Artichoke is a carefully curated collection of cookware located in the Findlay Market Square of Over the Rhine, Cincinnati. It was lovingly designed and created by passionate home cooks, who share a love of the Findlay Market area, great food & quality products. Today, Artichoke is a Woman-owned Small Business that just celebrated 8 amazing years in business.
A Lasting Imprint on OTR
Brad and Karen Hughes decided to do something unusual when they retired from their first professions in 2014/2015. Instead of traveling or taking time to themselves they decided to leave an impression on the City of Cincinnati – specifically the amazing area of Over the Rhine & Findlay Market Square. Karen and Brad decided the only place they wanted to be was Findlay Market, Ohio’s oldest continuously operating public market. While you can find all the meats, produce, spices, and specialty foods you could ever want here, there was nothing to cook it with. And so the idea for Artichoke was born.
Having no retail experience (She taught and was Associate Dean at the University of Cincinnati’s DAAP Program & He was an engineer specializing in Pharmaceutical Compliance) the Hughes’ embarked on this new challenge together! Other than being at the market, the Hughes have always been big supporters of the Cincinnati Streetcar and wanted to ensure that Artichoke would be on the Streetcar line. With that goal, they set out to find a building – It took over a year, but they eventually found Artichoke’s new home at 1824 Elm Street, a building they christened The Nieman Building, after it’s most recent tenant (approximately 1940-1978), the Nieman Awning Company. After over a year of renovations and preparation, Artichoke opened it’s doors on April 2nd of 2016.
Within that first year, Brad and Karen realized that while they were learning the Retail business (and quickly!) they could use some insight from someone with a background in retail. They hired on Hannah (then Luken) Bender in February of 2017, after she left Luken’s Poultry Fish and Seafood – Her family’s butcher stand where she had worked full-time for 7 years. The Hughes’ were regular customers at Luken’s and Hannah was known through the market as a hard worker with excellent Customer Service skills. Hannah had been working to complete her Business Management Degree at Cincinnati State Technical & Community College and with the support and encouragement of Brad, Karen and the Artichoke Staff she completed that degree in 2018.After the Pandemic Hit in 2020, Brad and Karen began to work on an escape plan – true retirement was calling. After 3 years of working full time and learning the business from the bottom up, Hannah and her husband began discussing possibly buying the business as Brad and Karen had made their intentions clear to the staff. After much discussion and almost a year of preparation, Hannah and Tom Bender purchased Artichoke from Brad and Karen in October of 2021.
Today Hannah is Owner/Operator, continuing to carry on the vision that Brad and Karen had upon founding. In May of 2022 the Artichoke Annex at 1830 Elm St opened, adding a curated collection of Tabletop items to Artichoke’s Selection. (2 doors down from our Flagship Location) This expansion encapsulates all the serving items that couldn’t fit in the main space when it was designed – dishes, glasses, serve ware, table linens, expanded barware, locally crafted & gift items. This assortment is continuing to grow and build as we gather feedback from customers in terms of items we may be missing in this new space. If you haven’t stopped by – Come check it out!
Intentional Design
Everything we do starts with why
Selected With Care
We Believe in sourcing quality Products that are made to last
A Team With a Goal
Real people that are passionate about great products