A lot of items in a little bit of space

SCRANTON — The Curiosity Shop, 640 E. Market St., was voted Best Gift Shop for the 2024 Best of Lackawanna County.

This store is small, but it has a lot to offer.

There is a vast array of accessories, home decor and seasonal items, and a small selection of children’s gifts. There are handbags designed by Lilly Pulitzer and Kate Spade. The shop specializes in plush toy brand from the UK called Jellycat. It also offers something called “Blind Date with a Book,” in which the customer receives a wrapped book without knowledge of its title or author but rather the genre. These books are usually bought as gifts.

“It’s a good way to recycle or upcycle used books and introduce people to new authors,” said The Curiosity Shop’s owner, Michelle Petraitis.

The Curiosity Shop was established in 1983 by Kathleen Keating and Mary Jo Collins, who later sold her portion to Anna Violante.

After working in restaurant management at Marywood College (now Marywood University) and later at Blair Academy, Petraitis was looking for something new. She and her husband learned The Curiosity Shop was for sale in January 1995. After putting in a bid, they found out it was sold to someone else, but that deal fell through, and the shop was sold to Petraitis.

In March 1995, she sought funding to purchase the shop. She tried to obtain loans from banks in Scranton, but unfortunately at the time, banks wouldn’t lend money to women without having a man co-sign for it. She learned that it became law to allow women to take out loans themselves in 1988, seven years prior. But this law didn’t come into effect in Scranton yet. So, being that she was newly married and in her prime child-bearing years, the banks in Scranton denied her loans. Therefore, her father co-signed the loan.

“I’m still here almost thirty years later,” Michelle said with a laugh.

Michelle was able to officially purchase the store in June 1995. She credits her customers for making it the “Best Gift Shop of Lackawanna County.”

“I’m very fortunate to have such wonderful customers,” she said.

The Curiosity Shop is active on both Facebook and Instagram.