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Tag: Downtown Development Authority of Casper

The Mustard Seed Home Gifts and Garden in Casper Wyoming decoration and home accents store

Moving Mountains With Casper’s Mustard Seed Home, Garden & Gifts!

If you’ve strolled through downtown Casper before, chances are you’ve caught wind of the buzz surrounding Mustard Seed. A discerning eye with a passion for design has meticulously selected every item in this charming store, offering a delightful blend of home goods, apparel, and garden treasures. From captivating home accents to gourmet delights and curated collections tailored for those who aspire to turn their homes into masterpieces, Mustard Seed will have just the right touch for your unique style.

Not only does this store feature all their timeless but season-inspired pieces at all points during the year, the holidays are well-spent in this store, for it is its owner, Sharla Norvelle’s, favorite season to decorate for and pick items for display is the Christmas season.

Holiday decor accents at Casper's Mustard Seed in downtown Casper

Holiday Decor Extravaganza

Sharla shared with us that she adores the holidays in Mustard Seed. You can find all things “sparkly” and “shimmery,” just a few of her favorite “styles” that raise the bar entirely regarding home decor. She loves the spirit of the Christmas season. Adding that little “holiday flair” with matching glass reindeer, themed Christmas trees, and even a few rustic branches for the mantle are great examples of elevating the elements of your home during this time.

Sharla mentioned that she also has a few special ways to give back to her loving Casper family during the holiday season. To be up-to-date on what deals you can snag in-store, follow Mustard Seed’s Facebook and Instagram updates today, over the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend, and as we approach Christmas. We noticed that Sharla’s team already announced a store-wide 15% off for Black Friday, so don’t forget to take advantage of this as you’re shopping for all of your loved ones in downtown Casper.

The Mustard Seed will not participate in any downtown holiday business events… YET! Since they have moved from their original 1st Street location and are in their second year at 117 E 2nd Street, they are still working on grounding themselves there, building connections with the new foot traffic and neighbors, and building the storefront of their dreams. However, their doors will be wide open for new and recurring customers during the holidays, and they look forward to meeting more of the Casper community in the coming months and years.

Creating a Casper Community

The store’s owner shared a bit of her history and how it led to her two successful home goods stores here in downtown Casper since she started in 2017.

Sharla has always held a deep love for design, and as a natural-born creative and cosmetologist for 20 years, it was time for her to hang up her smock to focus on her passion for home design. She originally began doing a few side projects for friends and family before holding a few trunk shows out of her garage. She graduated from her home garage into her first store.

Since opening her original store and transitioning into a bigger store “a little down the way,” Sharla has felt nothing but gratitude for the supporters she has had and gained over the years.

I am blown away by all of the support from the Casper community. The support has just been amazing.

Mustard Seed storefront in Casper Wyoming downtown
Decorated Christmas Tree in Mustard Seed in downtown Casper Wyoming

Sharla has relished the influx of new customers in her new location and witnessed the growth of her business and neighboring establishments. With enthusiasm, she shared the news of a friend opening a nearby bookstore and the neighborhood joy with the prospect of more stores and restaurants joining the community. The collaborative effort to sustain these businesses and foster community expansion is thrilling.

Being a downtown business owner has allowed Sharla to connect with other entrepreneurs. She mentioned to us that there is something incredibly unique about being a business owner from Wyoming and continuing to plant one’s roots in Wyoming when developing one’s career. She loves that Casper has a downtown community with plenty of heart and inspiration to continue to build this incredible area.

Like several businesses we’ve engaged with recently, Sharla also expressed her excitement for increased involvement. Identifying herself as a “mover and shaker,” she thrives on adapting to new trends, events, and developments. Anticipating an active role in community building, she is eager to explore opportunities for creating events as a business owner that will foster engagement here, too.

Your One-Stop-Shop for Home, Gifts and Garden

Sharla wants your experience to be just what you’d expect to find with a mustard seed: a hope that sprouts into a significant blessing! For any newbies to Mustard Seed or our seasoned visitors, you’ll experience something new and inviting when you walk in for the first time or the 100th time. The store should ultimately feel “like home,” with warmth, invitation, and embrace! 

To make that visit even more unique, Sharla wanted us to share a few “insider” secrets with all of you for visiting her store:

  1. Take each space at a time. Decorating a home can be challenging. Focus on one space, create your vision, and execute it with our in-store guides.
  2. Don’t rush the process!
  3. Don’t try to tackle too much all at once. Our spaces and interests are constantly changing, as Sharla mentioned earlier. It is essential to be mindful during this process and work with a team that makes you ready to face all your home decor wants head-on.

