A short History of Keepsakes

Once upon a time a young couple bought an old house with the idea of turning it into a business. The house needed a lot of work, but they had a lot of energy and enthusiasm. With enough cleaning, fixing, painting, and remodeling, they transformed it from an unloved, run down rental property, into a business called "Keepsakes". A genuine care and concern for their customer's needs, uncounted long days of hard work, and striving to do their best has succeeded. Keepsakes is no longer just an idea, or just a startup, it has become a thriving, growing, established business.

The seed of Keepsakes takes us back a generation. Barbara, the owner, was in business with her father. They had a Ben Franklin Craft store here in Cincinnati. Her father opened his first Ben Franklin store in 1962. In 1989 he decided to retire. Barbara, and her husband Joseph, decided to transform that business into something new. A new location, a new name, a new focus, and the idea for Keepsakes was born. In many respects, it is like the mythical bird, the Phoenix, rising from what was, to become something new.

2008 marks our 10th year in business. It often seems hard to believe we've been here that long. The last ten years have gone by mighty fast. But nothing about this business has dampened our excitement and enthusiasm for it. We love what we do, we enjoy our customers, and we plan to keep on going for many years to come.