New location for love, Pittsburgh and their neighbors Parma Sausage in the Strip District

October 3, 2021 Monica Yope

love, Pittsburgh, a locally-focused gift shop with two locations, is expanding its operations with plans to open a third retail storefront in the heart of the Strip District this fall in the former Parma Sausage storefront. Parma has relocated next door to the original storefront they occupied for over 40 years.

In a beautiful merging of Pittsburgh families, love, Pittsburgh will be opening their third location in the Parma Sausage storefront located at 1728 Penn Avenue, and Parma Sausage has moved directly next door, to 1734 Penn Avenue. The two local small businesses are looking forward to becoming neighbors and serving the Strip District community and the tourists who come looking for authentic locally made goods and foods.

love, Pittsburgh’s mission is to support artists, makers, and small businesses from the Pittsburgh region. In doing so, they’ve curated a collection of original handcrafted goods entirely from local sources.

Owners Kelly Sanders and Monica Yope have always been blown away by the abundance of talented artists and makers in Pittsburgh, which was the inspiration for their first two stores located at 301 Shiloh Street in Mount Washington, and 805 Liberty Ave in Downtown Pittsburgh.

They are committed to continuing their existing operations, and they view their expansion to the Strip as a growth opportunity for their business as well as their vendors. “We have been 100% Pittsburgh from the start, our motto is ‘Keep it all in the family,’ our Pittsburgh family. We are excited to be able to support our artists and makers by placing more orders and increasing their business,” Sanders, love, Pittsburgh owner.

Parma Sausage is a family-run business that has been making high-quality authentic Italian meat products in America for 5 generations.

“We are excited to welcome Monica and Kelly, and their gift shop love, Pittsburgh, with open arms into the Strip District. In January 2021, we began our search for a new tenant in our corner space with the help of John Eliopoulos from Burns Scalo. We decided as a family it was time to bring in someone new and exciting since we had plenty of space to use for our own retail deli in the original location we used for over 40 years. After meeting with Monica and Kelly, they exceeded our expectations and we knew they would be a perfect fit. Both Parma Sausage and love, Pittsburgh are women owned, support women owned businesses, and reinforce the importance of family. We will continue business as usual in our original space at 1734 Penn Ave, set to open Tuesday, September 28. Being in the “new/old” storefront as we are calling it, will bring back fond memories when, my grandfather, Luigi Spinabelli, could be found in his office entertaining friends and family just about every day of the week for a “spuntino” of prosciutto and wine. And with the holidays approaching, the timing couldn’t be better to have a new shopping venue in the Strip.” Erin Schumacher, Sales Manager, 4th Generation, Parma Sausage.

The offerings for both businesses will be the same as before, plus some new products. In love, Pittsburgh’s Strip District shop they will carry many of the same handmade gifts, stationery, home goods, t-shirts, tasteful Pittsburgh-themed gifts, seasonal items, and jewelry that are found in their other two locations. In addition, Sanders and Yope plan to use the Strip location to expand their upscale home goods offerings and test new products with a wider audience. And to celebrate their expansion, look out for a Gift Box collaboration between love, Pittsburgh, and Parma Sausage coming soon.

love, Pittsburgh’s Penn Avenue store will have a soft opening and launch party in partnership with Parma Sausage. The store’s grand opening is slated for mid-October.

To receive the latest updates on the love, Pittsburgh store opening, visit their website at http://lovepittsburghshop.com and subscribe to their newsletter.