When Andrea Appelbaum came to a fork in the road after she and her husband relocated to Easton from Orlando, Florida, she had a decision to make — either find another job or pursue some type of self employment.

All it took was one visit to Queen Street Gifts & Treats for her to make that choice, and she bought the place.

“I spent 11 years as a corporate executive, working in the same international company as my husband, but in a different department,” she told The Newtown Bee during a pop-by to the store at 3 Queen Street. “So when my husband got relocated to Connecticut, I decided I wanted to take a new direction. I saw the listing that this store was for sale, and once I visited here, I couldn’t resist.”

Ms Appelbaum explained that the store fit her personality, and she has designs on making it a location where many of her vendors can share her passion for philanthropy and ways of giving back to society and supporting environmental and animal care causes.

Regular visitors will still find the interior set-up the same, with shelves and racks brimming with every manner of gifts, collectibles, cards, mementos, and fashion accessories, to name a few. Ms Appelbaum is planning to also keep the store’s name, website (queenstreetgifts.com), and phone number (203-304-9755), with the only possible change being the store’s presence on Facebook.

Visitors will only see a shift in the origin of some of her stock as she begins to bring in more local/regional purveyors and artisans — many of whom give back a portion of their sales to various charities and causes.

She is already carrying an expanded line of greeting cards; many made from recycled or sustainably sourced materials; soaps that support a Haitian relief cause; pet products that give back to an animal care effort; even an organic, vegan, and Fairtrade certified line of socks that generate funds back to a variety of global efforts, from water preservation to feeding the hungry and supporting those with HIV/AIDS.

“My LLC is named Gift of Giving and was established with the premise of giving back,” Ms Appelbaum said. “So I’m in the process now of locating and building a broader network of socially and environmentally conscious vendors and suppliers — vendors whose mission I like.”

The new owner is tapping into the energy and traffic generated by Newtown’s huge Labor Day parade this year to launch a month-long, store-wide sale with in-stock products as much as 50 percent off.

In the meantime, Ms Appelbaum invites all Newtown residents to stop in say hello and to bring their friends or family who might be visiting on “parade day.”