Melissa Bland, owner of Honeybee Vintage in front of her Alton storefront
The RiverBend Growth Association has selected Honeybee Vintage in Alton as its June 2025 Small Business of the Month award recipient.
Located at 114 E. Broadway, it is in its fourth year of business now with Owner Melissa Bland collaborating with 20 vendors to create a marketplace that offers a variety of quality antiques, vintage décor and more.
“In designing the shop, we set out to create a marketplace offering quality antiques, vintage decor and clothing, seasonal decor, upscale resale, along with select new items,” Bland notes. “Our upper loft is known for resale and vintage clothing, and our Beetique area is a source for children’s resale (boutique and better brands) along with quality toys, books, and more.
“Our values include locally sourced goods, local art, artisan handcrafted, eco-friendly/sustainable products, women-owned small businesses, and not-found-on-Amazon,” she adds. “Honeybee set out to make antiquing a modern experience in a boutique environment. The mix of upscale resale allows the integration of designer touches throughout.”
And as a business, Honeybee Vintage has a goal of being a bright spot on Broadway for locals and tourists alike, while internally providing a collaborative environment for vendors to build their brands. “In addition to our shop in downtown Alton, Honeybee Vintage has a website offering 24/7 online shopping with shipping and free local pickup,” Bland further points out.
Honeybee Vintage started with a single booth in an antique mall. The brick-and-mortar standalone shop opened on Broadway in Alton in March of 2024. It is a continuous process to improve its product mix, says Bland, as well as its customer experiences, internal processes and vendor teaming. In addition, evident growth continues through key collaborations with other local businesses such as Post Commons and Brown Bag Bistro along with regional shops like Gingham Buffalo and The Mercantile in Edwardsville.
“Honeybee also helped form a marketing collaboration between a group of key antique shops and boutiques in the region, including Ruby Wren, Alton Exchange and the Pink Elephant,” says Bland.
And when asked about opportunities, Bland says, “The greatest opportunity might be our terrific location in a newly renovated historic building in the heart of downtown Alton, during an exciting time in the revitalization of our city through the efforts of AltonWorks, Alton Main Street, and many other like-minded business owners who are also trying to operate with excellence.
“We still get visitors from St. Louis, St. Charles, and from around the Metro East, so Alton is not forgotten, but we are on a mission to get more people from our region to recognize all that Alton has to offer, and to be part of building Alton’s future,” she explains further.
“While the revitalization of Alton holds tremendous promise, at Honeybee we constantly work to cultivate the necessary foot traffic,” Bland adds. “We ‘connect the dots’ between two clusters of shops on each end of Broadway, and we work hard to develop a local following. Every day, we are encouraged by new visitors, and we continue to work to get the word out about our shop.”
So, then, what about the competition?
Bland’s reply: “Interestingly, I view one of our competitive advantages to be a spirit of collaboration with other local businesses. As a friend once said, ‘All boats rise together.’ That said, in the antiques world, our demographic is aging, but for that reason, we have intentionally offered a mix to attract younger shoppers as well, for example, mid-century decor, vintage clothing, jewelry and unique gifts. Nothing makes me happier than when mothers and daughters come shopping together at Honeybee.”
Although Bland operates Honeybee Vintage as its sole owner, its vendor team is essential in keeping the shop running as well as for keeping it visually appealing, providing a unique product mix, and for maximum impact on social media. The team of vendors are also essential to providing customer service. “We are open seven days a week to serve downtown visitors and our loyal locals. This is made possible by a small subset of vendors who also work the counter,” Bland says.
“The vendor team includes a wonderful blend of seasoned dealers and savvy, hard-working newbies,” she says further. “A platform for team communication has been established to provide shop updates, share information, cultivate relationships, answer questions, and give advice.”
Honeybee Vintage also recognizes the value of staying viable through its support of the community and region. In 2024, for example, Honeybee gifted $5,000 in gift certificates for children’s clothing to organizations that included Oasis Women’s Center, Restore Network, and the Down Syndrome Association of Greater St. Louis. The venue is also an active member with Alton Main Street, Great Rivers & Routes, and of course, the RiverBend Growth Association.
“As a team, we have participated in the downtown cleanup days sponsored by Pride Incorporated,” Bland adds. “We also sponsor one of the new lamp post wreaths for downtown Alton, and hope this will grow to include flags in the summer. Honeybee has also contributed to the Haskell Playhouse brick campaign in support of protecting this local treasure, and we regularly hand out a ‘favorites list’ to out-of-town guests that directs them to other downtown shops and restaurants.”
In wrapping up the conversation, Bland shares that owning a shop was never in her thoughts when the family moved to Alton in 2018. “But it’s easy to fall in love with Alton, even with its struggles,” she says. “After being a stay-at-home mom and Air Force spouse for over 25 years, it was time to take the leap. I hope to make Honeybee Vintage better year by year.”
For more information about Honeybee Vintage, call (618) 619-0811 or visit online at https://honeybeevintagealton.com/.
You can also find and follow them on Facebook (@HoneybeeVintageAlton). Additional social media presences include Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, X and Pinterest.
The RiverBend Growth Association is the Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development organization for the 11 communities known as the Riverbend. For more information about the Growth Association, visit www.growthassociation.com or call (618) 467-2280.
RBGA’s Small Business of the Month Committee recognizes a different member business each month for its outstanding efforts and leadership in the community. Committee members include Brenda Eardley, Vicki Hake, Lacey Isringhausen, Amy Roady, Martha Schultz, Erin Spain, and Alexis Weller.
To learn more about membership in the RiverBend Growth Association and the Small Business of the Month recognition, visit the RBGA website or call their Godfrey office.