[media-credit name=’BRYAN FAUST/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]This is the first part in a series featuring local Madison businesses.

Certain establishments define the uniqueness and the originality of the downtown Madison area.

Sacred Feather, a small hat and leather shop in the heart of State Street, has helped preserve that uniqueness for over 20 years.

The history behind the business and its location has been an important and original part of State Street since its opening.

Sacred Feather Team Leader Charlie Rogers said what makes the shop distinct is the building's history.

"You can go to any city in the world and there will be a Starbucks," Rogers said. "Look down the street here — there are stores you would never find in a mall."

The sandstone building, located on the 400 block of State Street, was built in 1884.

According to Rogers, the house was first a speakeasy during Prohibition and then both a typewriter shop and a risqué lingerie store before they bought it. Rogers said the walls were still hot pink when they purchased the building, but it gave the store character.

As for the business itself, Rogers said it has come a long way since it began selling leather belts from a vending cart on State Street. Since its start in 1975, Sacred Feather moved from selling crafts and paraphernalia to hats and specialty leather products.

Currently, Rogers said, the shop produces about 10 percent of what they sell and employees carefully choose the other merchandise from larger companies. Rogers added the hardest part about running such an exclusive store is deciding what products to carry.

"When the new catalogues come in, all the staff marks what they like and I go through and look in my crystal ball and give it the best shot I've got," Rogers said. "That's the hardest part [of the business] for me by far. You have to spend 10 or 20 grand buying things you hope other people like."

Despite its success for nearly 30 years, Rogers said original owner Tony Badame decided to keep the shop small. The effect of this decision is a tight-knit group of employees who really know the business, Rogers added.

Sacred Feather employee and University of Wisconsin junior Kara Felsman said her job is an experience she might never have again in her life. The employees really are a family and they have fun in and out of the shop, Felsman added.

"Everyone just treats you really well all the time here," Felsman said. "I can spend 30 hours a week here and not get bored."

Rogers and Felsman said they hope to keep the look and feel of the store alive for years to come.

"This is really a family business — once a hat guy, always a hat guy," Rogers said. "We were all friends first, and when we hire someone, the most important thing is are they honest and will they be our friend?"

According to Susan Schmidt, president of Downtown Madison, Inc., 87 percent of State Street businesses are locally owned. She said shops like Sacred Feather are what make Madison such an interesting city to live in and visit.

"They bring uniqueness and keep us from becoming Anywhere, U.S.A.," Schmidt said of these small locally owned shops. "They really identify us as a community."