Olive Leaf Pantry, DCS Fitness, WOW! Zone

Fairmont: Olive Leaf Pantry

If not for her daughter’s Celiac disease, 36-year-old Diana Nelson never would have opened Olive Leaf Pantry at 214 E. Blue Earth. It’s a retail store selling hard-to-find grocery, dairy, and frozen items benefiting people whose bodies can’t tolerate gluten, lactose, nuts, eggs, soy, tree nuts or other foods.

“Three years ago, my daughter Victoria started getting sick and breaking out in hives,” said Nelson in a Connect Business Magazine telephone interview. “The most intense symptom was stomach pains. Later, every so often, she would struggle with breathing, couldn’t swallow, and the skin around her eyes puffed up.” Eventually, a local doctor diagnosed Victoria with Celiac disease, which results when a person’s body doesn’t tolerate gluten from wheat, barley or rye.

“During the time she was sick, I left my job to focus on caring for her and on how to solve it,” she said. After the diagnosis, she began taking trips to Rochester and further out to buy gluten-free food. In time, by shopping several stores, she was able to piecemeal Victoria’s diet.

Then Nelson began learning of other people with Celiac disease—including three of Victoria’s classmates. So instead of shopping hours away, she decided to open Olive Leaf Pantry. “We have everything from breakfast items, including cereal, to snacks for kids, trail mixes, granola bars, and pre-baked cookies and brownies,” she said. “We have food for people that can’t tolerate dairy products. And everything in the store is gluten-free.” The store also carries organic items.

She said, “We’re offering people options. When a little boy says he hasn’t had a cookie or piece of candy in two years and you see his (happy) face—that alone makes opening the store worth it for me.” She has had customers from all over, including Jackson, Worthington, Mankato, and northern Iowa.

Contact: oliveleafpantry.com Telephone: 507-235-3526.

 

Mankato: DCS Fitness

“I’ve always loved fitness and healthy nutrition, and so over a year ago I decided I wanted to begin competing in figure and bodybuilding—that’s what started the idea of opening DCS Fitness,” said 42-year-old Jo Ann Burns in a telephone interview. A former Wisconsin farm girl used to baling hay and milking cows, Burns is now a certified personal trainer and certified sports nutritionist helping clients shape up through weight training, proper nutrition, and developing a positive mental attitude. Burns sees her clients at fitness centers around town or in their homes.

She doesn’t have any mental hang-ups about building muscle mass, but acknowledges many women today do. “I can’t tell you how many times women coming to me think that if they lift one weight they’ll get bulky. I tell them to look at me and what I’ve accomplished,” she said.

Her regimen focuses on weight training and what she calls “smart cardio,” referring to training that doesn’t burn off lean muscle mass. Her training philosophy is that muscle eats fat and the way to build muscle is through weight training. As for daily diet, she advises people to eat five meals—three and two snacks—in order to keep “your body in a fat-burn zone,” she said.

“And the mental aspect of my training is helping you tell yourself every day that you may not have a 32-inch waist now, but you will get there,” she said. “My mentality is to get better every day by training a little harder, and focusing and succeeding more. That should be everyone’s daily mentality and by having it you can do anything.”

She has male and female clients ranging from ages 13-60. Most male clients are over 40. Each fitness contract is unique and can range in length from one session to six months. She said, “I can help transform a person’s life, including the way they look and the inner voice to believe anything is possible.”

Contact: dcsfitnessmankato.com. Telephone: 507-995-0317.

 

Mankato: WOW! Zone

Over the last six years, Pam and Doug DeMarce were regularly discussing “doing something” because of their running out of space on Victory Drive to expand. Doug was the long-time owner of Victory Bowl. Last November, the couple and two partners, Jim Kopischke and Mike Rose, opened WOW! Zone—a combination 24-lane bowling alley, 40-piece games arcade, miniature golf course, laser tag area, restaurant, and more.

Pam DeMarce met her husband at Victory Bowl, and later worked there, but developed most of her people skills over a 35-year Taylor Corporation career. She began with Carlson Craft in 1973, worked in accounts receivable, and ended up at the Midwest call center. She said, “But those three (Kopischke, Rose, and Doug DeMarce) have worked together the 35 years. I’m really the new kid on the block.”

Business has gone well, she said. “Besides bowling, we have laser tag, which is a great team building and play event young people love,” she added. “We also have mini-golf and over 40 pieces of arcade equipment for all ages. We have a snack bar, a restaurant, and a sports bar—all with a full menu. We’re really excited about the pizza. We have what used to be TJ Finnegan’s pizza.”

The bowling portion includes eight private lanes used for children’s birthday parties and corporate events. “When you book a lane in our VIP area, you get a party room,” she said. Because of the overall building size and contents, many first-time visitors express disbelief such a facility could be in Mankato.

She said, “And I’ve seen so many families coming to have fun here. One family said they couldn’t remember the last time they could play together as a family. We saw a community need. There aren’t many places for families to go in terms of having fun, food, and play.”

Contact: wowzonefec.com Location: 2030 Adams, behind Hilltop Hy-Vee, Telephone: 625-2695.