decorahnews.com feature: New brochure tells visitors what Decorah has to offer

Two Decorah business owners have combined forces to produce 10,000 copies of a brochure that tells people many of the things that Decorah has to offer.

The idea started with Revelations owner Renee Carlson, who each summer visits Perham, MInnesota, a town of around 3,000 residents three hours northwest of Minneapolis.  Carlson says the town "is kind of booming," in large part, she believes, because of the way it tells its story to visitors.

She says when people come to her store on Water Street--sometimes after driving several hours to get to the wig shop portion of her business--they don't always realize what Decorah has to offer.

That's where Brian Peterson, one of the owners of Letterwerks, came in.  He helped Carlson to produce a brochure with a map of downtown Decorah that has numbers corresponding to individual business locations.  The brochure then has a photo and a short description of the business.

Peterson says he's had the same experience as Carlson of people coming to Decorah and asking, "What's there to do in town?"  He thinks the brochure is a great way to answer that question.

Carlson is urging people to stop at the Decorah Area Chamber of Commerce to pick up brochures--either one brochure for their personal use, or a stack of brochures to hand out at their businesses.  Peterson says he's been working on regional distribution of the brochures as well--dropping them off in small towns between Decorah and La Crosse or Rochester.  In all, 10,000 copies of the brochure have been printed just in time for the holidays.  "If it works well, we'll do more," says Peterson.