THE ART OF CRAFT: Uzi and Connie Lior’s West Orange shop features artisan-crafted jewelry, artwork, and gift items.

CREATIVE COLLECTIONS: Whimsical table lamps, fashion-forward jewelry, and blown-glass perfume bottles are among the treasures found at CBL.

When vacationing in Israel during the summer of 1986, Newark native Connie Lior wandered into a kibbutz in the northern part of the country. “They made these beautiful hand-tufted tapestries, and they were looking for someone to market them in the U.S.,” she says. Having sold her advertising business three months prior, Lior was up for the challenge. “I bought eight of them. Then I sold those, so I bought sixteen, sold those,” she continues. “So I bought more.”

Lior is still buying and selling artisan-crafted items, only now she does it with her husband, Uzi, from their gallery-style shop in West Orange, CBL Fine Art. Consistently named Niche’s Top 100 Retailer of American Craft, the boutique offers jewelry, artwork, lighting, decorative accessories, clothing, and gift items created by artisans all over the world. “We try to get different merchandise in every time to constantly be fresh,” she says. “People want to see new and different.”

And what the customer wants, the customer gets in the Liors’ shop. “The customer is king,” says Uzi Lior, who left the accounting world in 1996 for a career that better suited his sociable personality. “We try to bend over backwards for our customers,” his wife adds.

They do so by offering items in a variety of price ranges and free gift wrapping. The sales staff does not work on commission, so customers never feel pressured. “We don’t want anyone to feel like they’re not spending enough,” she explains. “Today they might be buying something for $15, and tomorrow, it could be $50.”

The Liors say craft and general gift items are their most popular, followed by jewelry and then Judaica, including Chanukah menorahs, Kiddush cups, and Seder plates. “We sell a lot of wedding gifts and any-occasion gifts to bring to someone’s home,” Uzi says. “Unless they want to buy something more personal, then they’ll buy jewelry.”

But it doesn’t matter what the customer is shopping for, the Liors just want them to feel at home. “CBL is kind of like the Cheers of the gallery world, where everybody knows your name,” Lior says. “And we like that.”