Oh Happy Rea plants roots in Findlay

FINDLAY — Findlay's newest downtown store, Oh Happy Rea, at 11 E Crawford St., is celebrating its grand opening on Friday, with a ribbon cutting hosted by the Findlay-Hancock County Chamber of Commerce. The event will feature free plant giveaways, snacks and beverages, special discounts and a customer appreciation raffle. Owner Laisha Rae described her business journey as a "happy accident." While helping a friend maintain greenery at her bakery, she realized that there was likely a much broader demand for plant care in the community. "I initially started out of my house for friends and then word spread," Rea said. "I started working for more and more individuals. One day when I was down on Crawford Street taking care of the bakery plants, I noticed there was a shop front that became available. I toured it and then we put in an offer. By June 15th, we had the keys." Within the span of a few months, she went from filing for an LLC to selling plants at the McComb Farmers Market to preparing to open up her new storefront. Rea's green thumb began during the pandemic. In 2020, while virtually teaching high school English, she bought five vastly different houseplants to bring life into her home, three of which are still thriving today. What began as a quarantine hobby quickly evolved into a deeper knowledge and passion for plant care and education. At Oh Happy Rea, education is the main focus. Rea guides customers through each plant's unique care before they leave the shop, even giving live demonstrations at the register on how to check soil moisture or diagnose plant problems. She also hosts workshops and classes covering topics from re-potting to plant anatomy. "We're really trying to focus on that customer service aspect," Rea said. "We had to decide very early on what was going to separate us from the big box stores. It's not that there's a shortage of plants anywhere, it's that many people might feel intimidated by getting a plant or they don't want to invest a bunch of money without guidance." One of the shop's standout features is the "dirt bar," a 10-foot long high top work station filled with Oh Happy Rea's signature house mix soil. Customers can bring in their plants for re-potting or participate in hands-on workshops and classes. "We want to make sure that we have that very, very individualized experience for each customer that walks in, purchases a plant, or wants to know about plants," Rea said. "Overall, it's that knowledge piece, I think I'll always be an educator at heart." Inside the shop, a mural painted by local artist Mia Otto depicts hands signing the word grow in American Sign Language. The artwork is a testament to Rea's personal connection with ASL, having taught sign language to her children when they were young to help with speech development. "It's always been a really big part of our household," Rea said. "I am an ally of that community, and I definitely want everybody to feel welcome here." The mural reflects the overall message of Oh Happy Rea, that growth can be personal, creative or a part of a community. I wanted everyone, whether they're a plant person or not, to feel like this is a place where you can come and grow in some way," Rea said. "That's our whole philosophy, to be better than you were yesterday in some capacity and hopefully your plants look better tomorrow than they do today." While the grand opening is Friday, Rea has held various business hours since her first shipment of 257 plants arrived early. "I'm just absolutely blown away by the reception," Rea said. "I knew there was a plant community here, but I had no idea how vast it was and how it transcended generations, genders and everything." The ribbon cutting will take place at 4 p.m. Friday. "Coming from the world of education, I wanted to support teachers that are, for the most part, in Findlay City Schools and are going back to school next week," Rea said. Looking ahead, Rea hopes to include a nonprofit section to her business, bringing plants and workshops to nursing and retirement homes, inspired by her grandmother's experience in an assisted living facility. "My grandmother was in a nursing home for the last few years of her life, and I just know how isolating it can be for the residents," Rea said. "Plants made me feel a little less isolated in a time when I needed it most. That's the long-term goal."