Columbus Monthly / July 2011 / Craft bonanza

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Craft bonanza

A WORLD OF FLAVOR Mundane can become marvelous when you spice up a dish with something from North Market Spices Ltd. I talked to Cindy Mushrush, mother of owner Ben Walters, and took a tour of the shop’s 250-some spices and mixtures. One good thing here is that you can buy a little or a lot—you don’t have to have shelves in the kitchen loaded with spices you seldom use.

Mushrush has a degree in home economics, a vast knowledge of spices and a selection of reference books to steer you through the culinary uses for each item. You’ll find spices from around the world, including a variety of salts and peppers. There’s real cinnamon as well as cassia, an aromatic bark similar to cinnamon that can be used interchangeably at a lower price, and exotics such as lavender and hibiscus, which I was told is good in champagne.

The shop also creates some of its own blends—such as “smoke, spice and everything nice,” a meat rub—and makes others suggested by customers. One of the most expensive spices in the world, saffron, is $7.49 here for half a gram.

North Market Spices Ltd., 59 Spruce St. (in the northwest corner of the market), 224-4107. You can get a $2 off coupon by going to mymobideals.com or texting mobideals at 46246 to download a free app for your smartphone. Open Mon 11 am-4 pm, Tue-Fri 9 am-7 pm, Sat 8 am-5 pm, Sun noon-5 pm.

A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME Two new Roses stores are opening in Columbus in July. They’re part of Variety Wholesalers Inc., which has more than 425 stores in 15 states. You’ll find discounts of 40 to 70 percent on shoes, apparel, toys, home décor and furnishings. Candy and food are sold cheap.

According to president Wilson Sawyer, the company has buyers who look for branded merchandise for the stores. The stock includes clothing and shoes for the entire family, housewares, gifts and seasonal products such as Christmas goods and lawn and garden items. Some recent bargains included men’s and women’s $20 Wrangler jeans, sold here for $10; men’s $300 Stacy Adams suits priced at $35 and women’s Just My Size and Hanes tops valued at $10 to $15 for $5 to $7.

Roses, 4632 E. Main St., Whitehall, and 1501 E. Dublin-Granville Rd. (in the Granville Centre Shopping Center), 785-4660; vwstores.com. Open Mon-Sat 9 am-9 pm, Sun 10 am-7 pm.

ALWAYS ON SUNDAY Fourteen home furnishing retailers in the Short North are collaborating to market themselves as a home décor destination, especially on Sundays. Many of the shops are relatively new to the Short North, while others have been in the area for 20-plus years.

Taking part in this new venture, dubbed Home on High, are Bloomsbury Loft, Bungalow, Collier West, Cookware Sorcerer, Funky + Functional, Grandview Mercantile, Grid Furnishings, The Lamp Shade, Loot, Mary Catherine’s Antiques, Old World New Home, Revive, ReVue and T. David Collection. The basic time frame is Sundays from 1 to 4 pm, but some stores are open longer. The advantages of Sunday shopping include free parking at street meters and less traffic overall.

Initial marketing efforts include creating a map highlighting the store locations and holding a monthly drawing for prizes. For more information, visit homeonhigh.co or call Tim Friar at 725-4292.

CRAFT BONANZA The Worthington Craft Guild, which began around 25 years ago as a nonprofit group promoting local artists, has opened a retail space at the Shops at Worthington Place (formerly Worthington Square Shopping Center). You’ll find a wide range of handmade items, from doll clothes and jewelry to wreaths and beaded wine stoppers with matching bottle openers. Prices can range from $1 to $100, with the average around $20. There are 17 artists represented in the store (new crafters are always welcome), and stock changes daily.

Worthington Craft Guild, Shops at Worthington Place (on North High Street just south of I-270), 846-8989; worthingtoncraftguild.com. Open Wed-Fri 10 am-4 pm, Sat-Sun 9 am-4 pm; closed Mon-Tue.

Send sale and bargain suggestions two months before sale to: Bargain Bits, Columbus Monthly, P.O. Box 29913, Columbus, Ohio 43229-7513, or pressreleases@columbusmediaenterprises.com. No phone calls, please.