LA PORTE CITY - When Autumn Craft and her husband moved from Iowa City back to their hometown of La Porte City, Craft didn't have any intentions of opening up a business.

Fresh from her job as senior unit director for the Boys & Girls Club of Cedar Rapids, Craft thought she might work as a graphic designer on a freelance basis. It was something she had been doing for the past year.

"But I'm more of a people person and wanted to do something for the community," Craft said. "So I thought, 'What better way than to open up my own business?'"

So the Union High School grad moved onto Main Street with her new store, Bitter Sweet Boutique and Design. The store pairs unique gifts, jewelry and home decor with Craft's expertise in graphic design.

The "Boutique" side features handbags, jewelry, accessories and other gifts, and caters mainly to women or those shopping for them. The "Design" side is where customers can get birth and wedding announcements, newsletters, posters, birthday invitations and logo development - pretty much anything that Craft can put together with her graphic design knowledge, she said.

She said business has been steady, and new people are discovering her every day since her opening Dec. 1. The "Boutique" side, Craft said, has generated the most buzz.

"The community is saying, 'It's so nice to have something like this,' because for years there hasn't been anything like this in town," Craft said.

Mayor Rick Lubben is glad to see his town's Main Street improving. La Porte City has struggled with vacant properties, and buildings downtown converted into warehouses where there used to be storefronts, for years.

In recent months the city has taken steps to try and reverse that trend, bringing in consultants from the Iowa Downtown Resource Center to analyze what could be done with the downtown area.

"We're always looking for businesses to fill up vacant buildings," Lubben said. "The more active businesses any town has is only a positive."

Lubben noted Bitter Sweet Boutique & Design is only one of a handful of new storefronts opening up in the area in the past few months. Others include an antique mall and a physical therapy clinic.

"It's just like the economy - there's upswings and downswings," Lubben said. "I hope La Porte City is on the upswing."

Contact Amie Steffen at (319) 291-1464 or amie.steffen@wcfcourier.com.