Through its 21 years of operation, MiCA 12/v has showcased what a business can achieve when it’s led with heart and able to adapt to an ever-changing market. Carolyn and Mike Deininger opened MiCA in Cincinnati in 2003 after noticing a gap in the marketplace for a curated gift selection.

“We wanted a shop that really had a point of view,” Carolyn said. “So that’s where we started. We wanted to sell local art, fine craft items, items from independent makers and artists from elsewhere, and just really have things that Cincinnati didn’t have at all.”

MiCA offers giftware across a gamut of categories, including kids and baby, bags and accessories, clothing, home décor, jewelry, stationery and more. Carolyn and Mike attend major wholesale markets to source their products, but the duo also finds craft shows — both locally and when they travel — to discover indie artists.

In 2007, the Deiningers were recruited to open a second location in Cincinnati’s Over-the- Rhine neighborhood which, at the time, boasted the largest collection of Italianate architecture in the country, and is now a hub for craft breweries, trendy shopping and hip gastropubs.

When the Great Recession gripped the nation in 2008, MiCA’s founders thoughtfully chose to close the first location and invest all their resources into their Over-the-Rhine location, where the shop is still located today.

Since then, MiCA has experienced significant growth across its categories and milestones, including being featured in Cincinnati Magazine’s “Best Little Shops” issue in 2014. As business grew, the Deiningers noticed a significant uptick in demand for paper goods. In 2019, the MiCA founders opened a sister store, Paper Wings, dedicated to all things stationery.

“The paper products were selling so well at MiCA, it seemed to justify trying it out as its own concept. As we were selling, It was hard to keep up with the stationery products and not having enough space in MiCA for everything that we wanted to try,” Carolyn said. “[Paper Wings] is stationery, it’s cards, it’s notebooks, it’s journals, it’s fountain pens, pencils, all of those kinds of items.”

Carolyn believes this demand is driven in part by the collective growing desire for real, tangible connections in the age of all things digital — and that has only grown in the five years since Paper Wings has existed.

“There’s a trend toward wanting to get away from computers and phone screens and have more personal connections with people, which really started at COVID for us, where people are sending letters and cards, so that’s why we opened a stationery store,” she said. “That’s where we’re at right now. We are finding that there’s more of a trend toward buying things that are consumable or very practical in that way.”

Paper Wings was originally situated a few buildings down from MiCA, but this summer the Deiningers moved the stationery store into the location right next to MiCA. The double storefront has two separate entrances, one for each store. Inside, however, the Deiningers have opened up the space between the shops and created a two-in-one shopping experience for customers — a move that complements both stores while maintaining their unique identities.

EMBRACING Q4

As the calendar year winds down and the busiest season for retailers ramps up, Carolyn looks forward to what the final months of 2024 will bring for MiCA. One of her favorite parts of the job is merchandising, and she said customers look forward to seeing how she transforms MiCA every year for the holidays.

“It’s so enjoyable because it’s all the things I love. The fact that it is our point of view and our curation of things that we love makes it really fun to put things together,” she said. “We generally display the store by color story as much as category. I have a visual arts background — I went to art school. So for me, it’s like making little three-dimensional works of art.”

During the holiday season, MiCA offers giftwrap services that resonate with shoppers. Taking it a step further, the team provides free local delivery so customers can support Cincinnati businesses with the convenience of their purchase being delivered — beautifully wrapped — at their doorstep. Carolyn said she enjoys taking these extra steps because it all adds to the customer experience, which is her ultimate priority and joy.

“The challenge and the benefits of owning a retail store, meeting all these wonderful people — our customers for all these years, the people who make things — it just could not be more rewarding, and it’s why we’re still doing this,” she said. “The challenges and the benefits of getting to work for yourself has been a wonderful journey as well. I can’t believe it’s been 21 years. It has just meant everything.”