Blossoming in Avella
Lisa Blazer, owner of Loo Loo’s Floral in Avella, puts together an arrangement in the shop, which she opened in late October.
A sign on the counter welcomes visitors to Loo Loo’s Floral, named for the niece of owner Lisa Blazer.
Lisa Blazer of Canonsburg has opened Loo Loo’s, a floral shop in Avella.
AVELLA – For most of her life, Lisa Blazer dreamed of being a florist.
But as is often the case, life intervened. Blazer, 49, of Canonsburg, is a wife, mother of two sons, and a college graduate with a degree in finance, which she forged into an 11-year career as a controller for a metals trading company north of Pittsburgh.
But then some things began to unfold in a way that made Blazer certain that she was being pulled toward a new career that would revive some old dreams – and provide a working space for them.
The result is Loo Loo’s Floral, which is in a former floral shop that Blazer recently purchased on Campbell Street in Avella.
“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do,” she said recently. “Since childhood, I always wanted to do creative things,” she said, adding that she took floral design courses about 15 years ago.
The switch from working in finance to running her own floral business “is a flip for me,” she acknowledged.
But Blazer said there were “signs” leading up to the change that she couldn’t ignore.
“I was trying to figure out what my next path in life would be,” she said, noting that it was then that she learned from her sister’s baby sitter who also is a Realtor, was marketing her first commercial property – a former floral shop in Avella.
That shop was operated for 28 years by Jackie Diamond as Avella Hometown Florist until her death in July 2015.
Blazer talked it over with her husband, Dave, who she said was all for her buying the store.
“He was so on-board with the idea,” she said, adding that Dave did all of the carpentry work and helped her prepare the 1,200 square-foot shop for a reopening.
“We bought it at the end of September. For five weeks, we scrubbed it up and turned it around,” she said.
At the same time, Blazer was taking a certificate course in floral arranging she’ll finish at the end of the month at Community College of Allegheny County.
As in most small towns, word of newcomers and new businesses travels fast, and Blazer has been overwhelmed by the welcome she’s received in Avella.
“This town is blowing my mind,” she said, recounting one of her first trips to the store after purchasing it.
“I was pulling up when a lady across the street jumped out of her car and ran over and hugged me, and told me how happy she was I was going to reopen the store,” she said.
Then came the Oct. 30 opening, a Sunday, that produced a visit from about 25 women from the nearby Presbyterian church.
“I heard a knock on the door, and when I opened it, they were all standing there to greet me,” she said.
The visits continue.
“When people come in, they stay and talk for awhile,” Blazer said.
And Blazer has a story to tell them about how she came to give the place a new name, while also recognizing the previous owner.
The Loo Loo in the store’s name is the nickname of Blazer’s niece, Lorelei, the adopted four-year-old daughter of her sister and brother-in-law Shelley and her husband Jason Blackhurst.
“She’s a flower to me,” Blazer said of Loo Loo.
But Blazer also added a diamond apostrophe to the new Loo Loo’s logo, in honor of the previous owner.
“That’s a tribute to her,” she said of Diamond. “I feel her spirit here. It’s so inspiring to be in her creative space.”
Blazer is also seeking the creativity of others as she moves forward with the store, particularly those involved with crafts.
And for those customers who like to stop for a chat as they shop, she’s also considering adding coffee, candy and other gifts to the retail space.
“It can be a place to get a teacher gift, a birthday gift,” she said.
Toward that end, she’s already offering soy scented candles, jewelry and facial scrubs, all handcrafted by women, and hopes to add more items, created by creative people like herself.
“I love supporting women who are doing crafts at the kitchen table,” she said.
Loo Loo’s Floral, 24 Campbell St., Avella, is open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays. Telephone is 724-587-5977.