PARMA, Ohio — In the middle of Parma's Ukrainian Village on State Road is the LVIV International Food Store. Irene Pobroznik owns it with her husband, and in here, they sell Ukrainian foods and items native to her country.
"We sell buckwheat, oil, and some candy," she tells us.
It's all made and sent from Ukraine. The buckwheat is the most popular item and a staple of Ukrainian food, and it's almost sold out.
"We just received sunflower," Pobroznik said as she was unpacking food. "This is very popular Chumack sun flower oil."
The store sells a lot of candy, and Irene believes she just had her last orders of candy shipped.
"This is from distributor before [the] war," she said of her current supply, "but now, it's not possible."
Soon it will be impossible to export from the war-torn country. Not only because of the destruction, but because gas is a hot commodity, too.
"It's more expensive for delivery from New York to me because of [the] gas price," Pobroznik explained.
Pobroznik has been in the United States for more than 25 years and the business for 20, with the store being named after her hometown. She says she will keep the shop open even without Ukrainian products, because after all, this is her American dream, even though her heart is with Ukraine.
"I don't know what's going on and if we will get more from Ukraine," she said of her supply. "We have a lot of stuff from Poland, Romania, and America. We have to live, we have to work."