PAST AND FUTURE … Pictured on the left is the previous home of the Pennycrest Floral shop. This will remain the home for the shop for the next six months. After which the building, pictured on the right, will become the new home for the Pennycrest Floral shop. (PHOTO BY JACOB KESSLER, STAFF)
By: Jacob Kessler
Pennycrest Floral in Archbold will soon be moving to a new building. You won’t have to look too far down the street though, as their new home will be the previous Rupp Furniture and Carpet Co. building.
Currently the shop is located at 220 North Defiance Street in Archbold. Many different product types are offered at the store in addition to their fresh flower business.
The Mennonite Pantry and the Pop Shop are two examples of what is available with items like bulk candies, chocolate covered raisins, peanuts, pretzels, Oreos, caramel clusters and more. Original items carried by the Pop Shop years ago are still available in shop.
The store also offers inhouse engravings which can be done on almost anything. Refurbished furniture is also available that the employees themselves work on to fix up by painting and repurposing.
The business started out small in its beginning Tobey Wendorf explained. “When we first started, we had one delivery van. Now we are at three. It has gotten to the point where we have no backroom.”
This new building fixes that issue and more with an increase of almost 21,000 square feet over their current building according to Tobey. It also includes a much larger back room with a lift to bring materials and items up to the higher floors.
All the new space will allow for the continued expansion of the company with much already being planned for the new building with multiple floors being able to be used.
The basement floor will be used for storage with the first floor continuing to be the main sales floor area. The second floor will be used for a state certified kitchen for the Mennonite Pantry and Pop Shop portion of the business. The third floor will also give access to people for photography sessions and selfies.
All the extra space on the sales floor will give more room for flowers. The hope, for the owners, is to double the cooler size for the flowers that customers are able to see and purchase.
All of these changes and more will help to give Pennycrest shoppers a great experience. “It’s going to be extremely great. Currently it’s such a cramped space and for us to have all this extra room and to no longer have stuff in the way of customers, it’s going to be fantastic,” said Tobey Wendorf.
The Rupp building is also the building with the new Archbold Mural on the side. It has continued to bring people to Archbold and to the mural.”
“The mural being on the side of the building was definitely a plus when it came to buying the building. “I like having the mural on the side of the building. It draws in more people and, hopefully, more people will want to come in and look around. It’s nice to have it on the side of our building,” said Tobey Wendorf.
Currently, the hope is to move over to the new building within the next six months. Many items like the candies mentioned above are available as well as things such as home décor items, candles, gift items, wind chimes, furniture and of course flowers. So, head on over to Pennycrest floral and see what you can find.
Jacob can be reached at jacob@thevillagereporter.com
