Hey out there, Akronites, welcome once again to Around Akron with Blue Green and yes, we have an amazing show ahead of us today.

We're going to head down to Canton to meet up with Market Fresh Jams and see what they're all about.

Then it's off to Barberton to meet up with the Ohio Tea Lady at her new location.

Then it's off to Lock 3, which is right behind me here to see all the improvements in the amazing new park.

Now to kick this show off today we're headed down to Canton to learn about Market Fresh Jams to see about hot pepper jams and fruit jams and all that goodness.

Let's go see what Market Fresh Jams it's all about.

- Well, I grew up making jams with my family.

We always had a healthy garden, so those things are always part of it.

But for us to fall into it, it was not a natural thing.

- Yeah.

So we got a table at our local farmer's market to sell some extra produce that we typically have from our gardens.

The weather did not cooperate that year, so we had to find stuff to fill our booth.

So we put baked goods, beach glass jewelry, jams and jellies, 2 or 3 different flavors.

And week over week the jelly seemed to be the hit so by the end of the season, that's all we had on the table.

So the first flavors that we had on the table were our Berry Patch, which is a mixed berry, strawberry, and I'm not quite sure what the third one was.

- It was something with jalapeño.

Yeah, it was a little bit of jalapeño.

It was the strawberry and the jalapeño, maybe, I think.

So there was just literally three jars on a table and like she said, it just progressed.

Can you make this?

And then she would make that and then she would make more.

And then pepper jellies became a thing.

People asked more and more.

So that's when I jumped on.

I took it as a challenge.

I'm going to make this pepper jelly.

We get the average person that says cream cheese, right?

Pepper jelly and cream cheese.

So people know that.

But other things that we're teaching them are a wing sauce, makes a great wing sauce.

Or a glaze for pork or a condiment on your sandwich.

- I feel like it's an even split.

- It's a fairly even split.

Yeah, we have ones of both that will sell out at every show, like hot garlic, hot pepper garlic is out every show, but blueberry cobbler we sell out of pretty much of every show too, so.

- A lot of our... Kind of off the path flavors really come from just having extra of making this jam and this jam, right?

Blueberry cobbler was one.

I love cinnamon and vanilla, and blueberry cobbler is a great dessert, so we said, let's just make one that tastes exactly like the cobbler without the hassle.

So yeah.

- And that led to pineapple upside down cake and key lime pie.

It is a slow process.

For me, you know, not never setting out to be a jam maker.

Things that keep it interesting are what make it interesting to me.

So I said, I've never seen a layered jam.

Let's make this happen.

And I set out to make it happen.

And it took a while, but I found a way to make it work.

So we did more.

But we don't have as many as we used to but that one back there is still our number— I mean, how many did we sell that one year for Christmas?

- Yeah, the Traffic Stopper was a huge hit that first (unintelligible) still is, but we had some— Our local realtor ordered 20 some jars for her clients for that year.

And lots of different Christmas gifts for it just because it's pretty, unique, and very tasty.

But every show we get asked, do you have redcurrants Seems to be one that we get asked once or twice a month if we have it.

But our big draw is that we want to use fruits that we can get here locally.

Redcurrants, we have not been able to find anywhere locally.

Buy them online frozen, but that's not really our jam, to be cheesy.

We're not buying frozen fruits that we just don't know what the quality is.

There are a couple flavors that, from fruits that we just haven't been able to source yet.

But we used to get asked for elderberry a lot, and we did find a local source that we can go pick our own.

So we were really happy to be able to add elderberry to the the flavor list this year.

And mulberries as well.

We have a friend that has a huge mulberry tree, so we're able to source those locally.

So it feels good to know that we're, you know, helping out, you know, some friends with a few bucks for their fruit and not buying things that are sprayed with chemicals when we can.

I never really paid attention to how the fluctuation of fruit prices.

Like, before this, I didn't really notice that there's a time of the year to buy cheap, really delicious strawberries and then there's times of the year where you're paying $5 for a thing a strawberries.

We are so in tune with that now.

