Jennifer Pomp has fulfilled her dream of owning and operating her own business where she can create and sell her many artistic creations.

She achieved this goal eight months ago with the opening of “Something Special Gift Shop” at 902 High St. in Fairport Harbor Village.

Pomp said she is especially happy to have found a location for her business in a community she loves.

“Fairport Harbor feels like home to me,” said Pomp, who spent much of her childhood in the village, first as a resident and then as a frequent visitor.

The Something Special gift shop offers a wide variety of items that Pomp makes or decorates, such as T-shirts, tumblers and mugs with colorful motifs, etched drinking glasses, handmade soaps and custom jewelry.

“I make 85 percent of all the products in the store here,” she says, noting that she makes additional items at home.

Pomp said she began creating artistic objects as a child and continued those activities as an adult.

She has worked in a nursing home for 30 years, and spent about half of that time as a recreation director. In this role, she helped residents complete arts and crafts projects.

Over the years, Pomp also sold some of her arts and crafts at events such as flea markets and festivals.

However, she always maintained the desire to one day open a gift shop in Fairport Harbor that could offer a variety of her goods.

A friend who knew of Pomp’s ambitions to own a business in Fairport Harbor called her on July 22 of last year and gave her information about a commercial property that was available for lease.

Pomp contacted the owner of the building at 902 High Street and inspected the vacant premises a day later.

After touring the potential business location, she said she had an experience that reminded her of her strong connection to Fairport Harbor.

Pomp said she went into a supermarket on the High Street, the shop where her late mother had worked for 25 years.

When Pomp entered the store, she was greeted by an employee who had worked with her mother for a long time. Pomp said there was a radio playing in the store, and the next song that came on happened to be her mother’s favorite: “Voices Carry” by ‘Til Tuesday.

The next morning, the owner of the building called her and said he would rent her the available space.

“And here I am,” she said.

Pomp then began a major interior renovation of the rental unit and on December 3, the space was finally ready to open.

The Wickliffe resident works as a bus driver for a nursing home and also operates the Something Special gift shop. The shop’s summer hours are Wednesday through Saturday from noon to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Fall and winter hours will take effect after Labor Day. Exact times will be announced soon.

Pomp said the store’s T-shirts, which she decorates with logos, lettering and images at customers’ request, are a top seller.

She has filled orders for large quantities of T-shirts requested by facilities such as the Fairport Harbor Senior Center, the Highwater Tavern, also located in Fairport Harbor, and the Rae-Ann Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center of Geneva.

However, Something Special also offers a wide range of T-shirts with different logos and designs for the general public.

In addition, according to Pomp, customers can request original designs for T-shirts or other clothing items even in smaller quantities.

“I love one-of-a-kind pieces,” she said. “During the eclipse, I probably made 50 unique shirts.”

Pomp also creates jewelry designed with sand from Fairport Harbor beach.

In addition, the store’s product range includes specialty shot glasses and larger drinking glasses, tote bags, coasters, drinking mugs, coffee cups and jewelry boxes.

Something Special’s handmade soaps have also attracted a lot of attention from store visitors. Best-selling soaps include Sweet Sixteen with a fruit punch scent and Green Goddess with cucumber and mango.

Another interesting handmade soap variety is Courtland Memories, which is scented with mulberry. Pomp named this product in honor of her grandparents, who lived on Courtland Street in Fairport Harbor and had a mulberry tree in their yard.

Pomp said Something Special has been tremendously well received by customers who have been there over the past eight months. In addition to tourists who have stopped by the store, customers from Fairport Harbor and other communities in Lake County have also supported the store, she noted.

“My customers – their friends and family who come to visit bring them here, many of them always go home with something,” she said. “They’ve been really nice to me.”

Pomp said she also enjoys owning and operating the store because of the memories she has of Fairport Harbor. She fondly recalls her life in the community, visiting her grandmother and grandfather and working as a long-time babysitter for a local resident.

Pomp said that although her mother and father have passed away, she believes they would both be proud of what she has accomplished.

“Ever since I turned the key (to 902 High St.) and held it in my hand, it almost feels like my parents are with me on this journey,” she said.