The History of Mini Bazaar!

I'd like to give you a little background on our business.

My name is Lucy Simmons. I live in Terreton, Idaho with my husband, Jay, and our family. We have four daughters, and one son, all of which are married. We have one daughter and her family that live in Ohio, but all the others live nearby, and help us in some way in running Mini Bazaar. We have eleven grandchildren, two girls, and nine boys. My partner is my sister, Millie Batt. She and her husband, Alan Batt, live in Grant, Idaho. They have three sons and one daughter. Their daughter lives in Salt Lake City, but the boys and their families live in this area. Their youngest son is serving an LDS mission in Uganda at present.
We come from a family of six girls, and still enjoy a close relationship with our mom and sisters. Our dad passed away in 2005, and one sister passed away in 1992. Two of our sisters, Ellen and Grace make the chocolates that we sell at Mini Bazaar, and Grace helps us at the bazaar, too.

In the fall of 1980, we thought that we could gather a few handmade items, and show them at home parties, for orders. (Much like a Tupperware party). We spent our weekends doing afternoon or evening parties, and everything we sold fit in the trunks of our cars. Eventually, we started to do mall shows. We would sell our wares, along with a few friends, in the hallways of the local mall for a weekend, now and then. Talented women would call us, interested in selling their wares, and soon we could see that we needed more space.

We rented empty office space for a weekend at a time, both in Idaho Falls and Rexburg. As we accumulated display pieces and inventory we started looking for a permanent location. Millie stumbled on to the beautiful, new Chiropractic Building at 1880 E. 17th Street in Idaho Falls. It had a lovely garden level, that included an unfinished basement. We talked Dr. Glanzer into letting us rent from him, and we have been in this location since 1986.

After being there for 20 years we found that parking and display space were getting pretty tight. We found an old metal building along the river along the river on Capital Avenue that we thought had great possibilities. You can now find us there at 765 S. Capital, along the river in Idaho Falls.

We open for a four week show before Easter, and also four weeks for the Mothers Day, graduation, and Fathers Day season. We are now open for a five week show, beginning the third week in September, and another five week show beginning the week before Thanksgiving.

We find that being seasonal helps us move about as much merchandise as a store that is open year round. We are the oldest and the best boutique in this area, and have customers that travel long distances to visit us. We love our business, and enjoy our customers and the many friends that we've made over the years.