Morrison entrepreneur celebrates Midwest roots with curated gift shop in Sterling
Jun. 22—STERLING — Kari Carpenter's love for the Midwest runs so deep that it is now the heart of her small business.
Carpenter owns The Midwest Mercantile and sells a collection of carefully curated, "giftable" items from other Midwest- and women-owned businesses, including clothing, jewelry, candles and beauty products.
"I've always loved supporting other businesses," Carpenter said. "So, I thought I could bring something kind of cool to the table by curating products that speak to the Midwest that I love so much."
An Iowa native with "strong Midwest roots," Carpenter now lives in Morrison and has family ties in Wisconsin and Minnesota.
She launched The Midwest Mercantile two years ago while continuing to work full time in corporate accounting. Drawing on more than 20 years of retail experience, Carpenter began selling her products at pop-up markets and within shared retail spaces, eventually landing a spot at the Shoppes at Grandon Plaza in downtown Sterling.
Located at 312 Second Ave., the retail incubator, run by Sterling Main Street, opened in 2023 to help online, home-based and brand-new entrepreneurs grow toward permanent brick-and-mortar locations.
Carpenter admitted that entrepreneurship pushed her outside of her comfort zone.
"It gets easier the more that time goes on," Carpenter said. "Plus, Sterling Main Street has done a great job of promoting the shops here."
The Midwest Mercantile also operates online at themidwestmercantile.com, where customers can browse the full selection and enjoy free shipping. Carpenter has her sights set on expanding to a larger, permanent storefront in the future.
"I'm looking forward to growing and expanding, offering more products and getting feedback from people on what they want to see," Carpenter said. "I'm very excited."
The store's hours are regularly posted for the month on the Sterling Main Street website at sterlingmainstreet.org. For more information, message Carpenter at themwmercantile@gmail.com.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
18 minutes ago
- Yahoo
How Is CF Industries' Stock Performance Compared to Other Basic Materials Stocks?
Northbrook, Illinois-based CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (CF) manufactures and sells hydrogen and nitrogen products for energy, fertilizer, emissions abatement, and other industrial activities. Valued at a market cap of $17 billion, the company also offers diesel exhaust fluid, urea liquor, nitric acid, and aqua ammonia products. Companies worth $10 billion or more are typically classified as 'large-cap stocks,' and CF fits the label perfectly, with its market cap exceeding this threshold, underscoring its size, influence, and dominance within the agricultural inputs industry. The company's vertically integrated operations, with strategically located plants and extensive storage and distribution infrastructure, allow it to serve both agricultural and industrial customers reliably. Beyond fertilizers, it is also emerging as a leader in clean energy solutions, investing heavily in low-carbon and green ammonia, positioning itself to play a major role in the global energy transition. Robotaxis, Powell and Other Key Things to Watch this Week Is Quantum Computing (QUBT) Stock a Buy on This Bold Technological Breakthrough? The 7 Signs Your Stock Is A Buyout Target Get exclusive insights with the FREE Barchart Brief newsletter. Subscribe now for quick, incisive midday market analysis you won't find anywhere else. This nitrogenous fertilizer manufacturing company is currently trading 3.9% below its 52-week high of $104.45, reached on Jun. 16. CF has surged 30.5% over the past three months, considerably outpacing the iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF's (IYM) marginal uptick during the same time frame. In the longer term, CF has rallied 35.4% over the past 52 weeks, considerably outperforming IYM's 4% decline over the same time frame. Moreover, on a YTD basis, shares of CF are up 17.6%, compared to IYM's 4.8% return. To confirm its bullish trend, CF has been trading above its 200-day moving average since early May, and has remained above its 50-day moving average since late April. On May 7, CF reported strong Q1 results, prompting its share price to close up marginally in the following trading session. The company's revenue grew 13.1% year-over-year to $1.7 billion, surpassing the consensus estimates by a notable 9.2%. Moreover, due to a solid 660 basis-points expansion in its gross profit margin, its net income per share of $1.85 improved 79.6% from the year-ago quarter and exceeded the forecasted figure by 25.9%. Its adjusted EBITDA reached $644 million, up 40.3% from the same period last year. This strong performance was supported by a favourable global nitrogen environment, with solid agricultural and industrial demand, coupled with higher average selling prices across most of CF's key products. CF has outpaced its rival, The Mosaic Company's (MOS) 31.1% rise over the past 52 weeks. However, it has lagged behind MOS' 47.8% uptick on a YTD basis. Despite CF's recent outperformance, analysts remain cautious about its prospects. The stock has a consensus rating of "Hold' from the 16 analysts covering it. As of writing, the company is trading above both its mean price target of $85.87 and its Street-high price target of $100. On the date of publication, Neharika Jain did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
