Biz Buzz shares business tidbits from across the tri-states. This edition highlights recent developments in East Dubuque, Ill.; Dubuque; and Peosta, Iowa.

EAST DUBUQUE, Ill. — A new cannabis dispensary has opened in East Dubuque with a focus on educated recreational use.

Illinois-based nuEra Cannabis recently opened its newest location at 20170 U.S. 20, adjacent to Family Beer & Liquor. The 3,500-square-foot dispensary offers a variety of recreational and craft cannabis products for adult-only use.

“We have the full line of typical offerings — flower, edibles, vape carts, tinctures and topicals,” said nuEra marketing director Jonah Rapino. “We are very specialized in terms of our product assortment and curation.”

The East Dubuque dispensary is nuEra’s eighth location in Illinois, Rapino said, and the second to open in 2024. The company was founded in 2014 and was one of the first to be licensed through the state’s medical cannabis program.

Illinois legalized recreational cannabis use in 2020, and nuEra subsequently expanded to offer recreational products. The East Dubuque location follows this model, Rapino said, and offers recreational products with an underpinning “medical philosophy.”

As such, the store’s roughly 25 employees are trained to offer education and guidance to customers, particularly those with little prior experience in the world of recreational cannabis.

“We’ll be doing a lot of education and product recommendation for people who are cannabis curious,” Rapino said. “People get the most out of a product when they understand how it works, and we want them to get those kinds of good outcomes.”

Such assistance will help customers navigate the store’s expansive inventory, Rapino said. The dispensary sells nuEra’s house brands — Interstate 420, Midweek Friday and Alchemy — as well as products from other well-known, Illinois-based companies.

NuEra also stocks products from the burgeoning craft cannabis market, Rapino added, which broadly encompasses cannabis cultivated using small-bath, highly efficient farming techniques.

“We want to have the widest variety of cannabis products of any dispensary in Illinois,” Rapino said. “That means you’re going to find things here that are more specialized than what you’ll find in other places.”

NuEra’s East Dubuque location is open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, 9 a.m. to 9:45 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday. For more information on the dispensary, visit nueracannabis.com.

Local equipment rental business relocates

A Dubuque equipment rental business has relocated for increased capacity and efficiency.

T and T Equipment Rentals recently relocated to 305 Cedar Cross Road near U.S. 20 in Dubuque. The company offers a variety of construction equipment to rent for commercial or individual projects, with a focus on locally sourced implements.

“Our goal is to provide quality equipment and service at fair prices to people building locally,” said owner Tim Ertl. “Everything we could source (locally) we did, and we want others to be able to do the same thing.”

T and T Equipment Rentals opened in late 2023 on Hughes Court and operated there for roughly a year before the Cedar Cross building became available. Ertl said the site offered additional space and higher visibility, prompting the recent move.

The business now has substantially more room for outdoor storage in particular, he added, and more space for individual and commercial customers to load and unload equipment.

Ertl said he hopes the move will help bring in new customers, noting the benefit of having a street-facing property in a popular commercial area. Moving forward, the goal would be to leverage that visibility to create stronger connections with other local businesses and the community at large.

“We’re a locally owned, family-run business, and we want to keep our focus on the community,” Ertl said. “This is something we’ve heard people say they’ve been needing, so we’re happy to do it.”

For more information, visit tandtequipmentrentals.com or call 563-239-9484.

Peosta salon nears completion

A soon-to-open hair salon in Peosta hopes to embrace a “New Year, New ’Do” mentality in the coming year.

She Shed Hair Shop will open Jan. 6 at 8554 Knapp Drive for cut and color services. The shop will serve as the feminine counterpart to Man Cave Cut Shop, a men’s salon in Peosta that opened in 2022 under the same ownership.

“You can’t have a man cave without a she shed,” said owner Heather Oehlerking. “We see a lot of families (at the Man Cave), and I’m excited to now have that space for the women and girls to come, too.”

After opening the Man Cave in 2022, Oehlerking took on an instructional role at the Dubuque-based cosmetology school Capri College. There, she said, she rediscovered her passion for working with women and was inspired to open the She Shed.

The salon will operate in the same building as the Man Cave, although it will be a separate space. The salon was designed with comfort and relaxation in mind, Oehlerking said, and will provide a variety of beauty services for women and girls.

“The She Shed for me is somewhere where a woman can come and feel comfortable just doing her own thing,” she said. “We wanted to keep a very relaxed feeling (in the salon) … where people could be themselves.”

In addition to traditional cut and color services, Oehlerking said staff members will also offer extensions and blonding services. Moving forward, those services could expand depending on stylists’ interests and expertise.

Already, Oehlerking has hired several women who she helped train during their time at Capri College. She said she was inspired to do so by the mentors she has had over the years and expressed excitement to see She Shed stylists take the next step in their cosmetology careers.

“Seeing these (stylists) at the beginning of their learning process, I was really able to see the passion that they have for this kind of work,” she said. “I really hope that I can continue to be a mentor for them and get them off on the right foot.”

Online booking will soon be available at sheshedhairshop.com. For more information on the salon and its services in the meantime, visit the She Shed Hair Shop Facebook page or call 563-279-2464.