THE VISION ISSUE - City of Shaker Heights

Erica Weiss at the new Juma Gallery
in Shaker Heights. PHOTO BY JANET
CENTURY.
When Carina Reimers decided the
time had come to turn her passion for
painting vintage furniture into a retail
shop, she knew Shaker was the place
to do it.
“I wanted to be within walking distance
of my home,” says Reimers, who
lives in the Fernway neighborhood.
“So I called the City.”
Shaker’s Director of Economic Development,
Tania Menesse, put her in
touch with Erica Weiss. Weiss, also a
Fernway resident, was getting ready
to renovate a building at the corner of
Chagrin and Lomond boulevards, that
she owns with her husband, David.
Her plan was to create a version of
her popular Juma Gallery, which is in
Cleveland’s Little Italy, just for Shaker.
“The more I visited the building, the
more I wanted to come back to Shaker,”
Weiss recalls.
She had an extra room, which she
offered to Reimers. In September, both
Reimers and Weiss officially opened
their doors.
Reimers’ shop, The House Warmings,
is chock full of her one-of-a-kind
furniture, as well as accessories she’s
discovered at shows in New York City
and elsewhere. Weiss, meanwhile, has
created a stylish and sprawling boutique-art
gallery-coffee bar, called simply
Juma, where visitors can hang out
with friends, take in an art show, or
shop for hard-to-resist gifts, clothing,
and jewelry.
“I’ve been so happy with the support
I’ve gotten in Shaker,” says Reimers.
“I’m so attached to Shaker,” says
Weiss, who’s also an artist herself.
“We’re so invested in this community.”
Indeed, talk to Shaker residents
who run businesses in the City, like
Weiss and Reimers, and within minutes,
here’s what you’ll hear: Shaker is
a great place to work and live.
“Shaker has been so supportive,”
agrees Paula Pascarella, owner of The
Little Gym of Shaker Heights just up
Chagrin from Juma and The House
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