The Washington Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors held a ribbon cutting for the relocation of a downtown retail business Friday.

Melanie James, owner of The Emporium, cut the ribbon at her new location of 114 North Iowa Avenue. The Emporium features specially made products by local artists and makers, and was previously located on East Main Street. James tells KCII she had always wanted to own a retail store and sell products that weren’t already available in downtown Washington, and over the last few years her store has expanded from one to two rental spaces, and now the new location which she decided to move to last December. James is grateful for the local artisans that help make the business a success, “It’s been exciting to be a place where artists can have a permanent spot where the public can, like days like today, they can interact with them, or they can do custom orders I have a lot of people that get custom orders.”

The Emporium’s goods include organic essential oils, bulk tea, locally roasted coffee, candles, handcrafts, stained glass, and more. James says she dreams to one day have a coffee bar in the store and do small batch roasting, but overall she wants to support the local art community as much as she can, including possibly hosting classes depending on demand.