ELLSWORTH – When Angie Whelan and her husband Chris were searching for a place to call home, she believes Ellsworth chose them instead of the other way around. Where many saw the East End as a relic of years gone by, all she saw was potential.

The owner/creator of YB Urban?, an aromatherapy and wellness boutique offering natural personal care products made fresh in-house, is inviting the public to celebrate that potential during a remodel grand reveal celebration May 15. YB Urban? located at 243 N. Broadway in Ellsworth’s East End Business District, was selected as a winner of the Wisconsin Main Street Makeover contest, resulting in a transformational makeover of the former bank building her business calls home.

The Whelans moved to the Ellsworth area in 2017. They returned to the Midwest from Las Vegas in 2012 and settled on a rented farmstead north of Baldwin.

“Neither of us had done any kind of farming before and wanted to make sure it’s what we wanted to do,” Whelan said. “We left the city, moved to a farm and were very vested in understanding plants as healing, medicine, a food source and really being in control of all of that. How our bodies interact with plants and why they can be so beneficial and healing for us.”

In 2013, Whelan turned her focus from creating boutique kids’ clothing to health and wellness products. While she loves making clothes (she also worked in custom framing in Vegas), she realized it wasn’t a sustainable career in this area.

“The niche aspect of that business and those clothes, the audience was just too small to justify the work and hours spent,” Whelan admitted.

She had always wanted to make soap and call it YB Stinky? As a product development specialist in Las Vegas, she dabbled in everything homemade, leading her to appreciate and use essential oils. Her first year after founding YB Urban? saw her at 24 shows.

“The business kind of built itself,” she marveled. “My focus, my heart really was all the bath and body stuff that just kind of built itself a strong audience. Through that process we kept meeting people and built a loyal customer base. The more I made, the more curious I became and the more people would ask for.”

While renting their farmstead, they came across a farmhouse for sale outside of Ellsworth. They fell in love with the property and fate took over. While in town looking over the schools for their two children, that first trip through town was pivotal for Whelan. She had been a customer at the Creamery before, but had never ventured much further. When she looked down Broadway Street, her interest piqued.

“I thought, what is that? What is going on there? Who is working on it?” she said of the business district.

After settling into their new home, Whelan had a conversation with Becky Beissel of the Ellsworth Area Chamber of Commerce, wondering if anyone was interested in seeing redevelopment in the East End business district. They were on board and had already put a few things in motion. If one business takes a chance, others will follow, they believed. Whelan believed too.

Thanks to an idea to host pop-up shops in the East End, Whelan set up in her current location. She had had hopes of housing YB Urban? in her barn, but the cost was daunting. Why not find a location already available?

“The building we ended up in, was the only one that had a for sale or for lease sign in the window,” Whelan said. “Dave and Bonnie Moelter owned it at that time. They really wanted to sell it and let us try it out.”

The building housed a consignment shop before Whelan moved in, but had sat vacant for six years accumulating storage items.

“It was definitely musty,” Whelan laughed. “It was divided into three rooms but just opened up and there was this perfect kitchen with a sink, counters and tiled floors. It was mind blowing. It was exactly what I needed.”

Whelan wants to live in a placet that has energy, that is vibrant and welcoming. A place where the public can engage in whatever they want to engage in.

“But we always say they, they, they,” she said. “Who is they? It’s us. For me, I’m just kind of a person that wants to be the change that I want to see. At some point it’s your responsibility to make that happen for yourself and others. I think it takes a lot of patience to see that happening.”

She believes it’s possible to reimagine a downtown that has life and serves the community.

“Empty and blighted buildings do not serve the community. It’s a commercial district that should be empowering the community in terms of tax base, services. That’s the only reason to have a commercial district. It’s the responsibility of building owners to take it on knowing that they are responsible to the community in providing a space that is useful,” Whelan said. “Yes, this can happen. We don’t have to accept blight in our community. We don’t have to accept that this was a part of town that was once vibrant but never can be again.”