As for what you’ll find upon arrival? A little bit of all the things you love. The store’s owner shared that she is obsessed with throw pillows, so you will find plenty in-store to add that little extra touch to your home decor styling. You will also find pieces that may sway more rustic, artsy, eclectic, and even more clean and minimalist if that is your jive. To sum it up, Mustard Seed is great for expressing those “guilty pleasures” that come to our mind when we get on a decorating and styling spurt.

Holiday decor display in downtown Casper, Wyoming's Mustard Seed Home Gifts and Garden

Visit #MyDowntownCasper’s Mustard Seed Home, Gifts, and Garden, and let your inner designer out as you work with this incredible team. They wanted us to share as we concluded that they are incredibly grateful for your support over the last few years and look forward to welcoming you in and working with you, whether you’re a first-timer or a tenth-timer.

The Wild Lunch Market lunch spot in Casper Wyoming

Casper’s Newest Cinema Cafe: The Wild Lunch Market

We are calling all our Wyoming foodies to jump back in time and step into the wonderful Wild Lunch Market, our new neighbor in the downtown Casper area. Located at 124 E 2nd Street, this cute cafe is perfectly located amongst our downtown Casper natives, adding a quick pit-stop for your afternoon pick-me-up during your holiday-shopping stroll…

The Wild Lunch Market is a Hollywood classic, to say the least. Their menu items mirror your favorite timeless movies, such as Married to the Mob, Monsters, Inc., and The Terminator. Not only are the names tailored to fans of these classic films, but the backstory for this business owner, Bonnie Curtis-Odell, draws on an admiration for movies, creating her cafe based on her and her father’s love for Hollywood and other Hollywood-inspired cafes and stores from her childhood.

To mention just a few of the delicious items she has created and tailored to her unique vision, here is your sneak peek at The Wild Lunch Market’s menu:

  • The When Turkey Met Pesto Sandwich: smoked turkey, muenster, red peppers, dill pickles, romaine, a side of Mustard League Mustard Sauce, and a side of pesto mayonnaise
  • The Yell Raiser: a chocolate raspberry jalapeno cake with chocolate frosting and a raspberry glaze
  • The Beauty and the Cheese Soup: Saturday beer cheese soup of the day

… and many more! If you want to start early, go ahead and take a look at their menu here. Some of their most popular items we also wanted to mention are the Hazed and Amused hazelnut tarts and the My Big, Fat, Greek Salad.

A Taste of Nostalgia

We have seen and continue to see many incredible businesses in downtown Casper and throughout our state, highlighting the rich histories many of us love remembering and honoring. Whether in food, art, or home decor, touching on these childhood moments is not a lost practice.

Bonnie shared with our downtown Casper team a little insight into where her love for her business first began:

My dad was a huge movie “buff,” and as soon as I was old enough to sit up, he made me his little movie-watching buddy. He passed away ten years ago, and he actually grew up in the town of Hollywood and loved the classic Hollywood delis that were everywhere. So, he raised me on all of his favorite classic deli sandwiches, which stuck with me when I started cooking and contributed to a lot of my recipes. Then, when I was trying to decide if I should make the jump and open my own place, I randomly found an old menu from my dad’s favorite deli when I was going through a box in my attic. I knew instantly exactly what I should do. The menu is now framed on the wall of my shop by the front door.

To say this business is built from the heart is an understatement. We are honored to meet with new business owners who bring their stories from inside and outside of Wyoming to life right before their eyes! While Bonnie did not grow up in Hollywood, she integrated her upbringing in Casper, Wyoming, with her experiences with her dad into The Wild Lunch Market, which ties in our Wyoming community and pieces of pop culture that are universally loved worldwide.

Aside from her love for movies, Bonnie has worked in the Casper service industry since she was 16. She recalled being a front-of-house employee at a local restaurant that experienced a loss in the kitchen and was called back there to pick up the pieces… Ever since that moment, cooking has not only taken away her anxiety, it has inspired her beyond her wildest dreams—perfectly fit for an owner of The Wild Lunch Market.

