Elm & Iron Loft Holding Grand Opening Tomorrow

Vintage Home Furnishing Store Expanding with New Space Across Vine Street

CINCINNATI (Thursday, June 16, 2016) – When Dan McClurg decided to open a new location of his vintage home furnishings shop, Elm & Iron, in Over-the-Rhine (OTR) in December 2014, he expected the new shop would do well. But even he wasn’t anticipating such a rapid pace of growth. Just 13 months removed from opening his first OTR location in May 2015, a second – Elm & Iron Loft – is set to hold its grand opening tomorrow at 11 AM at its new address of 1411 Vine Street. In addition, the new location will offer complimentary drinks from 6 – 9 PM to show off and celebrate the new space.

“We did much better than expected in our first year in Cincinnati but felt limited on what we were able to offer in our current space versus what customers were asking for,” McClurg said. “We had customers asking for additional dining and seating, case goods, and upholstery options and we couldn’t really find the room in the current store to expand on those offerings.”

Located directly across the street from the original 2,000-square-foot OTR shop, Elm and Iron Loft will fill a bigger space (4,500 square feet) and, therefore, focus on selling larger items. The three-story space, which was formerly home to the Brandery, will feature more furniture and less décor and accessories, which are hallmarks of the current shop. When Elm & Iron discovered the space had opened up following the Brandery’s move to Union Hall, McClurg and store manager Hart Neely contacted 3CDC immediately to look into expanding into the space.

“The building itself was definitely a big factor in us deciding to open a second location in OTR,” Neely said. “It has really great character to it and a really great history that we felt would be perfect for what we’re trying to accomplish with our brand.”

Originally a jewelry store, the building had an atrium through all three levels to allow natural light in, giving the jewelry inside a natural shimmer in the showcase. When 3CDC remodeled the space, the second floor opening was covered in thick acrylic, which patrons can walk over and look through to see the first floor.

“That’s definitely one of the coolest things about the space, along with a lot of other unique architectural features, like the tin ceiling on the first floor and the large windows on the second level,” Neely said.

The three-story space has also allowed Elm & Iron Loft to take a creative approach to laying out the store. While the sense and style of shop will be familiar to fans of the original, the new space will also be all its own.

“When you walk into the new store you will definitely know that you are in an Elm & Iron,” Neely said. “But the three floors gave us a really unique opportunity to tell different stories with our product and create different identities for each floor and room to spread out in order to do so.”

Elm & Iron Loft will still carry the same vintage and industrial style product that its customers have grown accustomed to, but will also mix in new vendors with very unique furniture offerings.

Upon opening, Elm & Iron Loft will be the fourth Elm & Iron location, joining the aforementioned space at 1326 Vine Street in OTR, as well as the original Columbus location and Elm & Iron Warehouse, also in Columbus.

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