Occasions All About Selling Items Customers Can’t Buy Elsewhere
When Donna Smith sent her oldest child to college, she saw the “handwriting on the wall,” she said.
“I had stayed home for 15 years raising my kids,” she said. “I’d always wanted to own a specialty store and I saw a need for a small, independent full-service business here.”
Smith, of Aurora, opened the local store, Occasions, in July 2007. It’s now a thriving artisan gift shop on Naperville’s south side, near the intersection of 103rd Street and Route 59. About half of the store’s shoppers come from Plainfield, and the other half from Naperville, Smith said.
These days, the store is decked out for the holidays. Santas, Christmas trees and snow-covered signs occupy the entire back of the store, and handmade jewelry and paintings are peppered throughout the front.
Occasions features the work of 27 artists from around the United States. Nine are local, but there are also pieces from craftsmen in Israel, Mexico and Canada.