That was kind of one of those things we didn't really expect a little bit of a challenge, but when it's in season and it's at its cheapest and it's at its most tasty, right?

So we will stock up, wash, cut and put them in the deep freezer.

So we've got three freezers in the basement that are, that were I said earlier, we don't buy frozen produce.

We will buy it fresh, make sure it's top of the line and then freeze it so that we can offer it, you know, stock up on it and offer it.

And then when it's done, it's done till that next growing season.

And the other unexpected cost was the jars, like the price of mason jars has gone up significantly.

So that's why when we had our social post about how many cases are in, we found a great deal and we said just fit as many of them in the car as we can.

So that helps.

Yeah and we do offer customers to bring us your empty jars.

Like we will reuse your empty jar.

We'll put a new lid on it, we'll put a new ring.

And then we offer them an incentive too, so we'll buy back jars from them.

- Next up, it's over to Barberton, Ohio.

Last time I met up with the Tea Lady, she was in Akron.

Now she's in Barberton.

Let's go see what the Ohio Tea Lady is all about.

- I had to make a very wise decision, and believe me, it wasn't easy because I wanted to be in my hometown.

And I really didn't know anything about Barberton except for the Mum's Fest.

I would come to that almost every year.

So it was very challenging, but I feel with what I was giving and the opportunities that I had in the city, it just was a win win.

I couldn't turn it down.

This was a great decision and people love it.

They’ll still come.

People travel all over the United States and other countries just to come here already.

And I haven’t been here a year yet.

Barberton is really the downtown Barberton plan is to really build out all areas of downtown and bring new businesses down here so people can get out of their cars and walk and shop and visit all types of different unique businesses.

And they're doing a great job with that.

One of the things that we had to do is that, the building has been empty for over 25 years.

This is a historical building.

And because of that, I had to build it out from the floors to the walls.

We built out this room.

I mean, we just had to do a lot of work and getting this ready for the Tea Lady.

And my contractor was just amazing.

I would say about 35% of our clientele is foreign, and they love it.

I have grandmama's, and all of them 90, 80 year olds at the table in tears because it reminds them of the home.

And that's been so fabulous for me.

We recently had people here from Hawaii, and they literally flew here, brought family from here to come to this tea room and then flew back home.

It's just amazing.

I've had high school friends.

And the young lady was in, oh, gosh, I think the Philippines and other places like that and flew in here just to bring friends and family to have tea time with the Tea Lady.

So, I mean, it's just amazing.

If I showed you my guest book, you would be, like, amazed.

What we do with our tea, it's loose leaf tea that we serve.

So our guests can come and go to our tea counter and pick out any tea they like.

And then we come out and we prepare it for them.

They don't have to prepare their own tea.

We let them know that it needs to steep for about 4 or 5 minutes, depending on what type of tea that they have.

If it's a white tea, maybe about 2 to 3 minutes or less because it's a very delicate tea.

If it's herbal tea or black tea, it needs to steep longer.

And we let them know about 4 or 5 minutes and we come out and we prepare their tea, and then after that, they can go in and enjoy it.

So, that’s basically, when it comes to the tea service, that's what we do.

We specialize in afternoon tea and high tea, and that means that there's a five course meal.

A lot of people don't know that you can eat at afternoon tea.

But yeah, this is a five course meal for us.

We serve a really nice, fruit parfait and then you'll have a nice hearty seasonal salad.

And you'll have your three courses, which is your savory course, your savory courses are your tea sandwiches.

So you have a variety of those.

You'll have your scones and you have some sweets to go with that.

Some cakes and petit fours and macarons and all that kind of good stuff.

Everything for that sweet tooth.

So you get a lot of food plus your tea.

Usually with us, everyone gets a personal teapot of tea.

And it’s unlimited as long as you're here.

We just make sure.

And then once it starts to get a little weak, we can add some fresh tea leaves to that.

So it makes it for a nice, pleasant experience.

And when you're with someone, you have a great conversation and, you know, it just lasts for a while and they have fun and enjoy each other's company.

