Home(town) Decor While she was off in Chicago, Green Bay grew up--and became the perfect spot for her business.

When Stephanie Bruss moved from Chicago back to her hometown ofGreen Bay, Wisconsin, she wasn't exactly sure how well acommunity best known for cheese-hat-wearing football fans wouldreact to DOTI(Designs Of The Interior), her home decorating franchise. Luckily,she found Green Bay was hungry for what she had to offer.

"I was thinking of the area as it used to be. I hadn'trealized how much it had grown," says Bruss, 35. "Thereare five Fortune 500 companies located in Green Bay, and a lot ofindustries here are recession-proof."

In 1999, Bruss opened her first 800-square-foot DOTI studio in abrand- new building. Two weeks later, she leased additional spacebehind hers, using that for her studio and turning the front spaceinto a store. She attributes her fast-track success toold-fashioned supply and demand. "This is a smaller community,and there just isn't a lot out there as far as homeaccessories, so it's worked out really well," shesays.