products are wrapped and packaged with recycled materials, with the purchase of many of the products benefiting various causes, including creating jobs for the local economy.
The store also features a sneak preview of some of the furniture and furnishings for the new Green Mill Hotel that will premiere in 2010 in the Green Mill Village resort project in Arcola. McElwee is also the developer of the hotel and resort project.
Besides local products, wind turbines sales will also be available from the Midwest Sun and Wind company in the near future. Plans to offer sustainable homes that are locally built and powered by wind and solar energy are also in the works. New homeowners who purchase these local homes can choose sustainable furnishings through the Woodright’s Guild or other manufacturers of sustainable USA made products.
“This holiday season you can shop in our store and buy anything from a jar of strawberry jam, kitchen cabinets to put your jam in, a bed to sleep in and a home to put the bed in. Then we can install a wind turbine to power your home – all with local people and products,” McElwee said.
“This is all part of an exciting sustainable model that includes providing manufacturing jobs and larger wind turbines that will power more than just Green Mill Village, McElwee added. “Information about this model and what it means for our area will be available at the store.”
“Gift wrapping materials will be provided at no charge to customers purchasing more than $25,” said Sarah Miller, director of product development for Family Journeys. “This is a shopper’s dream as there are new items never before seen… just out of product development… and then some Amish antiques from the 1800s for sale.”
The store is also the official place for signup for schools and other organizations looking for fundraising programs using local products. Gift baskets and other items have been assembled into a program for groups looking to raise money by selling quality local products. Samples and signup materials will be available at the store.
“We just introduced this fundraising program and the response has been very positive – parents and others are tired of paying exorbitant prices for products with little value made overseas,” Miller added. She said a preview of this program and more information about the open house October 16th & 17th is available online at www.familyjourneys.net.
Miller said FJ is always looking for additional local products to feature on the Web site and in the store. Product ideas can be sent to smiller@insidethegreenbox.com.
More information about wind turbines and local sustainable homes is available at www.midwestsunandwind.com. The Green Mill Village site is www.greenmillvillage.com
More information about the open house is also available by calling 1-800-550-3230.