A Gem Built for the Casper Community

Bonnie has loved her experience thus far as a downtown business owner. She shared with us that her overall goal upon starting her business was to be the place for everyone. Our downtown Casper community is full of different businesses in all industries. There is no “one size fits all” when classifying each of them. However, one thing they all have in common is that their time is valuable. She wanted to create a lunch spot where anyone can find something they love at a great price and in a timely manner. So, if you’re looking for a nice place to sit down with friends and enjoy a delicious meal or a quick stop during your day, The Wild Lunch Market is just for you.

This small business owner has found a way to connect with all her ideal customers and has made incredible connections thus far with the neighboring businesses in her area.

There are some incredibly warm and encouraging people next door. I could not imagine having better neighbors.

As for the upcoming seasons, she is looking forward to another summer filled with new faces visiting Wyoming for its beautiful temperatures and even more incredible scenery, as well as the familiar holiday shoppers that are making their way to the downtown area for the Christmas parade, and all of their holiday needs! Bonnie also looks forward to establishing her roots as a popular lunch spot and eventually opening up with a bigger space, creating a drive-through window for all of the “on-the-goers” that need something quick and delicious, and partnering with other local businesses to keep her fresh grab-and-go items in their stores as well!

As for the Holidays…

With the cool Wyoming temperatures, we may hesitate to go outside and visit our local businesses. Nevertheless, we must support our locals by showing up and supporting their cause!

The Wild Lunch Market will be staying open late with hot cocoa and plenty of fresh cookies for this year’s upcoming Casper Christmas Parade, so be sure to stop in and check out all of their unique delicacies and get familiar with Bonnie, her best friend, and her incredible mom who have been so helpful in creating the owner’s dream business!

Also, in time for the holiday season, Bonnie will be featuring unique grab-and-go items, hot sandwiches, and mac-and-cheese flavors that are cycled out daily and weekly and even hold a little holiday flair as we approach the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons.

Check out The Wild Lunch Market online or on social media, follow their page, and stay up to date with them. And if you’re ready to embark on a cinematic culinary journey, visit The Wild Lunch Market and discover the perfect blend of Hollywood nostalgia and Wyoming charm in every bite here in #MyDowntownCasper.

The Christmas Store in downtown Casper at Sierra West

The Ultimate Christmas Store: Sierra West

What are some of the first questions that pop into your mind regarding the holiday season?

Are you wondering where to go for your seasonal home decor?

Are you concerned with finding great, “all-encompassing” stores for Christmas shopping in your area?

Or is all of the above leading you to feel overwhelmed with the pressure of the holidays?

For all of our rustic home decor lovers passing through or living in the Casper area, we have your next go-to spot for all your Christmas decorating and home decorating needs: Sierra West.

Sierra West Brings Rustic Elegance and Charm

Sierra West Christmas Shopping The Christmas Store downtown Casper

Judy Anderson, owner and full-time presence at Sierra West (except for Sundays), holds a deep affection for her downtown Casper store. In the family since 1988, the shop stands as a cherished gift. Initially started by Judy’s daughter, who later relocated to Minnesota, the holiday ambiance within the store remains as vibrant as its inception. Despite the distance, the festive spirit is shared by Judy and her daughter, who makes the journey to Casper each Thanksgiving to lend a helping hand to her mom and the other employees during the bustling holiday season (be sure to drop by and say “Hi!” amidst the Thanksgiving cheer).

As someone who loves and appreciates interior design, Judy recognizes the “perfect fit” that Sierra West has in her life. She originally studied interior design, and after serving as a Manor Heights teacher for some time, she was blessed with returning to her passion full-time by running this store.

At Sierra West, you will find various home decor styles. However, Judy states that her intention for each piece is not to be fancy but to be “neat.” Many of her recurring shoppers, along with the new ones, love paintings and other unique wall art pieces found here. Not only this, but her hides, which range from small runners to large area room rugs, are some of her top-selling items! These hides are all 100% authentic and are of exquisite quality as well.

