On main street Le Mars alongside the coffee and ice cream, you'll find hidden gems with gifts galore.

"We always have our customers in the back of our minds when we are looking for that special something to bring into our store." Jill Mescher and Cary Penning have a clothing boutique, well, a few actually! And they are all under one roof.

Penning has Shop Cary Boutique, with clothing and gifts for women in all stages of their life. Mescher has Sugar and Spice Children's and Tween Boutique and Lily Zita Teen Boutique, with items for kids and teens of all ages.

"Everything is hand-picked," Penning said. "We go to markets and we sourced the items and if we love them we know that everybody else will love them too."

Down the block, sits Simpatico Decor, a "cool, funky store" as described by owner, Jennifer Scholten. Here you can find new and vintage pieces of decor, and many one-of-a-kind items you'll likely not find anywhere else.

"I don't like to buy a lot of any one thing I tend to be a one-and-done store," Scholten said while looking around her boutique. "There are a few things that I do like a lot and that I will order and bring back in. I have and my joke is it's David Bowie."

While there is a Bowie portrait hung on the wall for sale, Scholten also gives space for local artists around northwest Iowa.

Each of these shops brings shoppers a unique experience, and they aren't the only ones that do.

"We have everything from birth to 106 and we can prove it in writing!" Domingo Torres has built one of the biggest toy stores in the Siouxland area. Thinker Toys sits inside a castle in Sioux City's Singing Hills and he really does have something for everyone of every age.

"When somebody comes here, we are supposed to and we do know more about our toys than anybody that walks through the door," Torres said. "So, therefore, you can touch, feel and you know what exactly that toy or that item does or doesn't do."

Torres and his team, who have been in business for over 30 years, pick out every toy they sell, attending vendor shows nationwide, ensuring everyone who comes into the castle will walk out with the perfect item.

"Come on and just let us show you what store we have," Torres said, "because of the fact that we will try to make you look good when you get that precedent."

And during the season of giving, shopping locally doesn't just help you find the perfect gift. Supporting small businesses helps your hard-earned dollar go farther.

"I do hear people saying 'well downtown used to be this or used to be that'. Well, buying online depletes from the sales downtown," Scholten explained. "If you want a vibrant downtown that's going to support your community and attract people to your community, you should be down here shopping."

According to sustainableconnections.org, local businesses donate more per sales dollar to local nonprofits, events, and teams compared to national chains, keeping money in the local economy.

"I feel like there's a lot of small pieces that paint a big picture and with shopping small businesses, we paint the bigger picture of creating a community more like a home rather than somewhere just to live," said Mescher.

'Small businesses will donate to your charitable thing," Scholten said, using the town's little league team as an example, "I would be hard-pressed to see if Amazon's going to do that."

Shopping local also helps you find the right gift for your friend or family member, or even yourself, with help from those who hand-picked the items in their shop.

"We get to know the likes and dislikes of our customers and seek things out for them," said Scholten. "I'm always I always have a list of things that I'm hunting for someone's looking for a specific kind of a chair or they're looking for a piece of art or that sort of thing. So that's a personal touch. You definitely don't get in the in the big box stores."

"We always have our customers in the back of our minds when we are looking for that special something to bring into our store," said Mescher. Keeping money in the local economy means a better community overall," which is something the Le Mars Chamber of Commerce sees first-hand.

"One of the reasons I love shopping local is because you can't get the experience of walking into a shop being greeted by a community member who not only loves the community, but they want I mean their whole livelihood depends on it," said Michaela Brown, President of the Le Mars Chamber. "And so you're gonna get the best shopping experience when you shop local and come to your local shops."

"I think the community is seeing the benefit of that," said Scholten. "There's a lot of new businesses coming in downtown Le Mars and a lot of nice new growth with people buying buildings and wanting to bring in new businesses."

And when checking out a local shop for the first time, you may just find the perfect gift, maybe something you didn't know you were looking for.

"You're going to find some great gems," Brown said. "You're going to have a wonderful experience meeting the shop owners and some good food along the way. So you just can't beat shopping local."
"All we ask is that people give us a chance just look here first," Scholten said. "We're not going to have everything this is a nice little boutique. And if they give us a chance they might be surprised by what they would find."

"We're very proud and pleased to be here," Torres said.

To find a list of local businesses in your area, check your community's Chamber of Commerce website. And to learn more about each store listed here, you can find the links in their names within the story above.

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Dozens of Siouxlanders are left without a home just weeks before the holidays after a fire broke out at the Ida Apartments late Thursday night.

Sioux City Fire Rescue was called to a structure fire at the Ida Apartments located at 1901 Pierce Street. The fire was reported shortly before 9 p.m.

As of 11 p.m., the fire had not been contained and crews were still throwing heavy streams of water on flames coming from the roof and third-story windows.

"We had crews go in and try to they went up to the top floor to get into the attic space and try to make an initial attack," said Sioux City Fire Captain, Dustin Johnson. "The attic space was well involved at that point. So at that point, we withdrew all of our personnel after we made sure everybody was out of the apartment from top to bottom."

The building was evacuated and Sioux City Police and Sioux City Fire tell Siouxland News they believe all residents are out. Firefighters were able to do a thorough search of the building when they arrived on the scene.

Sioux City Transit buses were called in to help keep evacuated residents warm and out of the snow. Volunteers were setting up a church for the more than two dozen residents to stay for the night until more permanent housing could be arranged.

Two displaced residents tell Siouxland News that having this happen just before Christmas makes it hurt even more. "Now we ain't got no place to live. I lost everything in my apartment, all my Christmas gifts. I lost everything. Can't go get my money and stuff too," said Roy Wagner.

"I lost everything," said Richard Hull. "I'm talking about. I got like at least $10,000 worth of stuff up in there."

"I don't know at this point," Wagner said, "they're talking about having us live in a church for a little bit. But I have a medical dog and I just don't know what to do anymore.

Sioux City Fire Rescue says they won't be able to determine a cause until the fire is out and they will remain on the scene throughout the night until everything is extinguished. They don't know the extent of the fire damage to the entire building at this time but did say that the attic and third-floor apartments are heavily damaged.
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"Some of the top floor apartments and that attic space are going to have heavy damage to it from the fire and also from the water," said Captain Johnson, "and so with the amount of gallons per minute that we're putting in this building right now we're gonna have a significant water damage."

Johnson said it could have been much worse had the residents not been able to evacuate quickly and safely. "The big thing I just want to stress to just make sure everybody has, especially this time of the year is to have working smoke alarms inside your apartment units or houses," he said. "If you need them. We can definitely come onto your house and install them it's free of charge. We just want to make sure everybody's safe."
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