By KEVIN NEVERS

For 28 years Steve and Raymond Brickner have run The Flower Cart in a cozy old home across the street from the grocery at Eighth Street and Broadway.

It’s a charming shop and at Christmas, with the lights and decorations, quite lovely.

Over time, though, as the business grew, the Brickners began to feel cramped, since the smaller rooms of the home, quaint as they are, limited display space and complicated day-to-day operations. And then, finally, WiseWay Foods re-located, and the healthy walk-in trade which they had enjoyed slowed to a trickle. So the Brickners decided it was time to find new digs.

They have, in the heart of the Downtown and on a site sorely in need of a facelift.

Within two weeks, demolition should begin on the old Chesterton Muffler Man shop—once the old Standard gas station—at the northeast corner of Indiana Ave. and South Calumet Road, next to the offices of the Chesterton Tribune.

Then up will go the Flower Cart: 5,200 square feet of space, 1,500 of it in a second-story tower built roughly where the Muffler Man free-standing sign now sits. The building will have a brick facade, fabric awnings, and decorative lighting, a roof of green enameled metal will top the tower, and—most notably—it will be built flush to the sidewalk, with parking in the rear, to continue the uninterrupted line of store fronts along South Calumet Road all the way to Indiana Ave.

Steve Brickner expects the new Flower Cart to open for business in the fall, in time for Christmas.

Brickner concedes that something of the charm of the existing location will be lost. “Now we’re in an old house, with different rooms,” he says. “The new concept is a large open area. So it’s going to have a totally different feel but it’s going to be more functional as far as operations.”

It will also be more accessible. “The problem with the existing space and one of the main things we wanted to address was access,” Brickner says. “With the existing building there are stairs. We have customers who are aging and it’s tougher for them to get into the store. . . . And I’m not getting any younger either.”

Like Mark Hopkins, who decided to purchase the old Smedman’s Econo-Mart and re-locate across the street instead of leaving the Downtown, the Brickners had a choice. They could have built elsewhere and in fact considered one of the outlots at the old Jewel/Osco on Indian Boundary Road. But the Brickners, like Hopkins, in the end were committed to their roots. “We really weren’t so sure we wanted to locate in so ‘commercial’ a setting,” Steve Brickner says. “Our business is a bit more homey, casual. I think it fits better with the Downtown feel than a fast-food neighborhood.”

“I was born and raised here,” Brickner adds. “I really want to make sure that Downtown Chesterton stays viable. You know, that’s part of it.”

So The Flower Cart will become part of the South Calumet Renaissance and join bistros like Lucrezia, Popolano’s, and the Millwright’s Daughter, and businesses like Hopkins Ace and Vantil Medical, to make the stretch of South Calumet between Broadway and Porter Ave. one of the most appealing shopping and walking districts in town. And Brickner hopes that this most recent investment in the Downtown will prove “a start for other people” to contribute to the Renaissance. “I’d love to see more restaurants and retail open and hopefully the momentum will keep on going.”

Brickner notes that he and his brother had the option of building to the rear of the lot and putting the parking in front—as the property is configured now—but that they decided to take advantage of the B-1 zero lotline and build to the sidewalk. The effect, with the tower, should be impressive: an utterly different, and very attractive profile, in keeping with the historic block. “Even though it’s new construction and it’s going to have a more modern feel,” Brickner says, “—we’re not trying to make it look like an old building that’s been there a hundred years—we are trying to keep the building materials and proportions appropriate to the Downtown.”

In the expectation that their walk-in trade will increase, the Brickners are expanding their product mix to “complement the flowers.” They already have a successful side line in handmade European greeting cards and upscale porcelain vases. They’ll be adding some crystal but also a selection of gourmet gift baskets. “The sorts of things,” Steve Brickner says, “you need more display space for and more people dropping in.”

And Brickner is looking forward to seeing the drop-ins again. “We’ve been in business 32 years and the community has always been very supportive of us,” Brickner says. “So we hope that they like what we’re doing and continue to support us.”

Posted 5/19/2008