Shopping in Toledo

The story of Kircher’s Flowers began in 1908, when Mr. and Mrs. Winfield S. Kircher first began peddling petals in at their Indiana shop. More than a century later, the shop’s horticultural experts continue their founders’ legacy, nurturing thousands of blossoms ready to join together in flower arrangements or add splashes of color to yards. Floral artists snip 26,000 gerber daisies, 15,000 snapdragons, and 2,000 daffodils each year as they craft petal-and-leaf creations to fit any occasion, from sunny nosegays that cheer up hospital patients to romantic rose bouquets that clue loved ones in to deeper feelings. Kircher’s expansive greenhouses also yield untouched perennials, annuals, and fronds that green-thumbed shoppers tote home for planting along walkways or brightening patios. The gardening center grows nearly three quarters of the flowers that it sells, which allows its professionals to lavish care on each plant and ensure that no one accidentally takes home a spy who forgot to take off his shrub disguise.

Hachman Farm Supply equips Temperance-area households with tools, fuels, and food for pets and livestock. In the store's aisles, Kent Feeds bags brim beside lawn and garden supplies, tools, and petroleum products. The store also houses an RV and propane-filling station, a boon for barbecue chefs tired of cooking with helium only to watch their steaks float away.

As a founding member of the World Fair Trade Organization, Ten Thousand Villages has cultivated a network of more than 390 retail stores and relationships with more than 130 artisan groups from around the world. Crafters from 38 different countries across Latin America, Asia, and Africa hand make children’s toys, jewelry, baskets, and tableware, which helps these artisans to earn a steady income and polish marketable skills. At the Archbold location, manager Darlene Rohrer-Meck oversees a passionate staff of volunteers as they curate an assortment of glittering silver jewelry, exotic musical instruments, and sweet-smelling natural cosmetics. Like a Mark Twain ventriloquist dummy, each item in the store is an object bursting with a folksy story to tell, from the graceful, curving African stone statues to the jangly, beaded necklaces from India.