by Midwest Entrepreneurs Student Christopher Tworek
This past Tuesday we had the pleasure of listening to Susan Schuytema tell us the story of her journey as a successful entrepreneur.
Susan originally started working at the age of thirteen and had several jobs throughout her life ranging from a struggling journalist to an usher at Wrigley Field to a airport security worker to a very busy and stressful marketing job in healthcare. She is a very outgoing person and prides herself on her love for the people she works with and for; her employees and customers. Susan is an extremely wonderful person with a lot of pride in her business (in what she calls “her baby!).”
What was really interesting about Susan was her willingness to work hard and never give up. She constantly wanted to go out and make a living. Yet for quite some time she was not exactly sure what she wanted to do; so she did a bit of everything.
However, journalism only took her so far. She was not able to make a good living and had to work other jobs to make ends meet. Soon after being fed up with this reality, she got into marketing in the healthcare sector. This was much more income savvy for her. Yet she was not satisfied. She did not like doing this. She wanted something more. Soon after she married her husband, Paul, and with him they brainstormed what now is known in Monmouth as Market Alley Wines.
What was intriguing about Susan is her consistency with what she recalls as “the three places” that everyone needs in life. “Those three places,” she exclaimed, “are your home, your work, and the place where you go to congregate, usually on the weekends or after a long day at work.” This third place is where Susan saw her opportunity to make a living and become a successful entrepreneur.
Susan and Paul brainstormed about what type of business they could set up. Together, with the combination of the Buxton Retail Report—commissioned by the City of Monmouth to show what locals were going out of town to buy—and Susan’s love for wine, they researched and discovered that Monmouth had a real market for wine. Susan had previously studied abroad in France. There she fell in love with what she and others call ‘the language of wine.’ So they decided to open up a wine store.
Through some financial support from her mother and confidence from her family she had made her passion for wine a reality and opened up Market Alley Wines in June of the year 2011. Market Alley wines is located in downtown Monmouth, Illinois. It is a small yet very popular and successful business.
There is a very homey and comfortable vibe when you enter Market Alley Wines. They sell hundreds of different types of wine from several distributors. They also have sales in a variety of craft beers, wine accessories, gifts, and some home decorations. Recently they have gotten into the fast growing bourbon business. A lot of the customers that come to Market Alley Wines are women. Yet she welcomes all people to her store and tries to have something for everyone. As I mentioned before, Susan wanted Market Alley Wines to be that “third place” that people go to unwind and socialize; a place where “everyone is welcome and equal.”
People do not only come there for the wine, the bourbon, or the craft beers. A lot of customers travel to Market Alley Wines for the live music that is played every Friday and Saturday night. Her husband is the person who pushed for the live music every week. Susan loves the idea of live music and her customers thoroughly enjoy it.
Market Alley Wines is open until 6:30 Tuesday – Thursday and 7:00 pm on Friday and Saturday. Due to the ever growing crowds of people every week for music they have recently upgraded their seating to nearly double of that at which it was previously. You are also able to host events at Market Alley Wines. These events range from bridal showers to retirement parties. She is very involved in her community and is very credited to her community involvement.
To wrap it up, Susan is extremely friendly woman who loves her community and the people in it. She has no problem hosting benefits and prides herself on her special skill which is remembering every face that she sees in her store. She wants you to be a part of it. Market Alley Wines is her baby, she will never let it go.
Christopher Tworek
