New business Imaginable Creations carves out spot on Belt Highway

By Cameron Montemayor

One of St. Joseph’s newest businesses on the South Belt Highway is now open and letting customers lead the way with their own style.

After years of operating exclusively online, Imaginable Creations celebrated its first day of business at the new storefront Wednesday at 300 South Belt Highway Suite B near Country Cookie.

Owner Jamie Butrum spent two years selling items primarily on Amazon and Facebook to raise enough money to open the storefront and make her longtime dream a reality. Butrum has worked to pay for everything out of pocket.

{p dir=”ltr”}“It was just like a big, huge relief of like, ‘I’ve made it,’ you know, something that you worked so hard for finally just happened,” Butrum said. “It’s a feeling you can’t really, like, describe, it’s amazing.”

A graphic designer at heart, Butrum’s business allows customers to create custom shirts, hats and signs along with a variety of pre-made items like koozies and keychains. Many of the store’s pre-made items are designed with a touch of humor.

The store is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday. The store is closed on Sunday and Monday.

Moving forward, Butrum is eager to bring the business to popular events like the South Side Fall Festival and engage with community organizations.

“I do want to kind of look into some organizations to like donate some clothes to move for the homeless,” she said.

A point of emphasis for Butrum is making items and apparel at a cost that people can afford. Items range from $5 for infants and toddlers to $15 for adults up to 2XL-5XL.

“I looked at thousands and thousands of T-shirt companies and everybody’s always like $30, 20 bucks … me personally, I can’t bring myself to spend $30 on a T-shirt,” Butrum said. “When you average out things with like inflation and all that, you’re like, okay, you’ve got to make it affordable.”

Imaginable Creations can be found on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok. The business is in the process of getting a website up and running.

While not an option currently, Butrum wants to offer customization in an area that few stores in St. Joseph offer — shoes.

“Shoes are kind of a big game right now. Everybody’s big on shoes,” she said with a smile.