Linda Lin of Simcoe County grew up in Nova Scotia and visits every summer with her kids.
There's a special store in Yarmouth that inspired Lin to dream about opening her own little piece of home right here in Barrie.
"I've been thinking about it for a few years," she said. "I really wanted to open up a store - a feel good store."
She has found exactly the feel she wanted to create in her new shop called Crafty Gift Emporium on Commerce Park Drive.
Lin aimed to get the same feel as her favourite store in Nova Scotia.
"The feel is when people come in and they see an item and they connect to it and then they tell us the story of how they connect. It's very friendly and people just relax when they come in the store. They can walk around the store three or four times and still see something new each time."
Lin moved to Ontario from Nova Scotia when she was 22 and only recently started living in the Barrie area in June because her daughter is attending Georgian College.
The Crafty Gift Emporium is eye-candy for decorator fanatics, including iron wall art, every kind of decorative container imaginable and some items from home.
"My daughter has painted rocks that she collected from Nova Scotia and when people look at the rocks it reminds them of Nova Scotia or the east coast. Of course, that's exactly what it is," explains Lin.
Lin's sister in Nova Scotia has also contributed some home-made Christmas decorations and pot cleaners called 'scrubbies.'
Manager Carla Becraft says the store has unique gifts you don't see everywhere else.
"We also want to promote the small town feeling into the store. Even though we're in a big city we like to have a small town feel. order things in special for people, gift list registry keep it on file. it's just that small town, small store feel in a big city with gifts that matter.
Seven local artists have their creations in the shop including jewelry, hand made cards, Christmas decorations and sun catchers.
Crafty Gift Emporium even has a man cave with gifts to interest the guys and a bench for people to sit on in the middle of the shop.
"It's just that small town, small store feel in a big city with gifts that matter," said Becraft.
"We have something for everybody," said Lin. "Gifts that matter because the items that people buy are items they connected with in a way they can't connect when you walk in a store and there's 50 of one item." said Lin. "Our stuff is unique."
Crafty Gift Emporium, located at 12 Commerce Park Drive Unit C, is having its grand opening today.
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