With unique shopping, fantastic food, and a vibrant feeling of community, McPherson's Main Street is a great place to visit.

Many of McPherson's small downtown businesses are run by women who are eager to be a part of the Main Street community.

Amics, a Mediterranean Café located at 204 N.Main in McPherson, first opened six years ago as a gourmet catering business specializing in seasonal menus, Mediterranean dishes and personalized service. Since then, the business has expanded and now offers lunch service six days a week, and a tapas bar serving dinner entrées and appetizers three nights a week.

“We realized the community could use a small restaurant, and I've always had a love for the restaurant industry,”explained owner and chef Anne Kirchner.“Our downtown location offers us a great storefront, so people walking by see it and are intrigued.”

The café is certainly intriguing.Repeat travel to Mediterranean countries and an interest in healthy eating helped the Kirchners to develop their unique menu, which features an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables.The name Amics means friends in Catalan, the language of Barcelona, Spain.

“We create friendships through the art of food,”Kirchner said.“I have developed so many relationships, met such a large variety of people that I never would have met otherwise. It's great to connect with people like that.”

The Main Street Deli is another great restaurant located at 108 S.Main.Their menu offers specialty sandwiches or soup in a bread bowl, and features bakery treats made from scratch daily.

“We really are committed to making the best experience for our customers,” explained owner and chef Kim Zehr,who purchased the business from her sister after she opened it nearly twenty years ago.Zehr worked as a manager for years before buying the restaurant in 2003.

“I'm here from the beginning of the day, every day,” said Zehr.“We make everything From scratch and are committed to keeping up the quality.We have a reputation in the community and a rapport with the customers, and that's important to me.”

Zehr noted that although it has been a struggle to operate a restaurant during a time of economic recession, her downtown location has helped her keep regular clientele.

“Our busy time is lunch, attributed to the business community of Main Street McPherson,” she said.“In the summer months,we do see people that are traveling, and that is a bonus for us, but our dayto- day customers are business people or people out shopping downtown.”

The Courtyard on Main features a great patio environment for outdoor dining and offers a unique menu of pastries, sandwiches, wraps, and salads.The Courtyard is located at 203 S.Main in McPherson.

Owner and chef Judith Dobson was drawn to the active downtown community of McPherson, and had a passion for food. The Courtyard is a family business, where Everyone helps and pulls together.

“We are very particular, and I treat people like I want to be treated,”Dobson explained. “It's great to be able to give that to my customers.”

Although it can be a challenge to run a restaurant in a small community like McPherson,Dobson works hard to keep traffic flowing in The Courtyard.

“When you are located next door to larger towns, you can lose a lot of business to them,” she said.“But I find that if we do a good job,we can take advantage of our location and draw customers from the surrounding communities.”

For nearly 15 years,Neighbors Café has been serving modest,“just like mom used to make” specialties. Located at 204 S.Main, Neighbors offers seating at the counter where you can watch your food being prepared.

“We have good food,good customer service, and we just like to have fun,”explained owner Shelly Wiggins.“If you can't have fun at work,work is no fun!”

The restaurant operates out of an older building in downtown McPherson, and Wiggins noted that it can be difficult to deal with the expenses that come along with that.But she wouldn't trade her location for anything.

“Downtown is where the action is,”she said.“We do get a lot of traffic. I'm always so grateful for the people who drive into town to eat at places like this, instead of stopping at the chain restaurants along the interstate.”

Wiggins loves being able to meet new people all of the time,but also likes seeing familiar faces and getting to know her regular customers. She has been fortunate to work with the same chef since first opening her doors nearly 15 years ago.

“In this line of work, people don't usually stay with you,” she said.“But they do here.”

Located at 219 N.Main in McPherson,The Cooks Nook offers unique kitchen items as well as cooking classes and demonstrations. The store was opened 23 years ago by Priscilla Smith.

“Back then, there really wasn't anywhere you could go to get this type of stuff,”Smith explained.“We put in a lot of hours and try to stay on top of the latest trends in the kitchen.”

The cooking classes that Smith offers at the store are a big draw for both local customers and out-of-town visitors, but she notes that keeping up with evolving technology in the kitchen can be a bit of a challenge.

“Technology is moving so fast that it can be very hard to keep up with,”noted Smith.“It's even changing the way people shop.”

The Bookshelf and The Hidden Closet are both owned by Linda Rounds, and offer onestop shopping for clothes, accessories, Books, and music.The stores are located together at 206 N.Main in McPherson.

“Two years ago,we moved to a new location and expanded to include a clothing department,”explained Rounds, adding that The Bookshelf has been part of McPherson's downtown for over 30 years.“It's great,having the two stores under one roof.We offer something for everyone.”

Over the years,Rounds has seen a lot of support from the community of McPherson, noting that many of her customers have been loyal to her for more than 30 years. She also sees a number of repeat customers from other communities.

“My customers are the best customers on the face of the earth,”Rounds said. “McPherson is such a wonderful community, and I'm very lucky that I've been able to do what I love.”

Sassybags is a new addition to McPherson's downtown community.The business started out as a home-based party business, offering purses,wallets, jewelry, shoes, and accessories to the women of McPherson. In 2009,owner Casey Stucky opened up a shop at 302 N.Main. “People just stroll through downtown, and no one is ever in a hurry so they have time to talk and chat,”Stucky explained.

“McPherson is a small community, so there is a limited market, but we have very loyal customers from McPherson and we really appreciate them for doing business with us.”

A stay-at-home mom, Stucky was in need of an identity of her own. Sassybags gives her the opportunity to be creative and meet other women in the community.

“The girls that I get to hire are wonderful, I love my employees and it's great to have Those relationships,”noted Stucky.“There are a lot of perks to owning a business here.”

After working for 22 years towards opening a jewelry store,Gina Venable finally opened Venable Jewelers at 214 N. Main.The store features many designer lines, diamond and bridal jewelry, watches, and costume jewelry, as well as a Certified Gemologist with credentials in Basic and Intermediate jewelry repair.

“This has always been my dream, and I really think we've filled a niche here in McPherson,”Venable said.“I was really interested in opening a shop downtown, and the building that came up for sale used to be a jewelry shop. It was a perfect location.”

Since the business opened in November,Venable has seen a great deal of support from the community in McPherson, as well as the surrounding area.

“We do see a lot of people from out of town here,” she said.“I've even had customers from Wichita tell me that this is their new favorite store.That means a lot to me because there are a lot of stores in Wichita!”

Although she is working more hours being her own boss and running her own store,Venable is thrilled to finally achieve her dream.

“I love McPherson, and I love the downtown merchants,”explained Venable.“We all work together to support each other, and it's a great community.

In addition to these great shops and restaurants,McPherson's Main Street offers a variety of other dining options and many more unique shops.