Feb 2, 2011

The Artful Gift ShopBy Keith LoriaVienna.Patch.com

When Peggy James walked into The Artful Gift Shop for the first time, she could only think one thing.

“This is what I’m supposed to be doing.”

James worked in corporate finance for 20 years before she “just couldn’t take it anymore.”

“I quit my job and took a couple of years off and just did art-related stuff, but realized I had to work,” she said.

Her father was searching for businesses online one day and stumbled upon the shop, which was first opened 12 years ago by Kim Pursche and Debbie Smith-Mezzetta.

“I thought this was the perfect fit—a combination of my business skills and art,” she said. “I thought the location was great and as soon as I walked in, I wanted to buy it. So I did.”

On Jan. 1, James celebrated her one-year anniversary at the “hippest art gift store in the area,” and she couldn’t be happier about her life-changing decision.

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