Give Local: Shop Small and Smile at Reverie

Uncover a Sasquatch-themed glassware collection, burger-flavored dog treats or a cannabis cookbook.

At Reverie in Cuyahoga Falls, you will not only leave with handcrafted gifts for your loved ones — you will leave chuckling.

“We often have people laughing throughout the store,” says owner and founder Kristin Hadari. “People will say they’ve had a bad day at work, and they come in here just to feel better.”

Meaning a state of being lost in your daydreams, Reverie is Hadari’s lifelong passion for creativity and community realized.

“I was always trying to find an outlet to express myself,” says Hadari, who was inspired by her grandmother — a seamstress who handmade dresses and other clothing.

Following several years of working for a corporate company, Hadari began experimenting with various artistic mediums, leading to the launch of her brands eleven:eleven and Itsy Bitsy Booty, which sold infinity scarves and infant clothing, respectively.

“Art was always present,” she says. “It was what I was going to listen to and what path that was going to take.”

After success at local markets and festivals, Hadari was in search of a home for her art — one that could platform other artisans as well.

“When I first looked at the location, there weren’t many places open on the street yet, but it was an energy that I could feel. It just felt right,” says Hadari. “It was electric.”

Reverie officially opened in 2019.

“The community here in the Falls has been so small business-oriented,” Hadari says. “We all share our challenges and our successes, and they’ve been very supportive.”

Seven years later, the store has become a Cuyahoga Falls community staple, with another brick-and-mortar location in Medina.

“We want to make sure we have our eye on the prize and are connecting with the community,” Hadari says. “We started an online shop, and we’re looking for growth there to capture some of that market and really try to capture people still shopping small while shopping online.”

Reverie functions as a marketplace where shoppers can purchase handcrafted products from independent artisans such as local business Three Bees Decor — which supplies many of Reverie’s wooden signs — and Colorado-based business Naked Goat Farms, which produces homemade spreads, including a peach habanero jam. Also shop for stuffed animals, wine glasses, jewelry, tea towels and more. Overall gift categories include clothing, mugs, candles, bath and body wares, accessories, bar and kitchen items and home and office products.

“We really try to be personality-driven — finding that gift that you’re like, Oh, that’s that person,” she says. “Humor is a big part, and then obviously we’re handmade focused.”

Hadari also works firsthand with businesses to create original products only sold at Reverie. One of these businesses is the Social Dept., located on the same street as Reverie, which produces custom T-shirts for the store. Snag one that says “I’d Love to But I Have Plans With My Cat,” complete with the Reverie logo, or one with the Cuyahoga Falls map coordinates.

“We do try to partner with a lot of local artisans to customize what we make, so it’s a little bit of us and a little bit of them,” she says. “[We] really like to collaborate, because I think that makes very unique, one-of-a- kind pieces.”

Cuyahoga Falls native and general manager Madison Marshall is proud of the area’s tight-knit community.

“We all support each other on the street. I walk into any other store, people are going to know me, and I know them,” she says.

Hadari hopes that Reverie — and shopping locally — can help people relate more closely to one another.

“The experience of feeling like you made a connection,” she says, “is really the difference maker.”

2152 Front St., Cuyahoga Falls. 330-212-3303, reveriegifts.com