Joy Murphy is hard at work in her attic workshop on the third floor of her Rock Island home, busy making handmade Christmas stockings for sale in her showroom and online.
“Right now, it’s frantic, 18 hours a day, 7 days a week,” Murphy says.
Her business, Aunt Joy’s Personalized Christmas Stockings was born out of Murphy’s frustration when buying stockings for her family 20 years ago.
“I needed a stocking for my family. I wanted something that would anchor our family, our family traditions,” she said.
She started small at craft shows, then started to build her business online, creating her Christmas keepsakes on an assembly line of sewing machines. And proud of it.
“Made in America, handcrafted, top quality, and if you go the stores, you’re just gonna find made in China. I’m a manufacturer and a retailer. I’m an online retailer and a local retailer,” she said.
Murphy sells more than a thousand personalized Christmas stockings a year to people all over the world. Hand cut. Made with care.
“You will find small business owners and entrepreneurs, it is in their blood. They love what they do. It’s not work and I have the best job in the world,” she said.
In honor of Small Business Saturday, Aunt Joy’s is holding an open house Friday, Saturday , and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
It is located at 4502 7th Avenue in Rock Island, Illinois
