ABOVE: Bud + Blossom and Midwest Craft Cannabis Owners Dustin and Alicia Schultze stand in the front area facing the street, where the Bud + Blossom homemade goods piece of their business will be located. This sign usually faces the front, letting people know the space at 26 N. Main Street will soon be open for business. (Owners Jana and Terry Roemen not pictured)

SHERBURN – After two straight years of working both physically and mentally, Alicia and Dustin Schultze, along with Jana and Terry Roemen, are just months away from opening their hand-crafted goods and cannabis shops.

Due to legal requirements, the hand-crafted goods portion, named Blossom + Bud, will be the front area of the store.

“I envision Blossom + Bud to be filled with handcrafted products, thoughtful products that people connect with,” Alicia Schultze said. “I want our community to be part of our space, giving them a place to share and sell what they create.”

Alicia and Dustin Schultze bought the space at 26 N. Main Street in Sherburn in April 2024. At the time, the main thing they were looking to do was open Blossom + Bud. But even back then, they could see that a lot needed to be worked on.

“There was no electricity, no heat, no water,” Alicia Schultze said. “First, we started on cosmetic stuff. We did paint throughout, and we did all the sheetrock, put the drop-down ceiling, scraped up all the old broken tiles off the floor and laid all this wooden floor down, and we did the ceiling. We got electric in here, all the furnace and all of that stuff.”

All of it, besides the electrical work, was solely done by the Schultze family. Six months after purchasing the building, the Schultzes saw that the ball was rolling on marijuana legislation, and they brought in Jana and Terry Roemen as co-owners for the cannabis piece of their business, Midwest Craft Cannabis.

In other dispensaries, Alicia Schultze said it had been a more clinical, bright and hospital-like experience. What they’ve sought to bring to Sherburn is the exact opposite.

“We felt that there was room in Sherburn for something different,” Alicia Schultze said. “Cannabis can be intimidating and misunderstood. It can help people in a lot of ways, but the experience around it hasn’t always felt comfortable. We wanted to create a space where people can come in, ask questions, and feel at ease. No pressure, just conversations and overall good experience. A kind of shop that we would want to walk into ourselves.”

Currently, Dustin Schultze said the only main things they need to do are install a required security system and grow the cannabis required to stock their business, as they will not be buying wholesale from elsewhere.

Overall, Alicia Schultze said they have received interest and positive buzz from community members in the lead-up to their opening.

“I was super intimidated to go into a council meeting here in Sherburn and present the idea to the council,” she said. “We had three ladies that were in there that I was nervous to present in front of, and they came up and said how excited they were that this was coming to the community.”

Before they open, the co-owners have opened the building in other ways for people, including through seed swaps to benefit local gardens.

“It’s been a blessing to have this building, so I figure since we have it, we should use it, and not just for our sales and our shop,” Alicia Schultze said. “We really enjoy having community events, specifically free community events. We’ve also had a couple of clothing drives. The first clothing drive was for back-to-school readiness. We had clothing for kids and school supplies, all free, all donated by the community.”

Overall, Alicia Schultze said they’re happy to bring more business to a town they all hold dear.

“I’m not sure why, but we are really lacking businesses here in Sherburn,” she said. “I’m excited to be offering something to the community here. Hopefully, people will be able to do some shopping up front at Blossom + Bud and not have to drive to Fairmont or Mankato. I think Sherburn really does need some liveliness here, and there’s no reason that businesses cannot be successful here.”

The current plan is for the businesses to open this summer.