If you’re a regular MBIP reader, you know that I preach and I practice shopping local.

Well, there’s a new store on Main Street that’s about as local as you can get and the name of the place says it all: Peoria Made. They just opened up a little bit ago and I thought I’d take a trip and see what this place is all about.

So let’s go and see some things that are Peoria Made!

Here we are at Peoria Made. Check out the photo in the middle, I love how the Peoria Courthouse is reflected in there. An obligatory Courthouse Mirror photo! I love it when that happens!

Okay, let’s go in and see what’s happening in here.

Wow, it’s nice in here. Let’s go see who this guy at the table is.

This is Jake Hamann the Executive Director of Peoria Made. He told me things are going great here and that this is a place that promotes and celebrates local Peoria merchandise and art.

He said I could wander around and take some photos, which is perfect, because that’s what I do, so let’s wander!

A portion of the space is dedicated to a Downtown Peoria Visitors Center featuring this photo opportunity to pose in front of this Peoria mural and share it on social media. Don’t forget the hashtag #ENJOYPEORIA.

Peoria Made features local merchandise for sale, but the space itself is part of the business plan. If you become a member of Peoria Made, you can have access to the CoThinking Lounge with Wifi, a large screen TV and a space for one-on-one mentoring, meetings and in-depth group discussion.

There’s also a Learning Lab you can rent out and a podcast studio is coming soon. You can read all about it here.