Our Story

Hello! My name is Lucy Simmons. I live about five miles north of Idaho Falls with my husband, Jay. We have four daughters, and one son, all of which are married. We have one daughter and her family that live in Ohio, and one daughter and her husband that live in California where he attends school, but all the others live nearby and help us in some ways in running Mini Bazaar. We have thirteen grandchildren, three girls, and ten boys.

Mini Bazaar began with my sister, Millie Batt as my partner. We come from a family of six girls and still enjoy a close relationship with our mom and sisters. Our dad passed away in 2005 and one sister passed away in 1992. Two of our sisters, Ellen and Grace, make the roasted almond chocolates that we sell at Mini Bazaar, Grace works at the store, as well.

In the fall of 1980, we thought that we could gather a few handmade items and show them at home parties for orders (much like a Tupperware party). We spent our weekends doing afternoon or evening parties and everything we sold fit in the trunks of our cars. Eventually, we started to do mall shows. We would sell our wares, along with a few friends, in the hallways of the local mall for a weekend, now and then. Talented women would call us, interested in selling their wares and soon we could see that we needed more space.

We rented empty office space for a weekend at a time, both in Idaho Falls and Rexburg. As we accumulated display pieces and inventory we started looking for a permanent location. Millie stumbled on to the beautiful, new chiropractic building at 1880 E. 17th Street in Idaho Falls. It had a lovely garden level that included an unfinished basement. We talked Dr. Glanzer into letting us rent from him and we rented there from 1986 to 2006.

After being there for 20 years we found that parking and display space were getting pretty tight. We found an old metal building along the river along the river on Capital Avenue that we thought had great possibilities. You can now find us there at 765 S. Capital, along the river in Idaho Falls.

We open for a six week show beginning the second week in March and then we open on Fridays and Saturdays during May, June and July. We use August to prepare for our Fall season and open for six weeks during September and October. Our Christmas season opens two weeks before Thanksgiving and continues for six weeks.

As the 2007 year came to a close, Millie and her husband were called on a three year mission and she decided to retire at that time. We will always miss her at Mini Bazaar.

We are the oldest and the best boutique in this area, and have customers that travel long distances to visit us. We love our business, and enjoy our customers and the many friends that we've made over the years.