By Hub City Times staff

MARSHFIELD – Marshfield transplant, Marla Hawks was destined to open a novelty shop.

Born and raised in Sarasota, FL, she spent her childhood being nurtured for the role.

“My sister was six years older than me. Around the time when it was just me and my mom, and we would go on adventures and look at different downtown shops,” Hawks said. “One of the places we used to haunt was called Flamingo Antiques on Pineapple Avenue. I really got a lot of input from the owner of the shop, because I would ask a lot of questions. I was very curious.”

The shop is located inside the Total Body Fitness building in Marshfield. Submitted photo

When her grandparents died while Hawks was in high school, she found herself following the coordinator of the estate sale through her grandparents’ collections.

“I was almost like a little puppy following the estate woman around doing all of the pricing and gathering all of the things for the estate sale,” she recalled.

Hawks later relocated to Marshfield to be near her sister and her family, where she met her husband.

When Marla married, the couple bonded over trips to antique shops and flea markets; where Hawks continued to grow in her passion for exploring the unique.

“It introduces you to a lot of different cultures and art, and I think that it is a great way to get to know your world – where you come from and where you might see the trajectory going – because everything comes around,” she said. “It seems like there is a cycle in place, where everything old becomes new again.”

This spring, Marla’s passion turned into a way of life as she opened “Curiosities.”

“At least since high school, I’ve always had a dream of being able to put my own spin on a store like this,” she explained. “Basically, everything in here is something that I’ve become very acquainted with; I’ve cleaned it; I’ve examined it; I’ve researched it; because they are kind of my little babies.”

The store offers antiques, collectibles, old and new books, art, décor, clothing, and jewelry.

Hawks said that she tries to keep her prices low, reflecting on times in her youth when she found wanted items unattainable.

“So, that is kind of why I came up with this pricing structure. I may research it to see what it is, but as far as what it is selling for (in online markets) I don’t use that as a guide anymore. I just take whatever I pay and apply my markup to it and that is what you get it for,” Hawks said.

Curiosities is located inside the Total Body Fitness (TBF) building at 204 S. Central Avenue in Marshfield, Suite 301. The store will celebrate its ribbon cutting on June 23.