Welcome to River City Buttons!

River City Buttons has been sold!  River City Buttons is now a part of RLM Arts. 

You can still get the high-quality buttons that you’re used to, and they’ll still be made by Jeff.  Just go to the RLM website.

What you’ll find when you go there is that everything is pretty much the same as it was when I was River City Buttons:

* It’s still me – Jeff – making the buttons.

* I’m using the same machines, working out of the same shop, same address.

* It’s still the same great service.

* The prices are almost the same as before.

* The phone number is the same – 612-703-6157.

* You can even use the same email – jeff@rivercitybuttons.com – at least for a while.  But I do have a new email – jeff@rlmarts.com – and it’s probably a good idea to start using that one, as I’ll be totally switched over at some point.

To see how similar everything is, just go to the RLM Arts website – www.rlmarts.com – and look around.  You’ll see not only can you get custom buttons, but you can get buttons with original designs by Ricardo Levins Morales (he’s the RLM in RLM Arts).  PLUS, you’ll see the amazing posters, notecards, and calendars produced by Ricardo.  There’s a huge catalog of stuff to look at, and Ricardo also does commission artwork for all kinds of groups and individuals.

If you want to know more about why River City Buttons was sold, keep reading.  Otherwise, just click HERE and get going on the making of your custom buttons.

Thanks for thinking of River City Buttons!

The story of River City Buttons

Back in 2007 I, Jeff Nygaard, purchased a small button-making business from my friend Richard Fuller.  Most of the business involved making buttons for the late, great Northland Poster Collective (NPC).  The relationship was so close that River City Buttons was actually located in the shop of the Northland Poster Collective.

Then, in 2009, NPC went out of business, and River City Buttons was without a home, and also  without much of its business.  Ricardo Levins Morales, one of the founders of NPC, started a new business, making art for all kinds of community-based groups, labor unions, organizing efforts, and others.  River City Buttons soon moved into the space of the new business, which is called RLM Arts.

After more than a year of business in the new place, I realized that there were parts of the button-making business that I liked, and other parts that I didn’t like.  I love dealing with customers and helping them create button designs that meet their needs.  I love designing buttons, and I really love designing buttons that help people to organize and make social change (which has always been the majority of the business of River City Buttons).  I actually love the process of producing the buttons, using my Tecre 152 button-making machine.  And I love sharing space and communing with Ricardo and Betsy Raasch-Gilman, another former NPC member who now works with Ricardo at RLM Arts.

The two things that I do not like about being in business for myself are the bookkeeping/tax-related functions, and the marketing and promotion that is necessary to run a business like River City Buttons.  I realized that I am not cut out to be a small businessperson.  I’m happier just being a worker.  So I decided to sell the business and stop pretending to be a small businessperson.

One thing led to another, and Ricardo decided that he liked the idea of designing and selling buttons.  So he decided to buy the button-making equipment and hire me to be the “Button Guy” for RLM Arts.  Other than the billing (you now make your payment to RLM Arts), almost nothing has changed, as far as you, the customer, are concerned.  You’ll be dealing with the same guy, using the same equipment, having the same amount of fun, producing the same high-quality buttons as before.

From my perspective, it’s kind of perfect: I get to keep doing all the things I like, I get to stop doing all the things I don’t like, and I get to use my skills to help RLM Arts grow and thrive.

Thanks for all of your support of River City Buttons over these past four years.  Now it is time to say goodbye to River City Buttons, and say hello to RLM Arts.  I look forward to working with you in the future!

Jeff Nygaard