Something fresh and different is coming to the old floral store on the highway
Elena Kalogeropoulos has an artistic side that because of what could be perceived as more practical and business-like reasons has been deep inside her buried for years.
Now, that part of her is re-emerging.
“I feel like I’ve been on a 15-year hiatus from what I love,” Kalogeropoulos said Saturday, standing in the back room of the building that was once home to Tracy Floral among myriad trinkets that served as a reminder of the novelty of a former business. As the new owner of the building that for decades was home to a flower shop and greenhouse on Hwy. 14, Kalogeropoulos plans to use the space as a home to an art studio and a place to sell things like wax melts and home fragrances.
“This is a new life for this building,” Kalogeropoulos said. “This has always been a creative space. This was a place for creativity for a long time.”
Since arriving in southwest Minnesota, Kalogeropoulos’ fiancé, Chasing Our Tails founder, Steve Trachtenberg, has worked to make an impact in Tracy. The couple owns almost a dozen buildings in town, but this one, Kalogeropoulos is pleased to say, is all hers.
“One day Steve came to me and said, ‘Every building we’ve looked at, we’ve always talked about having an art studio,’ and then it ends up being something else,” Kalogeropoulos said. “When we moved here, Steve had asked me what were some of my hopes and dreams for being a part of southwest Minnesota. He has made a definite impact … but I’ve been the fiancé of Steve. All these buildings just got repurposed into something else, or ideas were shifted.”
The couple certainly has ideas. Aside from Chasing Our Tails on 4th St. and the former Hebig Electric building to the south, other buildings they have purchased include the former State Farm building on 4th St. and the old Super Value building on 3rd St., as well as the building that will soon be the future home of 1412 Market & Cafe in the former Dairy Queen building.
The greenhouse and flower shop, however, is all Elena’s.
“We walked around here and I said, ‘This is where I should be doing art,’” Kalogeropoulos said. “This is where I should have a studio space.”
See this week’s Headlight Herald for more on this article.