Biz Buzz publishes business news from the tri-state area. This edition highlights developments in Galena, Illinois; Fennimore, Wisconsin; and Maquoketa, Iowa.

GALENA, Illinois – A new antique store has opened in Galena that focuses on offering eclectic, one-of-a-kind finds.

White Rooster Antiques recently opened on the ground floor of the Hotel Galena at 324 Spring Street. The store offers a variety of unique antiques and collectibles, including vintage signs, metal goods, paper products and more.

“Our concept is that we specialize in unique pieces that you won’t find in a regular antique shop,” said co-owner Becky Loske. “We’re always looking for little treasures to add to our collection.”

Loske runs White Rooster Antiques with her husband, Clifford Blanck. The couple previously ran an antique store under the same name in St. Charles, Illinois, before moving to Galena late last year.

The couple searched for several months for a storefront before finding the Spring Street location. The store is easily accessible from U.S. 20, Loske said, and within walking distance of Galena’s famous Main Street.

The couple opened the space to customers earlier this month, Loske said, after previously working to restock and relocate inventory.

“We were excited to open the store because our house had been filled with boxes and boxes of this stuff,” Loske said. “We were very willing to clear some of it out of our house and put it on the shelves.”

Visitors to White Rooster Antiques are immediately greeted by Nick Danger, a life-size stuffed bison. Other notable items include a skeleton once used as a teaching tool in hospitals and an original FBI wanted poster from the 1960s.

The store carries antiques from several areas of U.S. history, as well as a selection of Galena-related items, such as a bust of former President Ulysses S. Grant that matches the bust in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington.

“This year we’ve been looking for a lot of Galena-related items,” Loske said. “Everyone has that one thing they’re looking for and we want to help them find it.”

White Rooster Antiques is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Work is underway to establish a web presence for the store, but the company can currently be reached by phone at 630-999-9771.

Fennimore Dance Studio under new management

A dance studio in southwest Wisconsin is preparing for its first season under new management.

Hayley Bender recently took over as director of Evolve Dance Company at 1130 Lincoln Ave. in Fennimore. The studio previously operated under the name Dance Elite under the direction of longtime owner Holly Johnson.

Bender took over the reins this summer after beginning her own dance career at the studio as a student nearly two decades ago. For the past five years, she has worked there as a dance instructor.

“When I took it over, I had a huge list of possible names and ultimately decided on Evolve Dance because I think it reflects where our studio is now,” Bender said. “We’re taking parts of what the studio used to be and evolving into what it can be.”

The Evolve Dance Company offers a variety of recreational and competitive dance classes for young people aged 3 and up. The offering ranges from lyrical and ballet classes to tap and jazz dance for soloists and groups.

Bender said she intends to maintain many of the offerings former Dance Elite families are accustomed to while implementing her own improvements and additions, and she is already thinking about possibilities for new types of classes.

“I think you can teach children a lot through dance,” said Bender. “We talk about time and responsibility and place a lot of emphasis on professionalism.”

Registration for Evolve Dance Company’s upcoming season is now open, with rehearsals beginning September 2. More information and registration guidelines are available online at evolvedancecompanyllc.com.

Maquoketa Theater reopens after renovation

An iconic movie theater in Maquoketa has reopened under new ownership.

Voy 2 Theaters recently reopened at 207 S. Main St. under the leadership of longtime employee Taylor Casel. The two-screen theater had been closed since June to accommodate the change in ownership and related renovations.

“I have a lot of history here, and the community has a lot of history here,” Casel said of the theater. “It’s been really exciting to be able to bring people back here the last few weekends now that everything’s back up and running.”

The cinema’s previous owner and operator was Dennis Voy, who bought the business in 1973. At that time, the downtown cinema had only one screen, but Voy later expanded it to three screens.

In recent years, Voy’s health problems led him to sell the downtown theaters to Casel, a Maquoketa native who had worked at the theater for nearly 10 years before purchasing the company.

Casel purchased two of the three screens to continue operating at Voy Theaters, while the building containing the third screen was sold separately. The Voy family continues to operate the Voy 61 Drive-In Theater near Delmar, Iowa.

“We’ve preserved a lot of the historic feel of the theater,” Casel said. “I think there was a lot of concern that we would change the aesthetic of the space, but we didn’t want to do that at all. We just wanted to update and maintain things for our customers.”

As part of these upgrades, Casel doubled the size of the food menu, which now includes nachos, slushies, sodas, a wide variety of candy and more. She also updated the restrooms and repainted parts of the theater that needed renovation.

Customers can also book private screenings for birthday parties and other events, and she hopes to expand the Voy Theatres experience even further in the future to include an arcade.

“I have kids myself and I know that when I go somewhere, I like to look for something where my boys have a lot of choices,” Casel said. “… There are some things I want to expand here, but that will take some time and money at first.”

Voy 2 Theatres offers performances Tuesday through Saturday at 7pm and Saturday and Sunday at 2pm. The theatre opens 30 minutes before each performance and the current performance schedule can be found online at facebook.com/voytheatres.