Marketplace By: Gifts With A Heart

This was my first visit to the new location. I like the rustic feel. It’s an ideal spot for the wares within.
There are creative people out there, and it’s eye opening to see how an ordinary throwaway item can be re-​made to something quite beautiful. Or even made from next-​to-​nothing. The bags from old ties? Cute! And the hand-​knit baby sweaters? Adorable! There’s upcoming classes available on jewelry making or working with essential oils, so there’s a way for someone who thinks he or she may have a creative side to share, to get started.
There’s plenty of locally made things, and a better than fair amount of North Carolina made goods. I even like that there are items from outside the Carolinas. But I miss the larger selection of fair-​trade items from all over the world. Of course, the business is still moving in and renovating a new section, so perhaps they’re not stocked fully.
The Marketplace, also known as Gifts With a Heart, remains a fun store of one-​of-​a kind things and it awesomely supports local and regional small proprietorships. I’ll still stop by and spend more than I should, but for now anyway, it’s missing that something that differentiates it from other shops doing similar things. Despite that, I look forward to watching it develop.