Ribbon Cut for New Business in Downtown Bluffton
The Wells County Chamber of Commerce staff, Ambassadors, and Bluffton NOW! welcomed owners Jennifer Yoder and Bobbi Shane of Fields of Grace Floral Boutique to downtown Bluffton on September 11, 2018. Yoder and Shane moved into the former location of Parlor City Trophy at 224 W Market, Bluffton and opened for business at the Ribbon Cutting Celebration.
“We have always been crafty since a young age and are total DIY’ers,” said Yoder. “I love to make and create things and give to people and see the excitement on their faces. This gives me so much joy.”
“We make things pretty. We are just crafty people that make pretty things,” both Yoder and Shane said.
Shane’s grandfather, James Johnson, passed in January and she created a beautiful casket spray that was different, unique, and portrayed her grandfather’s personality. Before his passing, Shane said he talked to her about starting her own business with Jennifer. Both have a gift of creating and doing for others that between his encouragement and support from family and friends they had inspiration for their next steps.
“After my grandfather passed, I prayed for God to show me what to do and the thought of starting a business kept occurring,” explained Shane. “Jennifer and I were text messaging back and forth in February and jokingly said, ‘hey, we should be florists’, and it honestly transpired from there.”
“There were so many God moments, with a lot of prayer and listening to make this all fall into place,” said Yoder. “God said, ‘open a store’ and we did!”
Yoder and Shane give a lot of credit and appreciation to their family for turning the space into their vision. “Georgie and the Parlor City Trophy employees rocked it moving out the of space quickly, so we could move in,” explained Shane. “Our family worked hard on Labor Day weekend to get things ready for us to open.”
Yoder and Shane explained that they are going to operate their business through God and follow the scripture from Romans 12:2 that reads, ‘do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.’
“Our goal is to add a personal element to our creations and put something in them that relates to the individual that would please their family and know it was all for that individual,” added Shane. “Customers can tell me what they like, and we will add those personal elements to the creation; for example, hobbies, sports, and other fun things.”
Fields of Grace Floral Boutique offers a variety of fresh and silk flower arrangements and unique gifts. “We can personalize anything, and everything is customized so the gift is special with a personal tough,” explained Shane.
The significance of the store’s phone number, 824-3837, was also Shane’s grandfather’s home number for many years. The hours are 10am to 6pm Tuesday through Friday and Saturday 10am to 2pm. After hours requests can be made via Facebook messenger, email, or by appointment.
Pictured in the photo left to right:
Erin Prible, Wells County Chamber of Commerce, Executive Director
Cyndee Fiechter, North Eastern Group Realty, Chamber Ambassador
Alyssa Sponsellar, Archbold & Lewis, Chamber Ambassador
Jeanine Conrad, Fields of Grace Floral Boutique
Mia Conrad, Fields of Grace Floral Boutique
Jamie Lemler, Thoma/Rich, Lemler Funeral Home, Chamber Ambassador
Andrea Shane, Fields of Grace Floral Boutique
Remey Conrad, Fields of Grace Floral Boutique
Owen Shane, Fields of Grace Floral Boutique
Ted Smith, Creative Arts Council
Brooks LeFever, Fields of Grace Floral Boutique
Tammy LeFever, Fields of Grace Floral Boutique
Alex Shane, Fields of Grace Floral Boutique
Kellen Shane, Fields of Grace Floral Boutique
Heather Morgan, National Oil, Chamber Ambassador
Bobbi Shane, Fields of Grace Floral Boutique
Nick Huffman, FC Tucker-Malcolm & Schlueter, Chamber Ambassador
Jennifer Yoder, Fields of Grace Floral Boutique
David Yoder, Fields of Grace Floral Boutique
Michael Lautzenheiser, Bluffton NOW!, Chamber Board Member
Quinn Curry, Fields of Grace Floral Boutique
Rita Haneline, Markle Health & Rehabilitation, Chamber Ambassador
Kathy Curry, Fields of Grace Floral Boutique
Doug Brown, News-Banner, Chamber Ambassador
Nicole Curry, Fields of Grace Floral Boutique
Sarah MacNeill, Wells County Public Library, Chamber Board Member
Kevin Pritchard, RUOFF Home Mortgage, Chamber Ambassador
Julie Quinn, 1st Source Bank, Chamber Board Member
Jim Brewer, Ossian State Bank, Chamber Board Member
Not pictured: Kevin Johnson, father of Bobbi Shane