New owner takes over half of former Shane's Furniture

This story has been edited to reflect the following correction: Beer offers different flavors of grain, including wheat. ELYRIA — A new owner is taking over a long-abandoned building in downtown Elyria. One-half of the former Shane's Furniture at 321 Broad St. is now owned by Jim Jakopak of Vermilion. Jakopak hopes to turn the building into a meadery and ciderhouse. He's been making his own mead for years. He never thought of turning it into a professional business until he moved to Charlotte, North Carolina. Friends of his encouraged him to enter his mead into an American Homebrewers Association competition, which he won. Jakopak said that sparked the thought to go professional. Mead is a wine mostly made up of honey, water and yeast. Jakopak said from there, people can go as complex as they want. Just as beer makers have different flavors of grain, mead makers have different flavors of honey. The market for mead has increased, Jakopak said, and his place would be the first of its kind in Lorain County. Jakopak was born in Lorain, where his father worked at the steel mill, and grew up in Vermilion. He ended up moving back to Ohio from North Carolina and began the hunt for a building. It took nine different tries across Lorain and Cleveland, but he finally landed in Elyria. He chose Elyria partially because he liked the leadership in the city and the excitement for his ideas. Jakopak said he hopes to make and sell his own mead inside the former furniture store and also turn it into a place for art. He said he wants people to come and drink mead or hard cider. While doing that, people could take classes in painting, drawing, jewelry making or any kind of art, like a wine and paint type place. Jakopak said he has about a half-dozen artists who want to teach. Jakopak himself wants to teach metalworking to customers. Heavy art equipment and most of the classes would be in the basement, but Jakopak also has the storefront on the top level. He said he hopes to use half of the storefront for a friend of his who sells cookies out of a Lakewood business. She would like her own storefront for her business, Fortune's Cookies. The other half of the storefront would be used for access to the basement and a possible tasting area for the mead and hard cider. There's still a lot of work to be done in the store. Furniture that was left inside is now Jakopak's problem, which he is clearing out. He said he also hopes to restore some of the original front on the building, if it's possible. It will take some time to get it back in shape, and Jakopak has to get licensing for the mead and hard cider. He said he's hoping the bakery will be open by the fall, but it will take a little longer for his end. Either way, Jakopak said he's here in Elyria to stay. He said he sees potential in the city, and he wants to be a part of reviving downtown. Contact Laina Yost at (440) 329-7121 or lyost@chroniclet.com.