Every now and again I’ll get a comment on facecrack from someone suggesting I visit a local business. This was the case last week when I started this “Shopping Locally” series to put the word out to shop local and help our community businesses that have been hurt by being shut down the last three months.

Here’s the comment from Gary Adelman.

Well, this is a retail business I’ve never been to. Thanks for the hat-tip, Gary, let’s get over there right now and check them out!

Here we are at Branded Country wear. They’re located in the strip mall right next to Notre Dame High School on Sheridan Road.

Hey, check out that female mannequin…

She’s topless! And yeah, I know she’s topless because she doesn’t have a head, but she’s also shirtless! I stared at this for about seven minutes.

Yeah, there’s something wrong with me. Let’s just walk away from this now!

Shop dog on duty? That sounds interesting, let’s go inside and check this out!

Wow, this is Lucy and she’s friendly, welcoming and loves to have her picture taken! I love her! And how do I know her name is Lucy?

Because Erin told me so!

Erin Bourscheidt is one of the owners of Branded and she told me a little bit of the history of this locally owned shop that’s currently in their sixth year of business and here’s some highlights of this history lesson.

• Branded was Opened in May 2014 in Metro Centre by Seth and Stacey Landwehr, because Seth wanted a brown cowboy hat and there wasn’t anywhere locally to buy one.

• Erin was bought in as a partner in January 2017 to combine her 17 years of retail experience, her horse hobby, Her obsession with turquoise and fringe and her love of meeting new people.

• They moved to their current shopping center on Sheridan Road in March of 2017 and have just relocated next door to double our square footage.

• Lucy is on duty six days a week to act as a door alarm and greet customers. Treats are encouraged, but not required.

• They are open six days a week, 10am-6pm. Closed Sundays. Website is open 24-7.

• You can join their VIP Facebook group for special savings, advance notice of new products, and a wild online auction twice a year…and maybe a picture or two of our adorable mascot, Lucy…she’s famous…she even has her own t-shirt!

Erin had to go wait on a customer, but she told me to feel free to wander and take photos, so that’s exactly what I did!

The store is huge and is loaded with interesting items.

They have to have the largest selection of cowboy boots in Peoria and beyond! The men’s boots are on this wall…

And the women’s cowboy boots are on the opposite wall across the store. I’ve never seen so many cowboy boots! Yeeha!

There’s also a nice selection of cowboy hats, you can decide if you want to be the good guy or the bad guy!

There’s all kinds of western clothing in here including jeans, shirts, dresses, accessories and belts.

Some of the jewelry in here is made by local jewelry artists, including items made by owner Erin!

There’s also a kids section for the little western wearers in your life.

Don’t forget, Father’s Day is coming up!

And yeah, I stared at the topless mannequin for another seven minutes when I left. I’m thinking about asking her out.

This week’s Pandemic Purchase is a t-shirt that Erin pointed out to me and this isn’t just your run of the mill t-shirt, it’s for a special cause.

Seth and Stacey Landwehr’s son Brigham was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma just before his second birthday in February. All the profits from this t-shirt go to helping out with the medical expenses for Brigham.

Erin said that Brigham is fighting back and doing as well as can be expected and you can stop in to the shop and buy a t-shirt to show support for this little guy. There’s also a Go-Fund-Me page which I encourage you to donate to. Even five bucks will help out!

There’s also a facecrack page that you can like and show your support for this brave little guy: Brigham’s Battle Buddies.