The very mention of Monnette’s in the Toledo area often brings to mind visions of fresh fruit, vegetables, deli offerings, and a large variety of flowers and plants for the garden.
John Monnette, Sr., opened the first store on Tremainsville Road in 1951. In the years since, the family added locations on Secor Road in the Trilby neighborhood, on Glendale Avenue in South Toledo, and on Reynolds Road in West Toledo.
The Reynolds Road location closed in June of 2020 after a car went through the front of the store. It briefly reopened in 2023, but closed in December after only three months.
Marc Monnette, who owns both the Glendale Avenue and Secor Road locations, said he purchased the Reynolds Road store from his nephew because of the growth of the greenhouse business at the other two locations.
“Every summer, we had a makeshift greenhouse at Glendale,” Mr. Monnette said. “There is a lot of labor involved putting it up, stocking it, running water lines, and then taking it down. In 2024, the last thing you want for your business is something that is so labor intensive.”