Shopping Guide | My favorite Owosso, Mi small businesses
I have lived in this area for the past 6 years now and since the day I planted roots here I’ve loved (and preferred) to do most of my shopping locally in Downtown Owosso. We have such an incredible group of creative entrepreneurs that give our city immeasurable value with high quality services and products and superb customer service. I’m going to make a point to interview and photograph my favorites ongoing as new spaces open up and Owosso grows because they deserve your support (and dollars!).
Owosso is the largest city in Shiawassee County and home to the Shiawassee County Arts Center, The Curwood Castle, The Lebowsky Center and The North Pole Express. You can also visit Downtown Owosso to explore the area and indulge in some more history.
I opened Studio Owosso’s doors in May, 2022 with big goals in mind. I wanted to bring Owosso’s creative community together to help motivate, inspire and educate one another. I am a HUGE believer in COMMUNITY OVER COMPETITION, making friends and networking like crazy and doing everything in my power to help others.
The studio is home base for my photography business Visual Poetry, and also is a rentable space for other photographers, artists, entrepreneurs, and events. The space’s design sets us apart from traditional banquet halls and gathering spaces with our high ceilings, bright natural light, stained glass windows, abundance of plants, and continuously revolving props and statement furniture pieces. The studio has a schedule of community events like styled photoshoots, creative classes, speaking engagements, craft and movie nights, networking nights and parties.
I’m Jen Birchmeier.
I own Studio Owosso and Visual Poetry and the author of this blog.
Follow along on my creative journey here:
Studio Facebook
Visual Poetry Facebook
Studio Instagram
Visual Poetry Instagram
Boudoir Instagram
Website
Oliver Paper Co is owned by Stacey Jameson and located at 113 E. Main St. in Owosso. It’s a boutique gift shoppe and stationery store where you’ll find thee COOLEST things. This is my favorite place to shop in Owosso, hands down.
Oliver Paper Co doesn’t just offer unique items in a retail storefront, but they offer classes for calligraphy, crystals, oils, art, and banned books. They want you to enjoy the space whether you’re buying items or not - bring a coffee (Fosters Coffee is walking distance away!), sprawl out on their fabulous green velvet couch and write, draw or read. The holidays are coming and Oliver Paper Co just made our lives easier by offering gift wrapping! Follow them on Instagram at @oliverpaperco
Meet Stacey Jameson.
“It was important to me to contribute to the growth of our community and provide a place that was welcoming to everyone.
We have been overwhelmed with the amount of love shown to us by the community.. we especially appreciate our customers who come by to see what’s new, hang out in our loft area and share their love of paper products with us!”
Makeup by Kendra Leigh can be found at 102 W. Main St. in Owosso and at www.kendraleighmakeup.com.
She offers a variety of services such as makeup, facials, as well as brow and lash services. They offer products that are from small, woman owned businesses that are mostly natural and/or vegan. Skincare, makeup and fragrances are their most popular items.
After doing mostly on location wedding services Kendra saw the need for a set spot for homecoming, prom, and special event makeup to be done. She opened her doors in April of 2018, following in her family’s entrepreneurial foot steps (they own Vals Pizza downtown Owosso). Makeup by Kendra Leigh helps people feel confident in their looks by staying up to date with current trends. She connects with organizations such as The Safe Center to provide donations of makeup, money and awareness to help support women and children in Owosso who are struggling with domestic and/or sexual abuse. She’s not only impacting abuse victims, but making a giant impact on her clients by making them feel seen, heard, and cared about through quality services, advice on products, as well as general connection building. Kendra has extensive training in her field through Multimedia Makeup Academy as well as continuing education through Concepts Institute for Esthetics.
Meet Kendra Matthies.
“If you’re a small business that is interested in chatting more about potentially collaborating to create something fun like an event or pop up, please feel free to reach out. Community over competition always!”
Maybe you recognize Kendra from her popular TikTok account @kendramatthies or on Instagram at @kendramatthies or @makeup_by_Kendra_leigh
In November Kendra will be having her annual Black Friday sale which is a great day to snag some products and gift certificates for a great price. She’s also organizing Ghouls Night Out downtown Owosso on October 14th (2022) from 5-8pm.
Artform Hair Spa is located at 202 W. Exchange St. in downtown Owosso.
The Hair Spa offers hair color, cuts, extensions, facials and lashes using products with clean ingredients and no animal testing. Est. March 2017.
Artform was built out of wanting to do hair in a place that was inspiring and full of good vibes. They work hard at making sure there is no drama and great communication between stylists and clients. They want everyone who steps foot inside to feel like that can live up to their fullest potential. This salon is a safe space. They want their clients to embrace themselves and help them in the process. “If we can make a positive impact on one person in our small town salon, we can pass the good vibes on indefinitely.” They’re big on relaxation and provide treatments that work. Their clients enjoy an awesome beverage bar with a variety of seasonal drinks to make everyone feel welcome. It wouldn’t be Artform without mentioning the plants! Kasey, owner of the business, loves the life that plants give to a space. She says her plants flourish because of the positivity her clients and staff bring through the door.
Meet Kasey Granger, owner of Artform.
“If there’s one message I could give to anyone reading, it’s this:
Live authentically with good intentions and the world will give it back to you 10 fold. Just be kind to others and be kind to yourself.”
Artform participated in Artwalk, which was an amazing way to connect with the community through art. Up next, they always go big for the holiday season and will be hosting a live virtual event (as they have for two years running). This year the theme will be self care and more details will be released soon!
Artform uses and carries O&M, Emera, Olaplex and Sorella Apothecary Skincare.
Kaizen 113 is a shop downtown Owosso that sells gently used Childrens clothing, shoes and accessories. You can find them at 113 N. Washington St. in Owosso.
Est. August 2021.
When I walked into Kaizen for the first time I got to ask the owner what ‘Kaizen’ meant and why she chose it for her business.. and her explanation moved me. Kaizen is a Japanese business philosophy and a compound of two Japanese words; Kai, meaning change and Zen, meaning good. Kaizen means change for the good, or good change, or continuous improvement - and they strive to live by that in and out of the shop. Kaizen philosophy is a never-ending cycle of improvement and encourages equal input and effort from each employee of every status level to identify and analyze problems and to then develop, implement and standardize a solution in a conscious effort of eliminating waste and improving quality and efficiency. The ‘113’ portion stems from their address, 113 N. Washington St. (Shantelle quotes) “..where Arvid and Shari Warstler took a chance on some broke soccer mom with no business license or plan, just some big idea, and gave me my first big break on a chance to chase a dream. This address and these people will forever hold a spot deep-rooted in my heart no matter where this life takes me through the years.”
I seriously couldn’t love this more!
The owner of Kaizen, Shantelle, grew up in poverty and beginning her own journey of motherhood at the age of 17, she’d always wished there was a kid-oriented resale store nearby as she didn’t always have a car or the gas money to leave town for one. And, the ones she was accustomed to visiting didn’t always have a quality selection. After the Covid 19 pandemic closed up three more of Owosso’s local options for children’s clothing and put many families into hard times financially, she knew it was time for her to make the leap and support the community with affordable clothing options for kids. She also wanted to create an opportunity to put money back into her local households through a recycling / reusing program to reduce waste. Kaizen offers a buyback program and seek mostly local ‘vendors’ to provide products and offer affordable clothing to help families on limited budgets. Every item in the shop has been inspected and cleaned thoroughly. They donate extras and shelf pulls to a local non-profit, Angels Hands Outreach.
Meet Shantelle Goodman, owner of Kaizen 113 and mother to MaKenzie and Zane - her inspirations for it all.
Born and raised in Owosso, Michigan.