Biz Buzz shares business tidbits from across the tri-state area. This edition highlights developments in Dubuque and Peosta, Iowa, as well as Galena, Ill.

Following delays in a renovation project, families at a Dubuque funeral home have been able to take advantage of new amenities this year.

Officials at Hoffmann Schneider & Kitchen Funeral Home and Crematory, 3860 Asbury Road, have spent the past several years preparing to renovate the funeral home’s chapel and add a private, on-site crematory. The renovations were completed earlier this year.

“It’s kind of a culmination of about a year and a half of waiting for things,” said Adam Thielen, funeral director and co-owner of the funeral home. “We had to wait for building materials. Remodeling during the time of (COVID-19) was not the greatest. It took a little bit longer than anticipated.”

Thielen said it was decided in 2019 that the funeral home needed a “facelift.”

Part of that involved making the main chapel twice its previous size, which involved tearing down walls and redoing the ceiling. Audio and video equipment also was added in the chapel, which allows the funeral home to livestream services and to have a video tribute playing for people to watch while waiting in line at services.

“Something kind of due to the pandemic is that many people want the services to be livestreamed,” Thielen said. “So in order for us to do that, we had to add multiple cameras and a new system for that.”

The funeral home also received its private crematory earlier this year. Thielen said the business previously took those who wished to be cremated to Platteville, Wis.

“As times have changed, choices have changed,” he said. “We used to hardly ever cremate people. Now, about 45% of the families that we serve choose cremation. It’s something that we needed to help them. Everything that we do is for the people.”

Hoffmann Schneider & Kitchen Funeral Home and Crematory can be reached at 564-582-5222.

Peosta dance studio to build new location

A Peosta dance studio plans to build a new, larger location.

Next Level Dance Company, currently located at 742 Peosta St. under Ultimate Impressions Salon and Spa, plans to build a new studio on Cox Springs Road, by Jumble Coffee and Darkbird Taphouse.

Next Level Dance Company owner Lexy Stroud-Abbott said construction will start in the spring in hopes of having a completed studio by fall 2023.

“Peosta has just been growing like crazy,” she said. “A lot of our kids are from the Dubuque area, as well. With the crazy growth and what we wanted to do (with the studio), we decided to purchase some land and make it more of a reality.”

Stroud-Abbott started Next Level Dance Company in 2019 at Peosta Community Centre before moving to its current location. The studio offers both competition and recreational classes for those ages 18 months to 18 years old.

“When we started at the community center, we started with 30 kids,” Stroud-Abbott said. “Right now, we have over 300. It’s pretty crazy.”

The new studio will be 6,000 square feet, three times the size of the current studio space, allowing the studio to expand from two to three classrooms. Stroud-Abbott said there also will be a dedicated lobby and space for parents to watch classes.

“I’m just looking forward to expanding and being part of the community and offering something for kids in the area to be involved in,” she said.

Next Level Dance Company can be reached via email at nextleveldancecompany.peosta@gmail.com or 563-451-6603. The studio also can be found at facebook.com/PeostaDance.

Galena resort opens new spa

A Galena resort has moved and expanded its spa.

Eagle Ridge Resort & Spa opened a new location for Stonedrift Spa at 425 Eagle Ridge Drive, in the previous location of the resort’s general store. The new spa opened at the end of October.

“We were in the basement of the resort, and we’d been there 15-plus years,” said spa Director Abbi Porter. “We just kind of outgrew the spa and felt like our level of clientele had outgrown it.”

The new spa has been in the works for about two years, Porter said, but supply chain issues and inflation delayed its completion.

“It took a lot longer than anticipated, but the anticipation was worth it,” she said.

The spa now covers nearly 12,000 square feet, tripling its previous 4,000-square-foot size. Porter said the spa now includes 13 treatment rooms and two rooms for couples, as well as a nail suite and movement studio for yoga. The spa also includes halotherapy units, she said, which involve infrared saunas and salty air to eliminate toxins and reduce stress.

New to the spa’s offerings is a salon and barbershop.

“We didn’t really have a hair salon prior to the new spa,” Porter said. “We did bridal hair, but we had no dedicated space for that. We now have a full-service salon, which includes haircuts and color, as well as a barbershop.”

People from all over the country travel to the Galena area and have visited the spa, and Porter said the feedback from guests since opening the new location has been wonderful.

“From the guest feedback, from those that lived in the area, they kept driving by the space and saying, ‘When is this going to happen?’” she said. “The new building really has that ‘wow’ factor and matches the service people are getting.”

Stonedrift Spa is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday. The spa can be reached at 815-776-5772.