The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Off Broadway Floral & Gift specializes in unique items
The unique quality of Off Broadway Floral & Gift is what helps separate it from other floral shops.
The business, located at 420 North Ridge Road, is different because of the content folks can find in the store.
“We have been in business for 30 years (six years in current location),” said Kevin Fuge, who owns the business with couple Jacqueline and Steve Liedtke. “We’ve always been in Lorain, and we have customers in communities from Grafton to Vermilion to Bay Village.”
“I feel like we should highlight the boutique because we are known for our weddings and our arrangements,” Jacqueline Liedtke said. “We also have a great selection in our boutique that maybe some folks don’t know about.
“We are the place to go when you have a friend who’s hard to buy for. We get that a lot. Folks come in and we are able to help them pick out the best item for a friend.”
Liedtke said the shop has something for many different occasions.
“We have a lot of things for birthdays and housewarming gifts,” she said. “The inspirational section has been a big thing for us.
“We kind of got rid of our baby section, and we added inspirational items. It’s done very well for us. It’s coming up to a year ago, we’ve partnered up with Milano Monuments (Brookpark). We’ve started carrying some of their monuments so local folks don’t have to drive all the way to Cleveland.
“We also have the inspirational angels and lanterns that we work into our fresh arrangements for funerals. That way, folks get a keepsake.”
Liedtke said the novel coronavirus pandemic is altering their plans this Christmas.
“This will be our first year in 30 years that we have not had our Christmas open house because of the virus,” she said. “Our showroom will be set up with six different themes coming in.
“We usually have a big event on a Sunday, and it’s just elbow-to-elbow, but we won’t be able to have that.”
Fuge said the business still will have items in the store for the Christmas holiday despite the cancellation of the open house.
“We will still set up for Christmas the first weekend in November,” he said. “We will still have holiday displays and items, but we just won’t have our open house.”
Fuge said the business really focuses on what is unique and different.
“We had someone who came in recently who commented on that fact that we have items that are unique,” he said. “We are not just your typical shop that carries carnations.
“It’s more of a boutique than a mass marketer like Target.”
Fuge said the business is starting to see a good order volume.
“Weddings are starting back up again,” he said. “They were being canceled because of the virus, but we are starting to get orders for those as well.
“We were hit pretty hard with the virus, but things are starting to get back to normal. We were very fortunate to have curbside pickup. We are very grateful to the customers who supported us during that time.
“We will still have a lot of folks that still prefer that delivery system.”