Christine Blanquart: The Making of a Main Street Visionary
Before Christine and I ever sat down for the formal part of her interview, we met for brunch with a group.
Christine calls these gatherings her family brunches, though family in her world extends far beyond blood. It includes the people she works beside, the vendors who have grown with her, collaborators, friends, and the people who have become part of the fabric of her businesses.
That morning said a lot about Christine before she ever answered a question. She has been making a point of visiting local restaurants, bringing groups with her, taking photos, creating content, and supporting the places she wants other people to discover.
If she believes in a business, she shows up.
That instinct to pull people into the circle appears everywhere in Christine’s life. Her employees become family. Her vendors become collaborators. Other business owners become people she wants to see succeed.
For Christine, community is not a branding word.
It is something she practices.
The Pivot Was Never Sudden
Career pivots can look simple. A woman spends years building one career, then suddenly appears in a completely different world.
From the outside, it can look like she simply changed her mind.
That is rarely what happens.
Christine did not wake up one morning and decide she no longer wanted to be a nurse. She had invested years becoming one, worked in critical care, trained other nurses, mentored new graduates, moved into case management and school nursing, and even began working toward a master’s degree with plans to become a nursing educator.
She was good at it, loved the work, and still speaks about nursing with pride.
Then another part of her life began growing.
What started as something fun; vintage finds, flea markets, auctions, repurposing pieces, and renting booth space with her husband, Brad, slowly became something Christine could no longer dismiss as simply a hobby.
The creativity came naturally. Connecting with customers came naturally. Teaching, mentoring, organizing, problem-solving, and building community were already skills she had spent years developing.
She had not left those abilities behind when she stepped outside the hospital.
She had simply found another place to use them.
Christine was not choosing between a career she hated and a business she loved. She was choosing between two things she cared deeply about and asking herself a much harder question:
Do I love this enough to give it everything I have?
Five years after making that decision and bringing Blanquart’s Vintage Market to downtown Belleville, Christine is expanding again.
Just steps from Vintage Market, Christine is transforming another building into Fountain House at the Square, a new concept built around food, coffee, ice cream, gathering, events, and the kind of experience Christine has spent years learning how to create.
Later in this story, we will take a closer look inside the space and the vision she is building there.
A Life That Had Already Been Preparing Her
Christine was born in Belleville and spent about 10 years living in San Diego before returning home with her parents. At 21, she came back to the area, met her husband Brad through a mutual friend, and eventually settled in Millstadt, where they raised their two sons, Chase and Carter.
Her early working life may not look like the obvious beginning of a vintage-market story, although nearly every part of it prepared her for what she is doing now.
At 15, one of Christine’s favorite jobs was working in an ice cream shop in San Diego. Later, she became a corporate trainer for a restaurant group and helped open roughly two dozen restaurants around the country.
She was training people, opening new locations, and learning how a business operates from the inside. Leadership and teaching would follow her through nearly every stage of her life.
When her boys were young, Christine stayed home with them. When they started school, she started nursing school.
She quickly found her fit in critical care, eventually working in ICU, step-down care, nurse case management, school nursing, training, precepting, and mentoring new nurses. For a long time, Christine assumed nursing would be the career she would eventually retire from.
When Adulthood Changes Shape
One of the biggest shifts in Christine’s life came when her parents’ health began to decline. Christine is an only child, and her parents were just 17 and 19 when they had her.
“I grew up with my parents,” she says.
Her father has always been her first phone call. Even after a massive stroke left him paralyzed on one side, he continued to show the toughness and determination Christine had always known in him, caring for himself and maintaining his independence. During this same period, her mother’s health also began declining, and she later died at 65.
The roles began to reverse. Christine was helping care for her parents while raising her own family and working in healthcare.
Friends told her she needed to meditate.
Christine laughs at that suggestion now.
“I can’t meditate. I start thinking of a thousand things I can do.”
Her version of meditation became auctions, flea markets, antiques, salvaged pieces, and repurposing old furniture.
That hobby became a booth.
The booth became another booth.
Then came a bigger idea.
What If I Owned It?
Entrepreneurship was already part of Christine’s foundation. Her father was a business owner, while her mother was deeply creative, working as a floral designer and wedding coordinator.
Christine seems to have inherited pieces of both.
“I know how to make money. I can always figure out a way.”
When Christine compared the cost of booth rent and storage with the mortgage on a small commercial property, ownership suddenly made sense. Their first building was a small garage on Lebanon Avenue. They closed on it in February 2020. About 30 days later, the world shut down.
Christine and her husband Brad were both working in healthcare during the pandemic, while the vintage business opened one weekend a month.
The concept worked, and people started encouraging Christine to think bigger.
Belleville Main Street.
Business owners such as Bennie of Bennie’s Pizza and Andria of Circa encouraged her to come downtown, and her father-in-law from Blanquart’s Jewelers; whose family jewelry business had deep Main Street roots, supported the idea too.
Christine was still hesitant enough to ask Bennie how he had found the courage to expand.
