Local Love: Supporting small businesses on and beyond Valentine’s Day

Lizzie Eidt
Fri, 12 Feb 2021 00:48:42 +0000
Arts & Life, food & drink, Instagram Page, News, a&l, alqueria, arts, arts and life, chocolate, chocolate covered strawberries, chocolates, Columbus, community, coronavirus, covid, COVID-19, curbside, dine-in, dining, downtown, Downtown Columbus, drop-off, family owned, floral arrangements, florists, flower shop, flowerama, flowers, fudge, german village, jacob hough, jenny merryman [and 27 more]

Terry Hiner, Tim Dick, Tanner Dickinson, and Pedro Vargas are seen here in all smiles at Schmidt’s Fudge Haus. Credit: Courtesy of Tim Dick

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, bringing with it an opportunity to show love to small businesses.

Despite many small businesses closing up shop due to the pandemic, businesses such as Schmidt’s Fudge Haus, a sweets shop in German Village, Alqueria, a restaurant in the University District, and Flowerama, a flower shop in Columbus, are all catering to the Columbus community this Valentine’s Day.

Schmidt’s Fudge Haus has been in operation since the 1960s and continues to provide the Columbus community with fine fudge and a welcoming atmosphere, Tim Dick, owner of the shop, said.

“I want this store to be the people’s place, so if anybody is looking for a certain kind of chocolate, I want to reach out and be able to make it or get it to satisfy them,” Dick said. “We do chocolates, we do sugar free, we do vegan; so we try to have the tastes for everyone so everyone feels welcomed.”

Featured in Food Network publications and visited by multiple celebrities, Schmidt’s Fudge Haus has received praise from all over.

“We came in fourth place of the top 10 places for the best fudge, and that was through Paula Dean’s magazine, and they had a bunch of people in-shop,” Dick said.

For Valentine’s Day, Schmidt’s Fudge Haus offers a wide variety of specials, including their famous chocolate-covered strawberries that they dedicate the whole weekend and shop toward making, Dick said.

“We don’t make the fudge that day,” Dick said. “We use the table just for that strawberry dipping because we get a lot of orders for those, so that’s what we’re doing Friday and Saturday.”?

Due to the ongoing pandemic, the shop has made multiple adjustments to ensure an all-around safe Valentine’s Day while still providing treats, Dick said.

“We started doing online orders, we did curbside, and one of the things I’m really accustomed to is to drop-off orders to people,” Dick said.

Alqueria, a restaurant in the University District, serves an assortment of eclectic American dishes. Co-owners Jacob Hough and Patrick Marker worked together at another restaurant, Barcelona, before opening their very own rustic restaurant.

“We’re a pretty small restaurant, and we’ve got a very tight-knit group here, which has been really cool,” Marker said. “We’ve been able to meet the neighbors, and we’ve got a really good following in this neighborhood.”

Alqueria has in-person dining, but is also offering a carryout alternative for those not comfortable with eating indoors, Marker said.

“We never really pushed carryout before, but now we have to,” Marker said. “We’ve added online ordering, so you can just order right through the website and it sends the ticket right to the kitchen. It’s been super seamless.”

This weekend, Marker said Alqueria is offering a Valentine’s special of a three-course dinner for $75 per person. He said they have already sold out of in-person seats, but the meal is available for carryout.

Flowerama, a local family-owned flower shop in Columbus, specializes in services from small flower deliveries to large events, such as weddings. The shop offers special deals that manager Jenny Merryman said sets them apart from other florists, including same-day delivery.

“A lot of flower shops in the area cut off for Valentine’s Day, but we still take deliveries all the way up until that day,” Merryman said.

For Valentine’s day, Merryman said Flowerama has an extensive list of specials, such as a dozen roses and other special arrangements, but also some new ones, including floral arrangements in the shape of a beloved Valentine’s Day mascot.

“Something we’re offering this year is the rose bears; they have been really popular on Pinterest, and this is the first year that we’re offering them,” Merryman said.

The shop also boasts a design team that creates special orders for customers, she said.

“We have our designers at our store make our unique arrangements, so they design them just off the top of their head — they’re not a big generic floral arrangement,” Merryman said. “We also do customer arrangements, so when people come in the store, if they know what their loved one likes, we can design it specially for them with one of our in-store designers.”

Schmidt’s Fudge Haus will be open from 12-5 p.m., while Flowerama will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. this Valentine’s Day. Alqueria will be closed on Sunday, but is offering their three-course dinner on Saturday instead.