Soo Locks Gift Gallery opens on Portage Street

SAULT STE. MARIE — Located just yards away from the Soo Locks, the Soo Locks Gift Gallery officially opened last week.

The new store, located at 341 W. Portage St., is owned by Jill Ann Rambo. This is Rambo's second gift shop business to open in the city after The Little Gift Shop.

Rambo, who previously had a career as a traveling vendor, will be celebrating The Little Gift Shop's five-year anniversary in November.

While she was running the first shop, Rambo often had ideas she was curious to try in the store, such as new designs and products and themes. When she noticed a new location was available for purchase on Portage Street, Rambo saw an opportunity to put all of her ideas to use.

"I had a visionary board on Pinterest of ideas and the opportunity to rent a new space came up very suddenly," said Rambo. "I quickly started putting something together and we soft-opened after a little over two weeks."

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The new business sells many of the same staple gift products as The Little Gift Shop, but also carries more unique and Soo Locks-themed gifts.

"We brought over some of our staple items, like our tea and jewelry, but we added new categories of items, including Great Lakes-themed items," said Rambo. "The stores are still unique from each other."

The Soo Locks Gift Gallery also carries watercolor paintings, including a line of paintings of ships on the Great Lakes.

Since soft-opening the shop in mid-May, Rambo has been running both stores. The Soo Locks Gift Gallery had an official ribbon cutting on June 1.

"I feel like the new store may even outdo the first store," said Rambo. "I think we'll do well, we have such a great following in the community that support us."

— Contact Brendan Wiesner: BWiesner@Sooeveningnews.com

This article originally appeared on The Sault News: Soo Locks Gift Gallery opens on Portage Street