By Jenny Callison
Enquirer contributor

Rick and Joni Lawson (front) bought a cafe from antiques dealers Diane Holt (center from left) and her sister, Margie Bove. The owners share adjoining space in the reopened Corner Coffee Cafe and Antique Peddlers. The Cincinnati Enquirer/CRAIG RUTTLE

REMINGTON - Margie Bove and Diane Holt, business partners and sisters, were victims of their own success.

For 20 years, they had run Remington House Antiques, creating a cozy environment for their inventory of mostly 19th-century furniture in a cottage on Loveland-Madeira Road.

Growth necessitated more space: Bove and Holt built an addition onto the structure, ultimately tripling their square footage. Three years ago they opened a coffee bar in the old house, furnishing it with antique tables, chairs and benches and displaying their coffee beans in a vintage storage unit.

"Diane and I didn't want a restaurant," Bove explained. "We just wanted to serve coffee and pastries. It seemed like a good idea, letting people come in and sit among the old things."

Soon the coffee bar took on a life of its own. Customers wanted more than a hot drink and sweet snack: They asked for soups and sandwiches and a variety of beverages.

Remington House Antiques' sales were climbing, too. Holt and Bove pulled in family members to help, but they were still working long, exhausting days. Although the two women had ideas for enhancing their shop and their offerings, they had neither the time nor the energy.

"The coffee bar was so successful, and grew so fast, the concept was so good and the demand so great, that we couldn't handle both the antiques business and the coffee bar," Bove said. "We had to step back, but we didn't want someone to buy it and change it."

Something had to give, however, and the pair decided to give up the cafe. But rather than putting the business on the market publicly, they began quietly asking around to see whether anyone would be interested in purchasing it.

Because the antiques store and coffee bar are in adjoining portions of the same space, it was important to find buyers who would share their vision.

Customers Rick and Joni Lawson heard the buzz that Remington House Antiques' coffee bar would close. .

"We asked Margie how much they wanted for the business," Joni Lawson said.

When Bove named her price, the couple realized it was within their grasp. They had just paid off their home mortgage and were able to get a home equity line of credit to launch them into business ownership. Joni had experience in food service; Rick was an entrepreneur.

"It was entirely scary, making the decision to do it," Rick Lawson said. "But I think it was fate, considering the way the four of us have jelled."

Perfect fit

Small-business strategist Darcy Misiak applauds the way Bove and Holt handled what could have been an awkward business transition.

"What they did was perfect," she said. "They brought in partners who fit their core values and share their objectives."

Misiak's downtown-based firm, Partners in Change, works with the Greater Cincinnati Area Chamber of Commerce to instruct small businesses in the Strategic 8.4 Planning Process.

"Businesses need to determine their driving force," she said. "In this case, the sisters tried to change their driving force, which takes a lot more technique and business know-how."

Bove and Holt maintained the same operation model despite taking on new products and services. Selling the coffee bar was a strategically sound solution, Misiak said.

Next, she recommends, the four owners should do some visioning and planning for the future of their entwined enterprises.

"We like to hear companies say, 'Here is what we want to look like in three years, in five years,'" Misiak said.

Having fun again

Once they made a deal on the sale, the owners closed the cafe and the antiques shop for three months to regroup. The Lawsons made a few improvements to their space and got a coffee bar tutorial from its former owners.

Bove and Holt, freed from the demands of the coffee bar, began to have fun again.

"We began to bring in architectural pieces and to make gift items out of antique pieces," Bove said. "We also took furniture and made things out of them."

When the newly named Corner Coffee Cafe and Antique Peddlers reopened April 1, its clientele was waiting.

"That first week, people came in with smiles on their faces," Joni said.

The Corner Coffee Cafe and Antique Peddlers is at 9440 Main Ave., Loveland-Madeira Road. Information: 794-1800, cafe, and 984-6533, store.

E-mail jcallison@zoomtown.com