The Iowa City downtown area is always changing. New businesses come and go, but one thing that outlives a natural business cycle is culture. However, unlike flashing neon signs and ads in the paper, culture is harder to perceive than business. 

Culture in business can come from geography, like who and where a business serves. It can also come from the products it sells, attracting customers from different walks of life unified by similar interests and needs. 

One key and often hard-to-miss element of business culture is ownership, and in a tight-knit community like Iowa City, culture between business owners can both unify and amplify.

Recently, the women-owned business environment expanded when Monique Holtkamp, owner of candy store Sweets and Treats and T’Spoons Coffee and Treats, opened a new location in Iowa City’s Pedestrian Mall. Holtkamp is also a realtor with Edge Realty Group and a business ambassador with Greater Iowa City. 

Holtkamp bought Sweets and Treats in the Old Capitol Town Center Mall in 2010. Now, she said Sweets and Treats will relocate to T’Spoons, and its current location will close, except for a holiday pop-up shop selling seasonal products. 

Holtkamp said she was considering relocating Sweets and Treats and eventually bought the coffee shop, but she ultimately decided to open it as a second T’Spoons location and consolidate Sweets and Treats between the two.

“My initial thought was Sweets and Treats in there, and then one thing led to the other, and I bought the coffee shop so then I could have both coffee and candy,” she said. 

She said she opened the coffee shop as a second T’Spoons to generate two revenue streams out of one business. However, she indicated profits are not her primary motivator for her continued investment downtown.

She shared several stories from community members that illustrate the connectedness in the Iowa City community.

One story, she said, is about a customer whose mother is an Alzheimer’s patient. The customer came into Holtkamp’s store looking for licorice pipes, which hold a significant connection to her mother.

“She told me how her mom has Alzheimer’s, but [the candy] gives her a good day. They stoke a memory,” Holtkamp said. “She wanted to buy a whole box, and after she told me that story, I always stocked a whole box for her.” 

Holtkamp said she appreciates being able to help people in the community. Another story included a far-away mother of a University of Iowa student who asked Holtkamp to deliver an order to her daughter on her birthday. 

She also delivered a candy basket ordered for a cancer patient in the UI Health Care Stead Family Children’s Hospital. She said her deliveries can bring relief and joy and, especially in the case of the hospital patient, make people “light up.” 

“It’s so rewarding to do what I do on so many facets,” she said. “Like working with other women, entrepreneurs, and community.” 

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The second T’Spoons location downtown opened in the south corner of Cielo, a store selling clothing, jewelry, and gifts marketed specifically to women. While the eclectic nature of downtown Iowa City is growing, these developments reveal a deeper heartbeat of women’s entrepreneurship. 

Cielo is owned and operated by Monica Ferguson, another Iowa City entrepreneur. She said Holtkamp and her have been friends for 10 years, so when the previous coffee shop Daydrink occupying the corner of Cielo moved. Ferguson was unable to take care of the coffee shop herself, and she figured offering it to her friend would be a good use of the space. 

Ferguson thinks having more women-owned businesses, especially so close to one another, improves the downtown area. 

“I love having two women-owned businesses under one roof,” Ferguson said. “We both cater to women customers, and it’s a safe environment.”

Ferguson has her own story as well. She said she began as an entrepreneur selling hand-made jewelry and working locally. As she grew her brand and later opened Cielo, she ended up selling her jewelry business to another female-owned business, 223. Baby Co., owned and operated by Macy Krall. 

Additionally, Ferguson said she runs a Facebook page called Business Besties, which hosts conversations and networking opportunities for 1,300 women in business. This, among other things, excites her regarding the growing culture of female entrepreneurs. 

“We’re coming to an atmosphere with a lot of women collaboration in business, and that’s exciting to me,” she said. 

Iowa City Downtown District Executive Director Betsy Potter said Iowa City has always had a strong small-business environment. There are over 60 women-owned businesses in the downtown district alone. 

Potter said walkability, which makes businesses more accessible and appealing, helps Iowa City’s downtown flourish. She said the work going on behind the scenes to market and unify businesses helps them collaborate and see mutual success. 

“They know they need each other to be the most successful overall,” Potter said.