Weezie’s Cottage, a well-known Havana business, with a shop located in the downtown historic shopping district, will soon be closing the doors of its Tallahassee showroom in the Market Square shopping center.
Those who rely on Weezie’s for their furniture and home decor need not worry, however, as Louise “Weezie” Heidenreich, who owns the business with her husband James, has no plans to close the Havana shop.
“Right now, we want to focus on Havana,” explained Heidenreich. “We have big plans. We want to close in the courtyard and put all of our outdoor furniture there, and have a big fire pit out there, we just have a lot of plans for the Havana location. We’re going to offer classes, we’re thinking about offering lunch, like a ladies luncheon every other Wednesday. And we just feel like with social media we can get the exposure we need, and get people to drive the extra miles from Tallahassee to come visit us.”
Heidenreich also explained that the Tallahassee location was originally opened to seek more exposure for their business.
“Ten years ago we decided to open a big showroom in Tallahassee. We felt like we weren’t getting the exposure we needed in Havana for what we did. At the time, social media wasn’t near as easy and user friendly as it is today. So we feel like now we have the exposure we need, people know who we are, and will follow us back to Havana, and our 10 year lease is up [for the Tallahassee location], so we decided not to renew it, move everything to Havana, and focus on one location.”
The Heidenreich’s plan to be completely moved out of the Tallahassee showroom by March 1 of this year, and there is currently a sale going on.
“We have a storewide sale going on in both shops,” says Heidenreich. “And we are also offering a discount on custom orders, so if a person sees a sofa they like, but it’s not the right color, they can order it in the color they like at the discounted price.”
Heidenreich also stated that business will continue as usual at the Havana location; the store will be closed on Monday and Tuesday, and all staff will remain.
“The main thing people need to know is that the Havana store will be staying open, and it will be even better,” said Heidenreich. “We’re really excited, because people finally know who we are.”
Stephen Klein – Gadsden County News Service
