Heartland Harvest Market and Antiques to open Tuesday

It takes a lot of work to make a dream into a reality.

Just ask Crystal Shafer, who on Tuesday will open the doors on a passion project she�s turned into a business venture: Heartland Harvest Market and Antiques.

It�s a crafts and antiques mall, but it�s also a venue for crafters to build their own space � some, literally.

The building was formerly a windows and siding business at 3277 Highway 72, just outside the Jackson city limits, and went from a bare-bones setup to having different areas built out, adorned with barn wood from a Chaffee, Missouri, demolition, and one pair of booths built with not just walls, but a tin roof and porch on each end; like a small house.

And the lighting fixtures in that small house came from a gymnasium in Anna, Illinois, Shafer said.

Vendor shop spaces are set up and seen Thursday at Heartland Harvest Market and Antiques in Jackson.KASSI JACKSON

�We call our sellers, our �market team members,�� Shafer said, and booths were still filling up late last week.

Of the 37 booths, all but a scant handful were rented out.

There�s a wide variety, Shafer said.

�We wanted something for everyone,� she said, and with that in mind, they�ll have the fare a shopper might expect at an upscale country/vintage market � older furniture, hand-painted items, knickknacks from decades past, intricate floral arrangements � but there�s also a �man cave,� repurposed items and a custom woodworker, Bob Myrick, on site, whose shop area has windows so shoppers can watch him build unique pieces.

�I love the variety of people who contacted me,� Shafer said.

A decorative display is seen Thursday at Heartland Harvest Market and Antiques in Jackson.KASSI JACKSON

This all started about a year ago, she said, when she decided to leave her longtime job at Cape First, a church in Cape Girardeau, to follow her dream of having an antiques and crafts store.

�We started looking at properties in multiple different areas,� Shafer said, including Cape Girardeau and Benton, Missouri, �but we landed back here, in Jackson, where we were living.�

In May, she and her husband bought the building, and in July, she started sharing updates on the business� Facebook page.

�I had so many people reach out to me,� Shafer said. �It really ignited my faith.�

Shafer and her mother have spent a lot of time shopping together in other places similar to Heartland Harvest Market, and attending auctions, even having booths themselves, so she�s done the market research.

Bob Myrick walks through his woodworking shop space Thursday at Heartland Harvest Market and Antiques in Jackson.KASSI JACKSON

And people are excited, she said. More than 750 people follow the Facebook page, and that combined with vendors rolling in adds up to a dream well on its way to fulfillment.

When she left her job at Cape First, she said, it was hard.

�You never want to tell your boss you�re bailing on him,� she said, �but he understood.�

The pastor, she said, says, �Dare to dream big.�

�I was his assistant,� she said, for more than a decade. �His words to me? �If it�s your dream, I�ll dream it with you.��

Vendor shop spaces are set up and seen Thursday at Heartland Harvest Market and Antiques in Jackson.KASSI JACKSON

And she�s still making plans. Next year, Shafer hopes to have outdoor market days, with more vendors and a festive atmosphere.

For now, though, Shafer is ready to open her doors and welcome shoppers in the grand opening celebration, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday.

mniederkorn@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3630