It's an experience.

That's what it's about.

You want to come, you want to enjoy your time with someone.

It's peaceful.

It's quiet.

It just really evolves into a great conversation with whomever you bring.

And you talk about things that's either pleasant or things that's uncomfortable, but it just makes it easy for conversations to happen and just bring more fellowship, you know, more closeness with that individual or other people that you bring.

Like this past weekend we had a book club come and they had an amazing time just to sit and discuss the book that they were reading amongst each other, and they had a wonderful time.

You know, you're not bothered by being around a whole lot of people and people bumping into you with and all of that is just very comfortable and a very easy environment to have a great conversation.

- Next up is that place right behind me there, Lock Street.

Wow.

Is it amazing.

Last time I was here, it was being bulldozed.

Now it's an amazing amenity in downtown Akron.

Let's go see what the new Lock 3 is all about.

So what really made me want to do this story was I'd seen some people commenting online how much they thought Lock 3 looked horrible now and I strongly disagree.

Lock 3 is beautiful.

I mean, I want to bring people to Akron just to show them Lock 3 now.

This is truly a beautiful park that we can all enjoy year round, literally in the winter time with an ice rink, summertime concerts, gatherings, got a little forest.

You can hear birds.

This is wonderful.

So one of the specific comments that I heard someone say was they didn’t like walking through these areas because it had to go through a spiral to get from point A to point B, and I love it.

It's like a little park.

Look at this beautiful landscaping.

Now we have sidewalk access and you can actually walk right off the sidewalk onto the patio, and you have seating everywhere for you to sit, have a picnic, bring your family, read a book, have a date, relax, whatever.

It's all here for you in Lock 3, which has now become a park.

Not just a concert venue, but an actual park.

You can come down to the park now and you can just walk around, enjoy the scenery, enjoy the landscaping, enjoy life a little bit.

Now the one lesson you can take away from a park is you need to spend more time here.

Spending time in a park.

It's scientifically proven just five minutes a day and make your life much better.

You're feeling depressed, feeling anxious?

Go outside.

Enjoy the sunlight at Lock 3.

Walk around, Lock 3 could save your life.

Now, the reason it's called Lock 3 is this is the remnant of the lock system that was originally the Highway Superstar transportation part of the world.

The lock system is what made Akron become a location.

And this was Lock 3, where a boat would have to stop and wait for it to either raise or lower the water so it could move on.

This now is the remnant of the hill here.

So you still have a grassy hill where you can come up and have a seat with a blanket and watch the show, or just come down here on an off day and get some sun.

Now this is the view from the field at Lock 3.

Welcome to Lock 3.

It's for all to enjoy.

Right off of Main Street.

Look at that.

Beautiful.

Now to wrap this show up today, it's back over to the Retro Attic.

Last time I was there, he only had a half a building, now he's got the whole building.

Two floors of nostalgia at the Retro Attic.

Let's go see what they're all about.

- Lots of changes have been made.

The last time we talked, I was just upstairs.

Had about, I think at that time, maybe three rooms in this building which maybe would have equated to about 900ft² somewhere in that range, music, some horror theme type stuff and since then expanded the entire upstairs and then now took over the entire 4500ft² building.

So, yeah, now we’ve got a lot of floor space and a lot of cool stuff.

100% brick, brick and mortar.

And, you know, that’s the whole idea behind the retro aspect of it.

A lot of people come in and, you know, ask me like, you know, you should sell online or you should get on Whatnot and, you know, have auctions, etc.

and it's, you know, for me, it defeats the purpose.

I mean, I would certainly pivot if I needed to, you know, from a business standpoint, but I haven't needed to and, you know, so I would, I would rather keep it brick and mortar and have these cool items here for the folks that want to come to the shop and experience it, take it all in, feel those emotions, and I'd rather the item be here for them.

When opened up upstairs, you know, had some things to fill the space and then it just, it grew so quickly, you know, at the same time people come in and experience the shop and buy things, people bring things to you, to sell to you.

