TIFFIN, Ohio — A local Tiffin restaurant is getting ready to expand its business in order to reach even more customers.
It's a change many owners aren't fortunate enough to make right now during the pandemic.
For six years, owner Tina Schank has been running JT's Bagel Bar out of a location near Tiffin Columbian High School.
Her primary business is with her eight different breakfast bagel sandwiches, but Tina also serves 40 lunch and dinner bagel options, along with soups, salads and wraps.
Tina says she got the idea to move her business from this current location to about 500 yards up Washington Street into the Laird Arcade after she began operating primarily out of her food truck during the pandemic.
"When the whole COVID thing hit and I closed the Bagel Bar, I then moved the food truck up about 3 and a half blocks, it was just so much better," Schank said.
Tina says this new downtown location will be much better for foot traffic and is more centralized to local businesses and the local universities.
She says with the move she hopes to expand her menu and hire more people.
And already, other Laird Arcade businesses are helping to promote JT's move by handing out gift cards during holiday giveaways.
"And that's kind of what the downtown retailers do here in Tiffin," Schank said.
JT's Bagel Bar is planning on moving and fully opening their new Laird Arcade location right after the new year.