Patriotic part

Local veterinarian Molly Caldwell Kraut's business passion for the last 15 years has been in animals, not necessarily the American spirit.

But her new venture, a retail-general store that only sells products totally assembled and manufactured in the U.S., from Elmer's Glue to Texas Jeans, is all about patriotic entrepreneurialism. The store, US Mart, in a Venice strip mall next to a Subway and an Italian restaurant, carries national pride down its phone number: 941-412-1USA. Kraut is even in the final stages of opening a U.S. Post Office branch inside the 3,000-square-foot store.

US Mart is the culmination of several conversations Kraut has had with her daughter and father-in-law. Those chats focused on the idea that it's hard to find genuine made in America products all in one place. “I didn't want a Web store,” says Kraut. “I wanted to be able to pick up something and know it's made in the U.S.A.”