34 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Investors Rush to Pour Cash Into $7.4 Trillion US Money-Market Fund Industry
(Bloomberg) -- The rush of cash into the US money-market funds is showing few signs of slowing as it secured a record $7.4 trillion in assets. Bezos Wedding Draws Protests, Soul-Searching Over Tourism in Venice One Architect's Quest to Save Mumbai's Heritage From Disappearing NYC Congestion Toll Cuts Manhattan Gridlock by 25%, RPA Reports Investors have poured more than $320 billion into the funds so far this year, according to Crane Data LLC, making it one of the biggest benefactors of the Federal Reserve's current monetary policy. That's something of a surprise for those on Wall Street who'd gone into 2025 assuming officials would lower interest rates and sap the attractive returns offered by the industry. '$7 trillion can easily be $7.5 trillion in 2025,' said Deborah Cunningham, chief investment officer for global liquidity markets at Federated Hermes. 'Five-percent-plus rates were nirvana, four-percent-plus is still very good — and if we dip down into the high threes, that's quite acceptable as well.' The average simple seven-day yield is now 3.95% for government funds and 4.03% for prime, an 8 basis point spread, according to Bank of America Corp. It's a compelling backdrop as some 600 participants gather at the annual Crane's Money Fund Symposium, which kicks off Monday in Boston. Money funds have seen their coffers swell in recent years, notably in early 2020 for their haven appeal and again as the Fed's rate-hiking cycle boosted yields. Even as the Fed pivoted to cutting rates last year, assets continued to rise, with these funds typically slower to pass along the effects of lower rates when compared to banks. Households have been a key driver of the inflows. Since the Fed started raising rates in March 2022, total assets under management in US money funds have swelled by roughly $2.5 trillion, and retail investors have accounted for about 60% of that, Investment Company Institute data show. Data from ICI exclude firms' own internal money funds, unlike Crane Data, which tracks the money market industry. Inflows have continued even as the industry sees some investors embrace alternatives, such as ultra-short funds in the fixed income or equities, Cunningham said. Overall, though, it's a far cry from the exodus of cash from money-market funds that some on Wall Street had forecast. 'It's not surprising asset levels have held on and grown,' said Michael Bird, senior fund manager at Allspring Global Investments. 'Even if the Fed picks up its easing campaign this year, rates will still be relatively high.' The Fed last week laid out forecasts for two quarter-point rate cuts this year, aligning with market pricing. Although the risk that conflict in the Middle East drives up oil prices and causes a resurgence in inflation remains an uncertatinty, traders see a quarter-point reduction as likely in September and all but guaranteed by October. Given that interest-rate backdrop, money-market funds are trying to extend the weighted-average maturity — known as WAM — of their holdings as long as possible to capture elevated yields. Fund managers have also adjusted holdings to compensate for the effects of debt-ceiling drama. While Wall Street strategists largely expect the government to raise the debt limit as part of the reconciliation process by late of July or early August, some funds have put more cash toward repurchase agreements — loans collateralized by Treasuries or agency debt — as an alternative. Still, 'the expectation is when the debt ceiling gets resolved, there will be a significant increase in bill issuance, which helps yields,' Bird said. 'Uncertainty is helping our product.' Luxury Counterfeiters Keep Outsmarting the Makers of $10,000 Handbags Is Mark Cuban the Loudmouth Billionaire that Democrats Need for 2028? Ken Griffin on Trump, Harvard and Why Novice Investors Won't Beat the Pros The US Has More Copper Than China But No Way to Refine All of It Can 'MAMUWT' Be to Musk What 'TACO' Is to Trump? ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
Bloomberg
37 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
The Budget Bill Is Creating a Republican Existential Crisis
The Republican budget bill, a $3.7 trillion tax cut packaged with $1.2 trillion in spending cuts, is deeply problematic legislation from almost any perspective — including those of its authors. The Congressional Budget Office has the details about how it will be expensive and ineffectual. But for Republicans, President Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' is creating what amounts to an existential crisis. For half a century, Republicans have been committed to the policy of lower taxes to aid the economy — impervious to any evidence that tax cuts are inefficient and prohibitively expensive. At this point, to walk away from the bill is to abandon their economic raison d'etre.
