Biz Buzz shares business tidbits from across the tri-states. In this edition, we highlight developments in Dubuque and Maquoketa, Iowa.

A Dubuque hot yoga studio has changed hands.

Meg Rima has stepped down as the owner of Ignite Power Yoga Studio, 4480 Dodge St. Dani Tuescher took over ownership of the studio earlier this month.

“I’m not from Dubuque, so it’s my community,” Tuescher said of the studio. “All the people that go there, the teachers there are all my community. I just want to keep it moving forward and continue to build and grow the community.”

Tuescher said she first started taking classes at Ignite in 2014 and later trained to become a yoga teacher there.

“What yoga has taught me the most is the ability to not power through things, but being able to breathe and to pause and experience,” she said.

Rima said she started teaching yoga in her garage in 2012 before opening and founding Ignite in January 2014. She said the studio was the first to bring Baptiste yoga, a type of hot power yoga, to the Dubuque community.

Rima said she felt it was time to step down as owner, and she spoke with Tuescher about taking on her former role. Rima is still teaching five classes per week at Ignite.

“My mission when I started the studio was to share yoga in a big way and leave positive impacts on people’s lives and the world,” Rima said. “Dani taking over the studio is a way for that mission to continue.”

Tuescher said she hopes to continue building on the success of the studio, and she is in the process of adding a few more classes to the schedule.

“We don’t preach that yoga makes you stress-free,” she said. “We preach that we all have stress and stressful things and how you work with that,” she said.

More information on Ignite Power Yoga Studio’s class schedule can be found online at ignitepoweryogastudio.com. The studio can be reached at 563-231-7539.

Dubuque car detailing, race shop added automotive garage

A Dubuque business focusing on car detailing and race cars expanded services with the addition of an automotive garage.

Cody Brimeyer is the manager of TMR Automotive, an extension of TMR Enterprises, at 923 Peru Road. Brimeyer said he took over a portion of the TMR building nearly a year ago.

“I came down here last April (2021) and just kind of helped out working detail until my shop got going in August of last year,” he said.

Brimeyer said TMR Enterprises focuses on vehicle detailing, as well as building and selling race cars. But TMR Automotive operates solely as a service center for motorists to get their oil changed or brakes replaced.

Brimeyer said he has been working in automotive shops professionally for the past 13 years.

He said he was working at a Dubuque dealership before discussing opening a shop with Tyler Madigan, who launched TMR Enterprises. The service center is located in the back of TMR Enterprises’ 7,000-square-foot building.

“I like dealing with customers,” Brimeyer said. “I like the personal part of that. I’m just trying to run an honest business and have a place where someone can come and trust that I’m not going to try to upsell them.”

TMR Automotive can be reached at 563-581-3474. The shop is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Longtime Maquoketa gas station closes

A longtime, full-service Maquoketa gas station has officially closed its doors.

Bowman Oil Co., 601 S. Main St., closed on Thursday, June 30, which coincided with the retirement of owner Bill Bowman. Bowman, 66, said he has been working at the gas station for more than 30 years.

“If you’ve seen my station, I have real old pumps,” Bowman said. “The talk is that E-15 is going to come pretty quick. None of my pumps can handle that. So I decided I might as well just end it. It would cost me way too much to update it for the age that I am.”

Bowman said his father, Hugh, and his business partner Dale Koon took over a tank wagon business operated by Harold Hayes in 1959. The pair added a full-service gas station to the property, and the business later turned into Bowman Oil Co.

Bill Bowman said he initially worked alongside his father as a partner before eventually taking over the business himself.

Bowman said he sold the tank wagon portion of Bowman Oil Co. in December to Mulgrew Oil Co., and he planned to close the station six months later.

At the time of its closing, Bowman said the business consisted of him and two part-time employees.

“My relationship with my customers was probably my survival,” Bowman said. “We’re not on a real busy highway or nothing. Thank God for the loyal people here. I just thank the customers personally for supporting me, or else it wouldn’t have made it.”

Now that he is retired, Bowman said he and his wife have a trip to Alaska planned.

“That’ll be different for me, not having to do anything,” he said.

Bowman added that he will keep the station for the time being.

“I’ve got my dad’s old car in here,” he said. “There’s 63 years of stuff. I’ve got some time to clean everything. I just want to go through it and see what’s what.”