Knotty Gnome in Hartford is KSFY's feature for 'Made in South Dakota'

If you step inside the Knotty Gnome Variety & Salvage in Hartford, you will quickly find the 'Made in South Dakota' jackpot. Stacy and Kyle Wengler have created a store that focuses on locally made products, and in December it will be one-year-old.

Knotty Gnome features 16 different makers, and all but three are from South Dakota. The three not from the Mount Rushmore State are from the surrounding area though.

The store features a wood shop in back. Kyle says working with the wood is his favorite part of the shop. He and Stacy stay busy creating wood and metal home decor. They ship it to other local stores for sale too. Stacy offers several classes to help others learn about crafting.

"I wanted to teach people about crafting and sewing and making, so I needed a location for that," she said.

She grew up in Hartford, so building the new store there made sense. It is right off highway 38 through town, near the golf course. The two spend a lot of their time at the shop.

"We want to pretty much do everything. If it was up to us we would probably never buy anything and just make it ourselves," Kyle said.

Since opening, the two said things have been running smoothly.

"It's been great, so we don't have to dig into our own checking accounts to pay the bills. For the first year, you can't ask for anything better than that," Kyle said.

The store is opened Tuesday through Friday from noon to 6 p.m. On Saturday's it's open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

For more details on the Knotty Gnome, and to check out the class schedules, see the attached links.