“Bringing back the joy of collecting.” Family-owned shop relocates to Niles
A local family has relocated their small business from their 300-square-foot location in Stark County to a larger space inside the Eastwood Mall.
Boardman residents Karen and Jim Caruso own Shop of Treasures, inspired by their joint love of finding and collecting memorabilia.
“I decided to get into what my husband and I both love. He has always been a sports fan and a trading card collector, and I’ve always collected bears and dolls,” Karen Caruso said. “Life is short and whatever makes you smile, it’s worth more than money. We’re bringing back the joy of collecting.”
They started Shop of Treasures in the Hartville Marketplace and Flea Market, a place their family has loved for years, according to Caruso.
“It’s such a happy, booming place; we made some great friends there and had a really nice assortment of items there,” she said. “We built up a registry of 200 people when we started a rewards program, so they earn points for the money that they spend at our shop. But for us, it was an hour drive one way from our house, and I wanted to be closer to home. It got us up off the ground and taught us a lot about business, because we’ve never had a store before.
“We thoroughly enjoyed our time there, but it was just time to come closer to home,” Caruso added.
Shop of Treasures is now open in the former Champs Sports at the end of the corridor by Dave & Busters in the Eastwood Mall.
“We now have 1,800 square feet in the shop with enough room to have more storage in the back for extra items and a more spacious showroom for people to be able to wander through,” Caruso said.
The shop is run by the family, divided into sections for sports cards, collectible toys, stuffed animals and dolls.
“Our daughter Carina loves vintage Bratz, Littlest Pet Shop and My Little Pony and restores them,” Caruso said. “She’ll buy out collections, and she works so hard on the restoration to make them perfect. She’s got the knack for the hair conditioning and putting them together. Our son Jimmy helps price the sports cards with my husband, and he’s the technology guy. He makes sure our cash register and everything’s running smoothly, and we accept all forms of payment.”
After receiving requests from customers, Caruso started collecting silicone dolls for Shop of Treasures in addition to her vintage porcelain dolls and other figurines already in stock.
“They’re called liquid platinum silicon dolls. I bought a nice selection of what my customers love, and those are my number-one selling type of dolls. They’re very realistic. They come with a handmade blanket, birth certificate that I put the weight of the baby on and a baby bottle. It’s a whole experience for the customers,” Caruso said.
They’re hosting a ribbon cutting at Shop of Treasures on Nov. 21 at 10 a.m. alongside the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber.