And, you know, as long as you keep that buy, sell, trade ratio, like, you know, pretty, equal, like, that’s how... It's how you try to run a good business.

Well, I was actually buying and acquiring way quicker than I was selling.

So shop was doing great but was acquiring a lot.

Started to fill up back space in a warehouse.

Once we got the warehouse full and then took on more space than we were able to pretty easily fill the place up, so.

But yeah, it was pretty much mostly all acquired just over the last 3 or 4 years.

Folks passing away and dealing with the estate and what have you.

I get a lot of that.

I come across a lot of families who have lost someone, and now they have this either massive collection of stuff or a small, whatever it is, but they just have no idea where to go or what to do with it.

Like, they've never been on— They don't sell on eBay, they don't sell on Marketplace.

They, you know, they work 9 to 5, they come home, they raise their— Like, that’s just not what they do.

And so they need advice, and they'll call here to the shop and I end up at their home and it's such a blessing for me to get to be a part of this collection and help guide them if it's something I can or can't use, you know, either way, I help them.

And, it's, that is the most fun because you are getting to know someone, you're getting to know their story.

You kind of get to know the person who's passed away, as eerie as that sounds, because of the items and the things that you're coming across.

And like, there's kind of a unique connection there that you start to feel that might sound weird, but if you've done it, you know what I mean.

And you get to help the family through this tough time.

But you also find some really cool things.

And I have on Earth some pretty amazing collections that way.

And generally speaking, there is a commonality like you said, if someone did like to collect, you know, Marvel items, you know, DC items, you know, from the 60s and 70s, they tend to have a lot of it.

And you keep finding more of it as you're looking through this estate.

And so, the pick is real.

The emotions that go into it are real, and it's a lot of fun.

But yeah, I'm always, I'm always coming across those most unique finds that are a lot of fun.

Bartering in the shop is, that's been fairly easy, acquiring more stuff very quickly so there's always plenty of things to look at and to buy.

But the stuff does sell pretty quick as far as bartering out there in the world, when you're out looking for things, you know, it's really, it's just about education.

It's about explaining to the person that you're looking to buy something from that, like, we're in your driveway right now, we're not on eBay, you know?

So.

And then walking them through, you know, because clearly they don't sell on eBay or they wouldn't more than likely be having a garage sale.

So walking them through what that process looks like, that they would have eBay fees, they would have to ship the item that, you know, there's a lot that goes into selling that item on eBay, and I'm here right now and ready to buy it, so.

But, you know, also being fair to them and offering a fair price for their item, I think is very important in this world as well.

Not trying to quote unquote, get everything at, you know, basement bargain prices, like be willing to be fair to the person you're buying something from.

But leave yourself room to also fairly sell it to the person that wants to buy it.

This is probably the right size, but, you know, I, you know, I don't work that way.

Like, I can't, like, I'm one of those people that if I feel, I feel like if you're not, you know, if you're not growing your stagnant.

And I like to grow and, you know, so I've been looking at space for a second location.

This place is amazing.

So I would like to stay here indefinitely as long as, you know, as long as I can.

You know, I would prefer to stay here and open a second, maybe third location, as opposed to try to find an even larger location.

You know, this is 4500ft².

If you can't make a business work in 4500ft², then you're probably doing something wrong.

But the demand is there certainly for a larger scale.

So... A lot going on in my mind, but right now, yes, this is the good size.

But the history of this building when you walk into it, is all, all ties into the nostalgia of all of it, like the wooden beams in each room having a different theme.

And, you know, there's a room, a big sports room in the back with huge iron beam sticking out of the walls where it used to this, it was an old mill, the waterfall still out back where there was a working wheel that used to operate the entire building.

And you can just feel the 152 year old building that you're in when you're in it.

And I love that.

I love that feeling about this space.

- Thank you once again for watching this episode of Around Akron with Blue Green.

If you have any questions or comments, you can catch me online.

Now, if you want to see the full interviews, go check out Blue Green’s World podcast on YouTube and on Spotify.

Thank you and have an amazing day!