It used to be a vacant building on Suring’s Main Street that housed several different banks over the years.
It’s now the community’s latest travel destination.
Vicki Leisgang and her brother, Robby Calaway, purchased the building at 725 E. Main St. that most recently housed a Huntington Bank branch that closed six years ago. It’s now home to Top Hat Antique Mall & More, which opened its doors in March and quickly established itself as one of Suring’s most popular businesses that offers everything from antiques to crafts to Amazon overstock items to wine.
Calaway and Leisgang bought the building without a plan for its use and eventually settled on opening an antique mall.
“It’s hard to get people to come to a small town,” said Calaway, who also owns and runs Little Tipsy, a tavern in Townsend, with his wife, Kasia.
“People will travel to get to an antique mall,” he said. “Starting with that and then expanding off of that was the focus. The price was right. We bought the property and needed to figure a way to fill it. What were we going to put in it? We needed something with a draw. Antiques mean a wide range of things to people. If this was a hobby shop, it’s only hobbies. That’s why we went with antiques and more. That’s why it’s ‘and more.’ It’s a lot of different things.”
Meanwhile, Leisgang and her husband, Paul, live in the Seymour area. She and Calaway are usually at the store in Suring during the weekend.
Leisgang and Calaway’s families help run the store, which opened in March and is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.
Vendors bring variety
The store includes more than 20 vendors, including Autumn Covert, of Gillett.
“My main item is 100% grass-fed beef tallow products,” she said during a visit to the store on a recent Saturday afternoon. “Tallow is beef fat. I get it sourced locally, and I render it down myself. I have face moisturizers and arthritis cream, and I also make essential oil products.”
Covert admits she doesn’t have a lot of opportunities to sell her products besides Facebook Marketplace and the Gillett Community Market.
“This is close to my hometown of Gillett, so I thought it was really convenient and I stopped in,” she said. “I was the very first vendor to sign up.”
Covert likes the idea of having a permanent booth, which is near the store’s main entrance.
“I like my booth and its character,” she said. “I change things around, but maybe not as much as some other vendors. I have some items that I bring in, like vintage clothing, antique things, handmade quilts and afghans.”
Covert heads to Suring at least once a week and she also works part time at the store.
“It’s so important for vendors to have this space available,” she said. “Having your own little hobby business or starting your own business is hard to do.”
“It’s nice to see our vendors happy,” Leisgang said. “It’s nice to see our customers happy. The best thing is when our customers come in and say, ‘Oh, this is a really cool place, I’m going to tell my friends and family about this, I’m coming back when I have more time to browse.’”
Besides vendors, Top Hat also sells wine from Woodland Trails Winery in Lakewood, chocolate from Vande Walle’s Candies in Appleton and meat products from Maplewood Meats in Green Bay.
“I think this community is happy to have this, with the food and the wine and the Amazon overstock items,” Calaway said. “It’s been up and down. It’s our first year, so we didn’t know what to expect.”
“One of the goals of the community is redevelopment to get tourists to stop in the community,” Leisgang said. “We want to make Suring a destination where they not only stop at Top Hat, they stop and frequent the other businesses. We’re also a sip-in shop, so people can get beverages and spend a day or have their girls’ group here. If people are willing to travel to come visit, they’ll have a great experience.”
Although the store has only been open for eight months, customers are showing up from several areas, according to Leisgang.
“Our customers are coming from all over the state,” she said. “People are traveling. They’ve seen us on TV or in a newspaper. People are willing to book it in their day.”
Leisgang and Calaway spread the word about the business on its Facebook and Instagram pages.
“Social media makes it a lot easier, but it’s also people who have sought us out,” Leisgang said. “We are doing lots of things so people can see what we have and make us their destination. They’ll know what they’re going to get and what to expect when they make the trip.”
The store has two floors of merchandise in several rooms, including the building’s former bank vault.
“People come in and they go, ‘Oh, this is bigger than what I thought,’” Leisgang said. “They’re also realizing there are two floors. You could get lost in this place.
“We have met some people who used to work at the banks that were here,” she said. “We did not want to take away from the integrity of the banks. Many of our vendors are actually at teller stations. You can actually go into the vault, which we made into our wine and chocolate vault. This is a perfect building for us.”
Calaway said it didn’t take long to prepare the vacant building for its new use.
“The only thing we did was cut this board out right here,” he said. “We adapted to what we had to work with, that’s the best way to put it.”
“The best part about running this business is I get to do it with family,” Leisgang said. “Our mom and dad (Ralph and Gloria Calaway, of Townsend) work here during the week and help with the set-up and assembly of our Amazon overstock. We have our own children who help support what we do. Robby has a couple of boys, and I have a couple of girls, and our kids spend a lot of time with us.”
Antique malls are popular because shoppers never know what they’ll find.
“I think repeat trips to Top Hat are worth it, because we’re changing, and we have something for everyone, whether it’s antique, repurposed, brand new or crafts,” Leisgang said.
Suring shoppers
A recent Saturday afternoon brought a steady stream of customers, and Leisgang isn’t anticipating a slowdown in business this winter.
“It sounds like a lot of people frequent the small shops and make them their destination throughout the winter,” she said. “Toward the end of summer is a slower time. People are preparing to go back to school or they’re out on the lake and doing other things. Throughout the festive season and into the winter is when a lot of antiquers and crafters are out seeking things they want to find.”
Leisgang said her family has no regrets about starting a side business from scratch.
“I don’t think they’ve had a business like this before, but it seems like the community is excited,” she said. “It’s the small-town feel where everyone wants everyone to be social and interactive. They’re going to discover things that they never knew were here. If they park their car, walk around and check out all these shops, they’re going to be surprised.”