She envisions East End as a tourism district, showcasing art and the dreams of the people who live in Ellsworth. In her mind, the West End (Main Street) is a vibrant service district.

It was her vision that led her to apply for the Wisconsin Main Street Makeover contest. She heard about it in 2020 when Ted’s Pizza in Menomonie won a makeover. Their result got her gears turning and lo and behold, she was declared a winner last fall. Beissel surprised her with the news in a video she thought she was making for Small Business Week.

“It was kind of one of those, this doesn’t happen to people I know moments,” Whelan said. “This happens to one or two businesses a year in our whole state. It’s a dream come true, once-in-a-lifetime.”

She had always wanted to take out the dividing walls in the space, to remove the drop ceiling and giant awning out front, to see underneath the decades of change. She made due with the space as is, but couldn’t quite do everything she wanted with the three enclosed rooms.

“I knew how I wanted to serve the community through classes, engagement, DIY events,” Whelan said. “Last year I put some time and thought in making the aromatherapy room. I’ve done the best I can in here and it is not what I want.”

Her small business exists month-to-month until Christmas time.

“Every month, let’s have a month that can keep us going until November,” she shared. “We don’t want to take on a lot of debt or go beyond our means. When small businesses start to operate outside of their means, it will fail. You have to understand your limitations and work within your means.”

This left little money to invest in a large-scale remodel, thus making the grant a Godsend.

“It’s a huge undertaking and nerve-wracking,” Whelan said of the process. “It’s a little daunting to even think about that. But at the same time, you just have to let go and see what happens. There’s no turning back. This is happening and this is happening in this timeframe.”

Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation sponsors the contest. They provide a team of people who are experts in retail design, interior and exterior design, and marketing. They look at the business’s social media and website, offering suggestions.

“The team aspect of it really is kind of the value in winning the contest,” Whelan said. “Up to this point, my décor and everything was very much in the realm of we tried to use what we could from the consignment store. Not a ton of money to invest in the space when we bought it. When something became available to me, I made it work.”

The grant requires matching or exceeding funds, which Whelan raised through a KIVA loan and a Gofundme fundraiser. She estimates the entire remodel to be about $30,000. This includes tearing out the false walls, removing the drop ceiling to expose the original bank ceiling, along with new lighting, flooring and fixtures. The plan is to update the façade as well, which wasn’t part of the original plan.

“The basic idea is to get the space to function as more engaging, a destination,” Whelan said. “We repositioning ourselves as a destination in the community while serving others and drawing in more. We want to bring life down to that block. This is the time to take advantage of the traffic and potential traffic that is coming down this way. I really want it to function as a space that feels very open, feels very welcoming, fun, not stuffy. So people feel like they can just be there, even without a reason.”

Whelan, who is a dedicated yoga practitioner, will be able to host classes in her new space.

“It will be transformable and versatile from a shop to a classroom to a studio. There are endless possibilities,” she said.

In the course of demo work, the crew has made a few fun discoveries. They unearthed the bank’s brick posts behind the panel façade, along with some wallpaper showcasing the 1874 White House. The building once housed the Citizens State Bank, built in 1911.

Right now, the work being done is prepping for the 24-hour makeover. The team will come 24 hours before the reveal and put together the store. The building will be tarped off out front until the grand reveal at 10 a.m. May 15. State, village and chamber representatives will be in attendance, along with anyone from the public who would like to attend.

“There will snacks and libations on hand,” Whelan promised.

The store will be open that day from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. For anyone interested in taking part May 14 with the finishing touches, reach out to Whelan and keep an eye on her Facebook page.

“This is a way that the state shows investing in one business is an investment in your community’s downtown,” Whelan said. “The belief of the WEDC is we can repair Main Street one business at a time. It’s just important to get across to the community that this is a community and economic development project. It looks like it’s one business, but every single business is so important in the community. When we can support our small businesses and these types of projects, we’re really building pride in the community, giving them something to be proud of and a part of.”