Locally-owned gift shop now open at Liberty Center

Locally-owned gift shop sMari Designs opened its new store last week at the approximately $350 million Liberty Center development.

After getting her start hand-making jewelry from her dining room table, Marianne Dunham has now marked about five years in business at sMari Designs, located at The Streets of West Chester until now. The jewelry and gift shop sells Dunham’s jewelry creations as well as other accessories, home décor and gift items, including Cincinnati-themed pieces.

Dunham made the short move at the end of November to neighboring Liberty Twp. and opened in time for Black Friday and Small Business Saturday. At Liberty Center, she competes with other nationally-known retailers off Gibson Street in the retail development.

"The traffic's going to be huge up there," Dunham told Journal-News in October. "(West Chester) was a great start for us, we have a great clientele, but I just wanted to get the next step going."

“We just want to be in the limelight with everybody else,” she said.

sMari's Liberty Center hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays to Thursdays; 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; and noon to 6 p.m. Sundays, according to the retailer's website www.smaridesigns.com. For more information, call 513-777-6274.

“We have a great following because there’s not many gift shops anymore,” Dunham said.

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