Mountain BizWorks celebrates another woman-owned business on January 18 when Mountain Made, a retail shop located in Asheville’s Grove Arcade Public Market, hosts a ribbon-cutting for its reopening.

Melinda Knies, long-time store manager at Mountain Made, purchased the retail store from Mountain BizWorks in November 2011.

The shop features handcrafted work from more than 150 Western North Carolina artisans, including jewelry, pottery, textiles, glasswork, furniture, and more. These are the same types of items featured by Mountain Made since Mountain BizWorks opened the store in 2002.

“Melinda has managed Mountain Made since the beginning, and this is a great opportunity for her to take the store to the next level and make it her own,” says John Mark Stroud, Mountain BizWorks’ board chair. “Mountain BizWorks’ board of directors and staff are proud that we have helped an entrepreneur transition to ownership of a local business.”

Prior to becoming store manager, Knies participated in Mountain BizWorks’ business-planning class. Since that time, she has built strong relationships with regional artists and has helped create what Shaw Canale, Mountain BizWorks’ CEO, refers to as “one of the finest collections of contemporary mountain-made arts and crafts available in the Western North Carolina area.”

Knies is thrilled to become a business owner again. “I am excited to continue building the business and the relationships that have been established with the artists and customers over the last nine years.”

Mountain Made is located inside the historic Grove Arcade Public Market in downtown Asheville at 1 Page Avenue, Suite 123. Store hours are Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., and Sunday noon–5 p.m.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony takes place Wednesday, January 18 at 4:30 p.m., and is open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

For more information about Mountain Made, call 828.350.0307 or visit mtnmade.com.