12 Days of Small Businesses: Plumberry Gifts in Cranberry

On each of the remaining days leading up to Christmas, we’ll feature a different local business.

Looking for unique and creative holiday gifts? Throughout the 12 days leading up to Christmas, we're highlighting small businesses in the Cranberry area where you can find great gifts for loved ones. Today, the second day of Christmas, it's Plumberry Gifts in Cranberry. Founded in 2010, Plumberry Gifts along Route 19 offers something for everyone. Search the boutique for everything from jewelry to framed art to skin care products and fashion accessories. Most of the products in the shop also are handmade. Mary Elwell, a Cranberry resident, owns Plumberry.  Prior to opening the shop, Elwell worked in analytical chemistry and the mortgage career fields. When she started making and selling jewelry as a hobby, she began toying with the idea of…

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Holiday Shopping: Gifts Around $25

Look what we found at Plumberry Gifts in Cranberry—something pretty and useful.

You know that clunky bottle of dishwashing liquid that sits on your sink like a product-placement ad in the movie of your life? Unless your name happens to be Dawn or Joy or (what was your Mama thinking?) Palmolive, that bottle has no place in your faboo kitchen. Use this instead. We found these lovely, decorated glass bottles with pouring spouts at Plumberry Gifts in Cranberry. They're a smaller version of what you might find filled with olive oil at an Italian bistro, and you could use them for that (get rid of the soap bubbles first, or others will talk behind your back about your soapy tortellini), but these cry out for purple or green soap. The bottles come with a variety of decorations and sell for about $20. Put one in a pretty gift…

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Dispatches: The Changing American Dream

Braving the Economy: Local Female Entrepreneurs Open New Businesses

Women open shops in Cranberry and Pine.

Even when times are tough, people need birthday presents. That was Mary Elwell’s thought when she started formulating the idea for her shop, Plumberry Gifts in Cranberry Township. Elwell is one of a growing number of entrepreneurial women who have opened local businesses, despite the troubled economy. Pine businesswoman Sharon Scheidemantle, a real estate broker with ACHIEVE Realty who specializes in finding business locations for entrepreneurs as well as residential properties, said that she has helped several women find “the perfect” spot for their new ventures. “Many people don’t even know we help businesses, but I have over 20 years experience and an MBA, plus I live here so I know the area and know what works well for businesses,” …

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