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Home decor business moves from garage to Struthers storefront
home-decor business moves from garage to a storefront
STRUTHERS
Struthers’ locals have noticed that a new business made its home at 11 Poland Ave.
The storefront had been vacant for more than a year. Ashli’s Attic, a Struthers’ couple’s home-decor and refinishing business, moved into the location officially Monday, and both its owners reported they’ve had walk-ins every day.
Ashli Zinkhon, co-owner of the shop, said she and Adam Reuss, her boyfriend and co-owner, have been working for about two months to clean the vacant storefront for their business. She said the shop has a completely different feel from when they started cleaning.
“The last people who were in here closed in 2013, but they left it in a bit of a mess,” Ruess said. “We’ve been busy trying to give
the place a rustic look so people feel comfortable when they come in.”
Rustic, homemade decorations and furniture now line the walls of the shop, ready for customers to purchase. The back room is filled with customization projects customers send to the couple.
The chalkboards, picture frames, side tables and chairs scattered along the walls of the shop mostly cost within the $15 to $30 range. All have a unique, hand-finished paint-job done to them that has been added to by either Zinkhon or Ruess.
“We want to offer locals one-of-a-kind-type home decor — things not everyone will have,” Zinkhon said. “And a big thing is to keep prices reasonable since I want the average person to be able to afford to come here and buy something nice for their home.”
Zinkhon said she’s been handcrafting picture frames out of old windows as Christmas gifts for five years, but she wasn’t inspired to start the business until she and Ruess spent one night snowed in last December working on a frame together in the attic of her home in Alliance.
In June, she said the couple officially started the business out of Ruess’ garage on Iroquois Street in Struthers.
Ruess said the couple would post the pieces they made out of his garage on Facebook, and people would buy them.
“People are really into those kinds of rustic pieces,” Zinkhon said. “[Ruess] was laid off at the time, so it was a way for him to bring in extra money and to keep him busy.”
By August, Ruess said the couple realized they needed a larger facility than his garage if they wanted to continue business in winter. After two months of remodeling the 11 Poland Ave. storefront, Ashli’s Attic became a reality. Neither Ruess nor Zinkhon said they thought they’d be shop owners prior to this summer.
But after getting dozens of requests for home-decor pieces a day since opening Monday, the couple both agreed they hope to expand the business in the next year. Ruess added that he could foresee a second shop opening in Boardman next summer.
“This new business has been a blast,” Ruess said, who used to work as a civil engineer. “I work long hours, but I enjoy what I’m doing.”