BEMIDJI 鈥� A personal challenge that was supposed to last only a month has turned into a unique new business in the Bemidji area.
Mrs. Sippi, a non-alcoholic bottle shop, opened last week along U.S. Highway 71 a few miles south of town. It鈥檚 owned by Mikaela Fisher, a hairstylist by trade, who decided to stop drinking alcohol 19 months ago.
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鈥淚t started with just picking a dry month,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t was going to be May (of 2023). I went into it just thinking it was going to be a dry month, and every day, I felt better and better. I thought this could be a thing. I did it just to feel better. I never had a DUI, there was no rock bottom. I was just sick of feeling like crap when I drank.鈥�
Fast forward a couple months and the idea of opening an alcohol-free bottle shop was born.
鈥淚 literally texted my husband one day and said, 鈥業 have an idea,鈥� 鈥� Fisher said. 鈥淚t was last July. My co-worker asked, 鈥楧o you know this is a thing, non-alcoholic bottle shops?鈥� And that day, I said I have to do this. Because we don鈥檛 have anything like this. Northern Minnesota really needed this.鈥�
Mrs. Sippi offers a wide variety of non-alcoholic beverages, from wines to beers to spirits to something called RTD (ready-to-drink) mocktails. It also offers low-dose cannabis in beverages and gummies, stemware, and even cribbage boards with the store鈥檚 logo imprinted on them.
Fisher said there were some surprises during the shop鈥檚 first week of operation, which happened to be Thanksgiving week. There were more men shopping than she expected, and some pregnant women were among the customers.
鈥淚t was wonderful,鈥� she said. 鈥淎 lot of males; I was kind of shocked. People who are just wanting something different. They wanted to bring something to the holiday table that was different. It was really touching. I get emotional. To be able to touch people like that, it鈥檚 just a very humbling experience. I feel like I鈥檓 doing what I should be doing.鈥�
Wine was the biggest seller heading into Thanksgiving, she said. Cannabis drinks and gummies also sold well.
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鈥淵ou won鈥檛 see anything (in cannabis products) above 5 milligrams,鈥� Fisher said. 鈥淭hat has been a really great seller. My message is not to give up this substance for that substance. So a lot of the clients are here for sleeping aids, or calming, or pain.鈥�
While most liquor stores also offer non-alcoholic choices, Fisher said she doesn鈥檛 see them as direct competition.
鈥淲e鈥檙e just so different from a liquor store, being that we are NA only,鈥� she said. 鈥淛ust being alcohol-free myself, I wanted a space to go and shop a variety. So Mrs. Sippi is that space to have options for people under one roof, one stop.鈥�
Fisher grew up in Laporte and married her high school sweetheart, Dana Fisher. She graduated from cosmetology school in Bemidji and worked for two salons before opening her own, M Salon, at 1900 Division St. W. She and Dana purchased the property for the new M Salon and Mrs. Sippi bottle shop from his father last year. Located one-quarter mile south of Bemidji Steel, its official address is 23933 Tranquility Drive, Laporte. So Mikaela calls it a homecoming of sorts.
鈥淚t鈥檚 like a dream come true,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 happy to be back in my ZIP code.鈥�
While Mikaela is most comfortable working in her salon, opening her new bottle shop has been an eye-opening experience, especially since she says she did not have an entrepreneurial spirit growing up.
鈥淓veryone, even my family, they were just shocked,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 was very shy and introverted, so to do this? My husband has been the push. He just knew I could do it. We touch so many people in the hair industry, and this is something so much more.鈥�
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Although she is alcohol-free by choice, Fisher said she knows it鈥檚 not for everyone.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to preach; I don鈥檛 want to judge,鈥� she said. 鈥淣o one should be judged or shamed. All are welcome. We鈥檙e just all on this journey so differently.鈥�
The Trust Project
