Ravenna – In 1970 a woman named Isabel Jones decided to give her new son-in-law a few lessons in furniture restoration. Little did she know a fuse had been lit for a life-long hobby that would one day turn into, The Corner Station. The antique store, run by Alan and Karen Balog, is a highlight to visit in the Ravenna area. The beauty of the unique items for sale and seeing the architectural rehabilitation accomplished by the Balogs since taking ownership in 2009 is worth the time.
After 30 years of teaching Business and Accounting, predominantly for Ravenna High School, Alan Balog’s hobby exploded. “My Mom liked antiques and when we were first married she showed him how to refinish furniture. And he just continued doing that until we had this huge surplus,” Karen said. The next logical step was for Alan to open an antique store to share and sell these lovely pieces with people who have come from both near and far to view the Balog’s varied collection. “We really liked the architecture of the building. We live in a century home and just like old buildings,” she said. “It has a nice roof line and we called it The Corner Station because it used to be an old gas station on the corner,” Mrs. Balog said with amusement in her voice when asked how they became owners of such a unique structure.
Over the course of 25 years, Mrs. Balog, has been both a math and later on a home and family teacher for the Ravenna Middle School. When Alan first opened the store “the aisles were narrow and furniture was stacked on top of furniture” so when she retired in 2013 Karen began helping to seriously revamp the store. The couples’ restoration of the 1920s structure has been an on-going process over the last ten years. When the Balogs took over they gave this decades old building the face-lift it needed by installing a new ceilings, lights and electrical work, along with painting at various stages of the process. When asked if there was still more they wanted to accomplish, Mrs. Balog stated jokingly, “Let’s put it this way, the display areas are done.”
The shop which started as a privately owned Pennzoil gas station in 1929 has been through a number of transitions over the years. According to research done by Karen at Reed Memorial Library, their building has been a gas station, equipment rental and car detailing business.
The most recent phase in the shop’s development is what Karen fondly calls “The Little Shop Around the Corner.” The property and warehouse directly behind the shop became available in 2016 and the Balogs acquired it to expand their floor space. “It was kind of a no brainer,” she said laughingly. They had a Grand Reopening to celebrate their accomplishments and updates to both buildings in November 2018.
“It was so chaotic,” she said of when they had multiple projects going on at once. They had a mason come in, along with installing the new ceiling and painting at the same time. “You’ve got to move from, one side to the other side to the other side!” she said of the exhausting experience.
“My husband likes to collect big pieces and unusual pieces,” Karen said of the items for sale. They specialize in furniture such as china hutches; their best sellers are storage items like dressers and buffets. The Corner Station gets the majority of their business from out-of-town shoppers and dealers, she said of the demographic that they connect with. Karen feels their unique business gives visitors a good first impression when they visit Ravenna and the transformation of the building has made the antique collection more viewable for the public to experience.
The Corner Station is located at 403 Cleveland Road, Ravenna, OH, 44266. They are open year round on Saturdays from 10am-5pm and information can be found on their Facebook page and Website www.cornerstation.com.
