Bromwell's Fireplace, the retailer tracing its roots to 1819, is packing up its longtime downtown showroom after more than 200 years on Fourth Street. The company plans to keep the downtown location open through early October while it readies a new showroom in Sharonville, a shift that reshapes both Cincinnati’s oldest continuously operating business and one of downtown’s coziest gathering spots.
The Move And The New Showroom
As reported by The Cincinnati Enquirer, Bromwell's will relocate its retail and display operations to the historic Hauck summer home at 12171 Mosteller Road in Sharonville. A soft opening is slated for October, with a full opening targeted for spring 2027. According to that reporting and a company news release, the new site is expected to offer a larger, more modern showroom while still preserving the property's historic character.
A Cincinnati Institution
The business dates to 1819, when Jacob Bromwell opened a general store, and the fireplace side of the operation was split off and sold to the Gerwe family in 1923, according to the company's history page. In the mid‑2000s, Jeffrey McClorey acquired Bromwell's and transformed the downtown space into a roughly 10,000‑square‑foot showroom and a hospitality outpost known locally as the Härth Room.
New Ownership And A Downtown Rethink
The relocation follows a change in ownership detailed in a company news release. Bromwell's has been transferred to Todd and Zack Glacken, while longtime owner McClorey will continue to run the Härth Room. He also plans to convert 117 W. Fourth St. into a curated home decor and antiques destination called b. well's attic, according to The Cincinnati Enquirer. That setup keeps both the storefront and the bar space in the downtown mix, even as Bromwell's core retail business shifts north to Sharonville.
What It Means For Downtown
Downtown Cincinnati has been steadily reworking its retail and hospitality lineup in recent years as planners and developers push for more experiential uses. City planning materials encourage adaptive reuse of historic buildings to maintain street-level activity, a trend the Bromwells ' repurposing fits into, according to City of Cincinnati planning documents.
Customer Details And Next Steps
The downtown showroom sits at 117 W. Fourth St., and the upcoming Sharonville location will be at 12171 Mosteller Road. During the transition, Bromwell's says it will accept appointments and some walk-ins and encourages customers to contact the store with installation and service questions, according to the company's press page.
