Edward Mace and Maria Adriano-Mace stand outside of Cozy Corner Haven in Winnebago, which held its grand opening on Sept. 7.

Cozy Corner Haven in Winnebago celebrated its grand opening on Monday, Sept. 7, and co-owners Maria Adriano-Mace and Edward Mace are excited to finally have their shop up and running.

“Our grand opening was on Labor Day, and we had a pretty good group of people show up,” Maria shared. “I think we had around 20-25 visitors that day.”

Prior to opening Cozy Corner Haven, Maria and Edward both worked at the Shell gas station in Blue Earth. However, after Maria had a hysterectomy in 2023, she decided to switch career paths.

“I ended up quitting my job at Shell after my hysterectomy, and I wanted to find a way to make some money during my recovery,” Maria explained. “I started looking online, and that’s when I discovered Mary Kay, and signed up to become one of their consultants. I already had a little bit of experience working with a business like that, since I had helped my sister sell Tupperware products back when I lived in Arizona.”

Edward also started working with a similar style of business around the same time, specifically Mia Bella candles. However, unlike with Mary Kay and Tupperware, Mia Bella allows its associates to sell their products from a physical storefront, which is where the idea to open Cozy Corner Haven initially came from.

“In order to sell the Mia Bella candles, we needed to have a physical storefront where we could keep our stock,” Edward noted. “I started selling their products around June or July of 2025, and Maria joined me as a seller not too long after.”

At the time, Maria and Edward were living in Elmore. However, due to the need for more space for their stock, the pair decided to move to Winnebago and look for a potential shop location.

“We saw that this building was available for rent, so I went to Homestead Realty to find out who owned it,” Maria recalled. “As it turned out, the owner was Lee Hodges, so we went and talked to him, and he helped us get the place set up. We’re currently renting the building from him.”

While deciding a name for their business, Maria consulted with a close friend to help narrow down her list of options. There were several that she liked, but Cozy Corner Haven was the name that got selected.

“I told my friend that if we were going to have “cozy” in the name, our logo had to have soft colors in it,” Maria commented. “That’s why our store sign features pastel pink and green, instead of something more vibrant.”

Along with Mary Kay beauty products, Tupperware, and Mia Bella candles, Cozy Corner Haven offers a variety of different goods from various vendors. Some products are available for purchase in-store, but others must be ordered individually and then picked up at a later date.

“Mary Kay doesn’t allow us to keep a stock of their products on hand, so instead I have a small table full of sample products so people can try things out before they make an order,” Maria shared. “They pick what they want from a catalogue, I send in their order, and then when it arrives they can come pick their stuff up from the store.”

Another vendor with products at Cozy Corner Haven is Drip Ink Designs, a business run by Maria’s son Danylo Adriano, which specializes in beaded pens and keychains.

“A friend of mine back in Arizona was the one who taught Danylo how to make the pens, and my niece makes them as well,” Maria remarked. “He makes a lot of different designs, and he’s sold quite a few already.”

Maria has also partnered with several local vendors and community members to help sell their products, and new stock is being added every day. Love Winnebago shirts, designed by Merodee Grannis, are available for purchase, as is a small section of fishing supplies from Shaffer’s Bait and Tackle.

“We’ve been working with a lot of different vendors that we met at a vendor show back in April 2026,” Maria shared. “We’re hoping to host another one in November. We’re also in the process of getting some products from Rada Knives in stock, so those will be available very soon.”

Given that so many of these specialty products are difficult to find at other retailers, one of Maria’s main desires for her store was to have display products available that her customers can physically inspect and interact with before they make a purchase.

“When I’m buying something, I want to be able to see, touch, and smell a product before I buy it,” Maria explained. “You can’t do that with an online vendor or a catalogue, so I felt that it was important for my customers to be able to see their options before they buy. I want to be able to stand behind the products I sell, and see for myself if they’re legitimate or not before I offer them to my customers.”

“You need to have a physical storefront so people can see all of their different options,” Edward affirmed. “Especially for specialty products like this, that aren’t available in a lot of other stores.”

While this is Maria and Edward’s first time running their own business, they are happy to report that so far, everything has been running smoothly.

“Lee is very laid back, and has been a great person to work with,” Edward shared. “Getting everything set up was a very smooth process. Our only real challenge is getting the product in-store.”

“Our storefront is in a great location, too, since it’s right along the highway,” Maria added. “We’re very excited to finally have our store up and running, and we invite everyone to come in and take a look.”

Cozy Corner Haven is located at 14 Main Street N in Winnebago, and is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.