GALION, Ohio — Two businesses were officially welcomed, warmly, and with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, to the downtown strip on Harding Way in Galion Thursday morning.
The first stop was The Candi Bar, a newly renovated café selling gourmet coffee and pastries. The 5-year-old business was located on North Liberty Street in Galion before moving to the Harding Way storefront in December.
Mayor Tom O’Leary, coffee cup in hand, was enthusiastic about both ceremonies.
“It’s exciting to see new businesses like these coming to the downtown area,” he said. “We used to say that strip down there would be restaurant row (in the 200 block of Harding Way), but it’s not just there now.”
The group, consisting of Galion-Crestline Area Chamber of Commerce president Joe Kleinknecht, board of education members and city council members, walked west toward H&K Watkins next.
H&K Watkins opened in December at 113 Harding Way West to offer Galion something different, owner Heath Watkins said.
“We’re an organic Bath & Body, basically,” Watkins said.
The aroma infused store also houses four tanning rooms, each fashioned with mood lighting. Watkins said he is working to get a spray-tan machine up and running for the near future, too.
“When you come in to tan with us, you can let us know what mood lighting you’d like and we’ll set it for you before you come in,” he said.
The soaps and balms are made on a farm in Western Indiana. The candle products are made on a farm in southern Ohio. Watkins, and his wife, Kelli, plan on manufacturing the soaps, balms and candles in Galion in the future.
“We’ve only been in business for a month and the early indications are great. We had 800 of the mini candles before the Christmas season and now we’re down to about a dozen,” Watkins said.
Watkins owns the building, which is also home to American Family Insurance, right next door. The couple has sold insurance from that location for 18 years, Watkins said.
“We wanted to put something nice here in uptown Galion. We own the building now and we didn’t want the storefront sitting empty,” Watkins said.
The store is open from 7 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays. The store is closed on Sunday. For more information, visit the Facebook page.