His advice was simple: just do it.
“The only thing I regret is that I didn’t do it sooner.”
By the time Christine finally called about the Main Street building she had been watching, it was already under contract. She thought she had waited too long. Within about a week, her father-in-law called to tell her the for-sale sign was back in front of the building.
For Christine, the moment became symbolic of far more than a real-estate transaction.
“It wasn’t a no. It was -just a not yet.”
Choosing What Deserved Her Full Attention
At nearly the same time Christine and Brad were preparing for Main Street, nursing was offering her several of the jobs she once would have considered dream opportunities.
Teaching. Clinical instruction. Nursing education.
Her mother’s health was also deteriorating.
One hospital experience brought Christine’s years in nursing full circle. Her mother suffered a major cardiac event, and several of the nurses who stayed to care for her were nurses Christine herself had trained.
One joked that if anything went wrong, it was because Christine had taught them.
In the middle of an incredibly difficult night, Christine saw something she had believed for years play out in front of her: the effort you put into people matters because someday the person you train may be the person caring for someone you love.
“I always told my boys, give 100 percent. Whatever you do, leave it on the field.”
Christine had security, experience, strong income, and a career she loved on one side. On the other was a business that had begun as a hobby and was now demanding her full attention.
“Whatever decision path I was going to make right there, I was going to leave it all on the field, and I was not going to fail at it.”
She chose the business.
Nothing Was Wasted
Christine still keeps her nursing license current and speaks about that career with genuine pride.
The business simply grew to the point where she could no longer divide her full attention between both worlds. Much of what made her successful as a nurse now shows up in the way she runs Vintage Market: critical thinking, leadership, training, mentoring, high expectations, and the ability to see potential in other people.
Her restaurant experience came with her too. So did the creativity she learned from her mother, the entrepreneurial mindset modeled by her father, and the resourcefulness developed while raising her boys.
None of it disappeared when Christine changed careers. It became the foundation underneath the next one.
Making Room for Other People
Christine does not simply ask what someone can sell.
She asks what they want.
Is this a hobby? Is this something they want to build into a business? Where do they see themselves going?
Then she starts looking for ways to make room.
Karlyn was given space to expand her styling and color-analysis work with a pre-loved clothing boutique on the top floor giving another business level to KS Signature. Trish with Ragz to Relics has been able to sell jewelry, clothing, and handmade pieces. In addition to other local artists, vintage sellers, creators making old signs, stained-glass salvaged windows, furniture, collectibles, dog treats, and sauces that.have found a place inside Christine’s shop.
“You can do business on your own, but you’re not meant to. You don’t have to.”
Some have been with her for five or six years. Others have grown into their own events, brands, or businesses while remaining connected to Vintage Market.
Christine refers to them simply her vintage family.
What It Feels Like to Walk Through Blanquart’s Vintage Market
Walking through Blanquart’s Vintage Market is less like moving through a traditional retail store and more like moving through a collection of stories.
There are vintage finds that can even stop someone in their tracks because they recognize something from another part of their life.
“My items, people have a connection with. They see it, it brings up nostalgia, it brings up memories.”
Christine wants people to wander, discover something they were not expecting, and find a memory they were not necessarily looking for.
“The whole building tells a story. The items in here tell a story. I’m a storyteller.”
That philosophy is exactly why Fountain House at the Square makes sense.
Fountain House at the Square: An Exclusive Look at What Christine Is Building Next
Christine gave GlowInto an early look inside Fountain House at the Square, the new business taking shape just steps from Vintage Market.
The space is being designed as more than a place to grab something to eat. Christine wants it to function from morning into evening as a place for coffee, breakfast, lunch, dessert, work, conversation, events, and gathering.
The first floor includes a Main Street walk-up window, a commercial kitchen, and plans for early morning service. The menu direction includes bakery items, personal pizzas, loaded hot dogs, ice cream, milkshakes, specialty toppings, seasonal treats, and a hot chocolate bar.
Christine wants the food to be fun, fast, and visual.
Upstairs, she envisions a different kind of experience: tables near the windows overlooking Main Street, themed rooms, work space for laptops, room for meetings, pop-ups, book launches, karaoke, private gatherings, and evening events.
Gaming is one possibility, though Christine is clear about the bigger vision.
“The gaming is really just a bonus. I’m not building a business around that.”
“I’m building a business around creating an experience.”
The details reflect Christine too: black, pink, gold, raspberry tones, retro influences, neon, photo moments, and a playful “mugshot wall” where customers can pose with coffee mugs in front of famous celebrities’ mugshots.
Fountain House at the Square was not initially Christine’s plan. When the neighboring business closed, she spent time trying to convince other operators to fill the space.
Then one Sunday morning, while driving to an event, something clicked.
“Why am I telling everybody else to do it? Why don’t I just do it?”
Once she asked the question, the pieces lined up quickly.
The teenager who once loved working in an ice cream shop, the restaurant trainer, the nurse, the mentor, and the business owner all had something to contribute.
