Kalona business expands to Williamsburg

WILLIAMSBURG — A popular Kalona business has expanded into Williamsburg, making purchases convenient for the customers who used to make the drive to Washington County to buy at Best of Iowa.

Lori Witthoft grew up between Wellman and North English and attended Mid-Prairie High School. She graduated from Iowa Mennonite School and graduated from Iowa State University.

She was a stay-at-home mom.

“We had built a home,” said Witthoft, and had filled it with antiques and vintage items.

  Buy Photo

When the project was complete, Witthoft had “all this extra stuff” that wasn’t used in her home décor.

“My neighbor had a kind of flea market fair,” said Witthoft, so she took some of her extra items there to sell. She began selling at other vintage shows and eventually decided to make it a permanent business.

“I decided I wanted to have something more of a brick and mortar,” Witthoft said.

Witthoft had planned to open “just a little vintage store,” she said, but the only place she could find in Kalona was very large.

Witthoft had met a lot of people who are “makers.” For many of them, selling what they made was their main source of income.

  Buy Photo

Witthoft invited them to share the space in Kalona with her, and Best of Iowa was born.

People like visiting the shop, said Witthoft. They like the atmosphere of it.

Witthoft finds vintage items to offer for sale as they are, “but we do repurpose things that are old,” she said, in one case turning turkey feeders into light fixtures.

In addition to selling vintage items, home decor and items made by vendors from across the state, Witthoft sells baked goods and freezer meals that she makes herself.

“And I’ve always liked to bake and cook,” Witthoft said.

“We have a lot of customers who were from Williamsburg. I often go to that community.”

Witthoft noticed an empty space on the Williamsburg square and “things just kind of fell into place,” she said.

  Buy Photo

She opened a second location and stocks it with the same items available in Kalona.

More than 35 makers from across Iowa sell a variety of wares at Best of Iowa, from tea towels and sweatshirts to oils and vinegar and a little wine.

The baked goods and freezer meals are available at both locations. “Everything we make here in Kalona, and we transport to Williamsburg daily,” Witthoft said.

The freezer meals can be ordered online and picked up at either location, but some meals are available without pre-order. “We usually always have a pretty good stock,” said Witthoff, and people can just pick out what they want.

But some people like to plan, and for larger groups, pre-order is necessary. “It’s kind of nice to be able to reserve what you want,” said Witthoft.

Orders for freezer meals can be placed at bestofiowakalona.com.

Best of Iowa in Williamsburg is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.