Rachel Murszewski held the grand reopening of Village Artisans on Feb. 28. The store, at 5560 Main St., features a variety of hand-crafted items by local artisans. Photo by Samantha Flavell
Feb. 28 marked the grand reopening of Village Artisans, 5560 Main St., Williamsville, under the new ownership of Rachel Murszewski, who bought the store following the retirement of the previous owner, Debbie Steinbruckner.
“I’d been a vendor in her [Steinbruckner’s] store for eight years,” Murszewski said. “We became friends and she knew this was something I always wanted to do.”
While Murszewski plans to keep the vision for the store the same, she did make some changes, such as opening up the retail space more to make it her own.
“Debbie did such a great job building the business; there’s just going to be tweaks,” Murszewski said. “I want to make her proud because she built this, and so I want to make her proud by carrying it on but expanding on her own vision while making it my own.”
Being a past vendor, supporting local artisans is something that Murszewski takes very seriously. She not only enjoys being able to offer hand-crafted, one-of-a-kind items to her customers, but also enjoys being able to support local artists and help fund their creativity.
“She helped me and that exploded my home business, and now I’m hoping I can do that for other local vendors,” Murszewski said. “I’m trying to support local artists and their passion for creating.”
While Village Artisans features a variety of different vendors and a wide range of products. Murszewski also takes custom orders to really tailor the store to providing exactly what the customer needs.
“Because we are so small, I can ask customers if they’re looking for something special. If we don’t have it, then I keep that in my mind and will go looking for vendors to fill that need,” Murszewski said. “If there’s something a customer likes or is interested in, I always contact our vendors and will ask if they can make it.”
In addition to quality, one-of-a-kind products, custom work is also very timely. Murszewski said items are generally delivered within two weeks and can be completed as quickly as in two or three days.
Village Artisans offers complimentary gift wrapping with every purchase. They hope the store can be a one-stop shop for patrons to purchase their gift, buy a handcrafted card and get it wrapped, all at one convenient location, while supporting local artisans.
Murszewski and the rest of her staff hope to see both new customers as well as familiar faces stop by as they offer new products and create new partnerships with local artisans. Murszewski says there will always be new things to see and that she plans to have four new vendors within the next couple of weeks.
“We truly appreciate people shopping local,” Murszewski said. “Then we can put money back into Williamsville and support other local businesses. We aim to do everything locally, and we’re hoping that other people will do the same.”
