That little knick-knack or last minute gift may not be too
far away. Small’s Treasures, a country and primitives shop just opened in
Pennsbury Township.

The store features candles, curios, silk flower arrangements
and small furniture pieces ranging in price from a few dollars to a few hundred
dollars. Owner Janice Small said she wants to offer “something different. I
don’t say they’re antiques, but some things might be.”

Small started the store after working as a paraprofessional
in the PennDelco School District, but she spent time in retail before that as a
video store manager and as a bank teller.

“I like being with people. I like talking to people. I just
wanted to do this. I like going to auctions and getting things that might
interest people,” she said.

“I offer a variety of things, not just florals, not just
furniture. I’m going to offer seasonal things, too, such as for Christmas,
Halloween and Easter,” she added.

Small lives in Brookhaven, but said she wanted to be in the
Chadds Ford area because she loves it because of the old houses and the fact
that there is still greenery along Route 1 in Chadds Ford and Pennsbury townships.

“You hardly see wooded areas anymore,” Small said.

But the attraction to the area goes deeper than just trees.
Small’s emotional attachment goes back to her grandfather—Arthur Gebhardt—who
owned Concord Meat and Mushrooms in Concord Township and Sunset Boat and Motor
Center in Pennsbury when she was a girl.

She spent a lot of time in the butcher shop and became even
more familiar with the area when her father picked up delivered mushrooms.

Small admits she’s concerned about opening the shop in an economic
environment that remains shaky.

“Everyday when I walk in the door I feel like, ‘OK, did I do
the right thing.’ We’ll wait and see. We have antique stores up and down the
strip, but we don’t have anything that offers the little bit of things that I
have here as far as the Amish furniture. Do I feel like I’m taking a risk?
Yes,” she said.

The shop is just south of the Steger-Gowie building. It’s
visible from Route 1, but access is gained from Old Baltimore Pike.

Small’s Treasures is closed Monday and Tuesday. Its hours
for the rest of the week are 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays and
Saturdays, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. on Fridays and noon–4 p.m. on Sundays.

The hours aren’t etched in stone. Small said she may open up
earlier on Sundays, but that decision, too, is on a wait and see basis.