Carmen Magri's Little Italy shop, Venetian Merchant, is a veritable Mecca for those who love sumptuous, unusual foods and gifts. “A tasteful selection of gifts and foods to feed the senses,” her business card asserts. One step into her store proves her assertion to be a humble understatement.

    The first thing you notice in the small, tidy shop is the appealing array of colors and aromas. Take a closer look, and you'll begin to notice the skill with which Carmen has placed her carefully selected merchandise, which can be purchased a la carte or arranged with other items in a gorgeous gift basket. There are chunky, bright Mediterranean-inspired teapots and pottery, and delicate port glasses. Tins of biscuits are nestled next to imported English teas. Bottles of aged balsamic vinegar, olive oil and pasta share shelf space with exotic jams, mustards and almonds. The unusual and imported foods all look so tantalizing that you will want to taste some of everything. The conventional wisdom of not going grocery shopping while you're hungry probably doesn't apply here – even if you've just eaten, you're sure to be tempted, if only by the wide selection of coffee and chocolates. And that's before you make your way to the popular line of Portuguese spa products, candles and incense.

   Carmen says she was brought to vend this eclectic collection of goods by following her own motto – “Go where you're pushed.” A few years ago when she was working in brokerage, her boss asked her to do research for her about going into the gift-basket business. Carmen did – and found that it appealed to her. Although her boss never followed through with the idea, Carmen herself ended up leaving to start her own business, at first working out of her kitchen creating gift baskets of luxury items.

   “I began by thinking about gift baskets I'd received in the past,” she says. “And what I thought was that the people who sent them were very well-meaning – and that they'd overpaid.” She found that most baskets she looked at were either shoddily put together or were showy, “with nothing of nutritional value.” Her goal, she says, was to create gift baskets that would give people products that were high-quality and that didn't contain just “empty calories.”

   Inspired by her growing success and the need for more space, Carmen opened Venetian Merchant in its Murray Hill location in Little Italy, and the shop is now in its fourth year. Her exacting standards ensure that every item has a right to be there. “I like food,” Carmen says simply. “Otherwise I wouldn't be in this business. I've tasted everything in the store.” She carries some organic products – one of her most popular products is an organic jam from Italy – but says that an item can't just be organic in order to be considered for shelf space in her store; as she explains, “It has to have a feeling of decadence as well as having nutritional value. I want it to taste substantial.”

   So particular is Carmen about what she sells that she spent a year working with a roaster to create her very own coffee blend – “Mud from the Hill,” a full-bodied, low-acid cup with a mild aftertaste reminiscent of mocha ice cream. She sells this special brand not only at Venetian Merchant but also at Heinen's. “Seeing my own product on the shelf – this is what makes me love my job,” Carmen says proudly. The success of this project has prompted her to work on some other ideas for her own product lines. This taste for experimentation could come in part from her mother, who, though Italian, was always cooking all sorts of foreign cuisine. (“Our house didn't have dust,” Carmen chuckles. “It had a light layer of flour.”)

   One of the ways that Carmen loves to reach out to customers is by hosting parties. These parties, held on site at the store for six to ten people, give customers a chance to have the shop all to themselves for an hour or two with their friends, and to sample all the different items Carmen offers. The parties also sometimes collaborate with Xen, the jewelry store next door. Everything is provided, including the invitations and the food. “All you need to bring is your guests,” explains Carmen. And because there are so many different price points, she says, customers can easily shop within their budget.

   The sign that hangs on one of her shelves truly sums up the atmosphere of this cozy shop: “Selling food that makes you happy – Giving service that makes you smile.”

Carmen's shop Venetian Merchant is located at 2092 Murray Hill Road in Little Italy in Cleveland. The website is www.venetianmerchant.biz, or you can call (216) 229-0456.

Photos by Bob Perkoski, www.Perkoski.com.