Cross Off Your Christmas Wish List

When the holidays feel a bit “much,” turn your attention to the “Santa” of holiday decor shopping… Sierra West! Transforming into the “North Pole” of holiday decor shopping every year, Judy’s store, also labeled as “The Christmas Store,” unveils a spectacular array of festive treasures. Picture hundreds of meticulously arranged items, each with the spirit of the season, awaiting their unique home through the holiday shoppers. Judy shared with the DDA team that she has over 82 fully decorated Christmas trees available in-store—enough to cover not only the lower level of the shop but the main level as well! While we know that decorating a Christmas tree is one of the most fun holiday traditions we partake in, the truth is, we sometimes don’t know where even to begin, especially when the holidays seem to sneak up on us so quickly…

The Christmas Store in downtown Casper with season home decor and Christmas Trees already decorated
Wyoming-themed Christmas tree at The Christmas Store in downtown Casper at Sierra West
Pre-decorated Christmas Trees at The Christmas Store/Sierra West in downtown Casper Wyoming

Judy and her team prepare a store full of your favorite Christmas goodies and go-tos to take the load off. You can find it all here, whether it’s a garland for the mantle or an advent calendar for the little ones. To make your holiday shopping experience a little merrier, the owner told us she will run holiday decor sales from nearly 20-30% off on all items.

Yes, you read that right—all items in Sierra West are included in this incredible sale!

The Sierra West Experience

When you step into Sierra West, you naturally feel like family. If you’ve been in Casper for a while, you may even know the lovely Judy outside of the store as well. And if you do, you know you are nothing less than her friend!

Judy shared that she loves having new and old visitors inside her store. She also stated that being in the downtown Casper area brings many “… interactions that just give her light.” She appreciates the sociability aspect of her role first and foremost, with all of her many different “hats” as a business owner. She mentioned:

“I love it every minute I am here. I could never resent a minute that I am here because I just love it. If I did not love this work, I wouldn’t be here.”

Christmas Tree Store in downtown Casper at The Christmas Store aka Sierra West

To say the least, Sierra West is a store full of heart. It is evident here, especially in holiday decorating and the overall essence of the holiday spirit. If you are looking for somewhere that brings the Christmas “wow factor” and makes your shopping experience personalized and unique to you and your family’s needs and wants, this is the place to go!

If you are hesitant to start your seasonal decorating this early into the holidays, be sure to catch Miss Judy and other members of the Sierra West team at this year’s local Chocolate Walk and the Business Expo that is happening within the next few weeks.

We’ll see you in #MyDowntownCasper, holiday shoppers!

Book store image in downtown Casper!

Back-to School in Downtown Casper

With school having resumed over the last two or so weeks, we here at the Downtown Development Authority of Casper want to make sure everyone — of all ages — is ready for those next nine months of the school year! School shopping is not always an easy task, especially for those who are not “avid shoppers.” However, living in Casper, Wyoming, can make back-to-school shopping interesting and fun with a variety of different stores from your local business owners! If you’re not needing some back-to-school gear, these stores will have you fall lovers ready for the new season with weather-friendly fashion, home goods, coffee, and a comfortable place to watch the leaves change colors!

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Floral Rhino

Downtown Casper’s Floral Rhino is a store for all your trendy needs! This stylish shop, with esthetic wall and shelf decor, clothes, hats, bags, Wyoming-related gear, and even a section for your little ones, will not have you leaving empty-handed. If you prefer a boho-chic look or some western-based wear, there is no limit to the styles you will find. Not only will you find clothes for the ever-changing Wyoming weather, but you’ll also find all the accompanying accessories to top off your unique look. For those Wyoming Football lovers, you’ll discover the ‘Cowboy Joe’ section to be quite apt to your fancy. However, if back-to-school is your sole reason for shopping here, you’ll discover the comfort and style in nearly all of the pieces featured throughout this beautiful boutique.

The Fall Decor You Need!

Who doesn’t love a simple monochromatic fall-inspired look for your home? Or a classic, bohemian wall hanging with accompanying plants? If you’re in the market for some elegant and simple wall decor, shelf decor, and other small decorations to top off your home’s style, be sure to browse around the shop for your new homeware needs. It will not disappoint.

Wind City Books

Wind City Books, just across Center Street from the Floral Rhino, will have all book-lovers alike exhilarated by their endless range of literature (and yes, MORE!) If you go in-store or look at their website, you will not miss the wide range of books you can find there of all disciplines whether it be self-help and how-to, young adult, or History! Check out the photo below to see the abundance of books across multiple shelves and stands.

This book store has all your reading wants and needs and also includes a great kids section in the back (next to an incredible in-house coffee shop ☕️). They also feature many book and literature-related events during the month such as book signings, book talks, and book launches for all of the latest and popular publications!

Back-to-school month does not always have to mean busy schedules, school supply shopping, and homework. Take advantage of your local stores, hangouts, and restaurants to take the back-to-school blues away and spend a day (or part of the day) in your favorite parts of downtown Casper. Best of luck to students and educators alike in your next school year!