Investing in More Than a Building
Christine’s interest in real estate began as a practical calculation.
Over time, it became part of how she thinks about business.
The first garage helped make the next building possible. Ownership created options, and those options helped Christine keep expanding.
Today she owns three buildings on the same downtown block.
Belleville remained home even when other communities were possibilities. Christine wanted to be part of improving the place she belonged to.
She has seen how one successful business can create traffic for another and how one person taking a risk can quietly give someone else permission to try.
During another GlowInto interview, Kim Kilgore of Papermoon in Mascoutah spoke about Christine as an inspiration for what she wanted to create in downtown Mascoutah.
Christine had never known.
“My whole life, I had not known that somebody would look at me that way…”
We Ride at Dawn
Christine believes something interesting is happening among women in this stage of life.
Women in their 40s, 50s, and beyond are changing careers, launching businesses, rebuilding after loss, and discovering parts of themselves they may not have fully used before.
What she values most are the women who support rather than compete with one another.
A phrase from her friend Latonya Duncan has become one of Christine’s favorites.
“We ride at dawn.”
It means if something happens, the others are coming.
They have your back.
“We’re not done.”
The People Who Pour Back Into Her
Christine is quick to acknowledge that none of what she has built happened alone.
Christine’s husband Brad has supported nearly every dream she has brought home, while his more conservative nature balances Christine’s instinct to move quickly. Their sons have become part of that foundation too, especially during the loss of Christine’s mother.
Her buildings have even become part of family life, hosting holidays and gatherings because they are easier for her father to access.
The deeper pattern in Christine’s story is reciprocity.
She has spent much of her life pouring into patients, nurses, her sons, her parents, vendors, employees, friends, and fellow business owners.
The people around her have poured back.
What Christine Would Tell Her 21-Year-Old Self
When Christine looks back at herself at 21, she wishes she could remove some of the doubt that followed her into adulthood.
“If you were questioning at any time if you have what it takes to do all the things you want to do, I promise you, you do. Don’t doubt yourself.”
She would tell that young woman that leadership is already part of who she is.
“You were meant to be a leader. You’re going to have big ideas. Just embrace the courage to do them.”
She would also tell her something that may have taken even longer to understand.
“One day you’re going to be surrounded with people that pour love into you just like you pour love into others. Don’t give up.”
Christine is not starting over.
She never really was.
Each version of her life has prepared the next one, and each opportunity she received seems to have strengthened her desire to create opportunities for someone else.
Now, inside Fountain House at the Square, those pieces are coming together again.
The Story Behind the Business
Christine’s story is also a reminder of something I have come to understand more deeply with every GlowInto interview: your story is part of your brand.
People may discover a business because of a product, a service, a social post, or a polished website, yet what often makes them stay connected is the person behind it.
Christine’s years in nursing help explain the way she mentors people. Motherhood helps explain her resourcefulness. Her parents help explain the combination of creativity and entrepreneurship. Her restaurant background suddenly makes sense inside Fountain House at the Square.
Those pieces reveal something else they reveal Christine.
A Queen Who Makes Room for Others
Christine has always had a thing for vintage crown pins, which feels a little fitting now.
With three buildings on the same downtown block, Blanquart’s Vintage Market continuing to grow, and Fountain House at the Square taking shape, you could make the case that she is well on her way to becoming the “Queen of Downtown Belleville”.
Christine would probably laugh at that.
The crown represents what she has built around her.
A business where vendors become family. A place where artists and entrepreneurs are given room to grow. A network of women who support one another, make introductions, share opportunities, show up for each other, and believe there is enough room for more than one person to succeed.
Christine’s strength has never been about spotting an opportunity for herself.
She spots possibility in other people too.
She has taken encouragement she received throughout her own life and turned around and offered it to someone else. She has created space, opened doors, supported neighboring businesses, brought people together, and helped others imagine that their own ideas might be worth pursuing.
That’s the thing Christine is building on Main Street.
Not three buildings.
Not another business.
Community.
The Women of Main Street America
In town after town, women are not simply working on our Main Streets. They are opening boutiques, restaurants, studios, salons, markets, creative spaces, and businesses built from ideas they may have carried for years. Many of them are women over 40, bringing decades of life experience, previous careers, relationships, losses, lessons, and hard-earned confidence into what they are building now.
Christine is one of those women.
And the more of them I meet, the more I want to know their stories.
Who are the women behind the storefronts? What did they do before the sign went up? What made them finally take the risk? What are they bringing to their communities that might not exist without them?
Those are the stories GlowInto will begin exploring through The Women of Main Street America Series, a new reoccurring series featuring women-owned businesses and the women behind them.
Because when you look closely at the Main Streets of America, you may find that some of their most interesting chapters are being written by women like Christine who are only getting started.
Visit:
Blanquart’s Rusty Gem Vintage Market
26 East Main Street, Belleville,IL
https://www.blanquartsvintagemarket.com/
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Fountain House On The Square(Opening Soon!)
18 East Main Street, Belleville,IL
