Ball also plans to partner with local artisans so they can teach classes and sell their creations in her shop.
Before Cozy Corner came to be, she owned Southern Charm Antiques in Kettering for seven years. She sold it and retired in 2019, but soon decided retirement was not for her.
“I had more to offer my community and to experience in life,” Ball said.
Credit: Jim Noelker
Credit: Jim Noelker
Moving to Miamisburg last October, Ball and her husband, Steve Justice, were impressed with how friendly the community was, pleasantly surprised at the people stopping by their home when they were outside to introduce themselves and residents saying ‘hi’ on the streets when walking downtown.
“The community was friendly and reminded me of my childhood and of an old-fashioned easier time, a time where everyone knows everyone and the merchants help each other, not compete,” she said. “Here in Miamisburg, I feel the feelings of yesteryear, when life was about community.”
In December, she told her husband that she would love to open a shop again, but this time in Miamisburg. She signed a lease for a storefront there Jan. 1 and opened it Feb. 1. She spent the time in between painting Cozy Corner’s interior from ceiling to floor, adding display cases and filling them with inventory.
“I picked a place in the heart of town in the corner of a building,” she said. “I called it ‘the Cozy Corner’ because I wanted people to feel comfortable and cozy when they come into my shop. My tagline is ‘Make your corner of the world cozy.’”
Credit: Jim Noelker
Credit: Jim Noelker
Ball said her store is a place to come and not only shop, “but to be heard.”
“Talking with, caring and getting to know people is what I do,” she said. “Listening to stories and giving a kind word is what you’ll get when you come into this store, like how we used to know the shopkeeper’s wife and the butcher’s birthday when we were kids. I want to be a part of those nostalgic feelings of downtown Miamisburg.”
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