LIMA — A home for new furniture and ‘collectibles’ has made its way to the heart of Lima. On June 3, Jennifer Garrett opened Jen’s Furniture & Collectibles at 333 E. Market St.
Garrett began her business of selling 15 years ago. Her first store opened in 2007 in St. Marys, where it remains open today. Garrett made her way to Lima when a friend contacted her about an open space in the city.
“My very first store was only 800 square feet,” said Garrett. “I went from being a nurse to being a stay-at-home mom. I was a stay-at-home mom for almost eight years. I just wanted to go back to work.”
She said the store originally sold vintage furniture. As times and trends changed, so did Jen’s inventory. The store now focuses on selling new furniture at low prices.
“I started with a bunch of used furniture,” said Garrett. “COVID changed things because we could not go to auctions and we couldn’t go into people’s homes and buy estates. I started going online to buy new furniture. Now we have two semis come every week. The young people, even the older people, seem to like the new better than the old right now. I still have a collection of old furniture because eventually the market will flip.”
The store is full of furniture and space for vendors who want to sell their own products.
“Not everybody wants to have their own store and not everybody wants to sit there and man and all day,” said Garrett. “But everybody wants to have a hobby and needs extra money this time. We try to help them. If you want to come and set up your own store we just take care of all of it.”
Garrett also said she loves to give back to local charities and the community. Although she enjoys living in a smaller town, she has high hopes for the new store in the bigger city.
For more information, contact Garrett at 419-300-7841 or visit the store’s Facebook page by searching for Jen’s Furniture & Collectibles.
Reach Precious Grundy at 567-242-0351.
