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ThanksKeltic opens in Elgin with $11,000 in local grants
Summary
ThanksKeltic, a Celtic gift shop owned by Nikki Richardson Rafferty, opened July 12 at 34 North Avenue C in Elgin. The owner said the business received a $10,000 matching grant from EDC and $1,000 from Main Street to help with storefront improvements.
ThanksKeltic, a Celtic goods shop owned by Nikki Richardson Rafferty, opened in downtown Elgin on July 12 and received local grant funding to help renovate its storefront.
Nikki Richardson Rafferty, owner of ThanksKeltic, said the business received a $10,000 matching grant from EDC and $1,000 from Main Street to reimburse fees and pay for improvements such as painting, windows and an outdoor patio. "EDC awarded us, $10,000 matching grant," Richardson Rafferty said. "The main street gave us a thousand dollars for some of the fees that we paid."
The grants helped the shop complete cosmetic work before and after its July grand opening and offset costs tied to relocating the business, Richardson Rafferty said. "A lot of it was the patio that we have outside. A lot of it went to that painting and doing the windows just making the building a little bit more attractive in the area," she said.
Stacy Ford Osborne,…
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