Jul 2, 2010

Portage Lakes branded items at Kieffer Marine Gift ShopBy Carol EubankTheSuburbanite.com

Portage Lakes, Ohio — “We needed this at the Lakes,” is a comment Laurie Kieffer never tires of hearing and reinforces her decision that she made the right choice to expand her line of quality giftware within Kieffer Marine. Laurie, her husband, Ross and daughter, Brooke, have all worked together to create the nautical, water related quality gift ware area at their establishment at 252 Portage Lakes Drive.

Burch’s Landing, their previous business, allowed little room for displays. When they bought Leighton’s Boat House and re-opened it as Kieffer Marine Laurie saw the opportunity to expand her idea to offer nautical and water related quality gift ware along with Portage Lakes themed merchandise.

Last fall, Laurie and her daughter, Brooke attended the Atlanta Gift Mart. Before joining the family business, Brooke lived in Florida where she was a buyer for a fine gift shop. While employed as a buyer she shopped the Atlanta Gift Mart many times. Brooke led her mom through an exhausting three days of searching out every beach and inland water vendor to secure items for their shop.

They offer a variety of nautical ornaments, throw rugs, banner flags, repro wood boats, lobster traps, wood duck decoys, glass blown sea urchins and starfish.

Laurie, a former art teacher, used her creative flair with unique ways to display merchandise throughout the gift ware area. Suspended from the ceiling are fishing nets adorned with various sizes of wooden buoys and glass floats. She used old work tables, benches and crates from Burch’s and gave them a coat of white wash to enhance displays of candles in sea glass colors, candle lanterns and sea glass jewelry along with nautical wine bottle holders and selections of shells.

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