PERRYSBURG, Ohio — Rae Ray's Decor and More, a locally owned home decor shop in Perrysburg, has moved to a new location.
And with their move, the owner is using the expansion to help other small shops as well.
Ashley McCormick lost her job eight years ago and launched Rae Ray's Decor to make ends meet.
Her hand-made pallet decor business grew to where she was able to open her own shop in Perrysburg and even invited other small shops to showcase their own items as well.
But earlier this year everything came to a halt in March after the coronavirus shutdown, so Ashley got creative.
"We had to figure out some way to survive. And so we came up with the idea of doing live Facebook sales to hit a lot of our customer base at one time. And they grew, we were doing them weekly," said Ashley.
That continuous boom in her business grew so much that last month Ashley moved Rae Ray's Decor and More up Louisiana Avenue and into a new downtown Perrysburg location.
Now with five times the room, she has also taken in even more local shops, now offering items from 88 local vendors.
Rae Ray's Decor and More
From seasonal decor, to candles, soaps, jewelry and clothing, Ashley said she feels like this pandemic has created a new appreciation for local, hand made products.
"People's attitude towards small business has changed, and been more inspiring just in the last six to eight months. And that's just been where our success has come from, it's just everybody's positive attitude and trying to support local," said Ashley.
Rae Ray's Decor and More is next week's annual Perrysburg Holiday open house with special hours Monday through Friday.