Buyers and sellers alike are finding through sites like Etsy that there is a market for selling crafts and other homemade items online. But many buyers of high-quality crafts want to support designers and artisans in their local area. The Web might be great for shopping globally, but looking for items locally isn't always as easy.

Enter Beehive Co-Op, a site that is hoping to find a niche in the crafts and designer goods market through a practice that's long been in effect in the art world: curating, or choosing high-quality works by local professionals.

"Etsy has been very successful at selling crafts, but what we're trying to do is elevate the quality level," says Petra Geiger, owner of Beehive, from her brick-and-mortar store in Mt. Kisco, New York. "On Etsy, some things are good, and some are not so great. We have a curated selection of items made by people who have been in business for a while. We want to sell items that are well-designed and show excellent craftsmanship."

Currently, Beehive has two brick-and-mortar stores, one in New York and one in Atlanta that was started by Geiger and is now managed by a franchisee. Through her website, she enables about 50 designers to promote their businesses and display products for sale. Those products include handcrafted jewelry, clothing, handbags, and ceramics. One designer offers a line of notecards and stationery especially for men; another man gathers plants and fibers to make his own notebooks, lamps, and paper goods.

Geiger, 42, sells a line of original stationery, and often works in her Mt. Kisco store. Sometimes her two children, ages 7 and 9, join her. She was taught by her mother at an early age to sew and make crafts, and continued to work while doing graphic design in the corporate world.

"I was doing mostly corporate work, which wasn't very creative," she says. "I was making handbags and aprons and sewn items and trying to sell them at craft shows and markets in my spare time. It definitely pointed to a need for a place where craftspeople could sell their goods."

The two venues - the website and the brick-and-mortar stores - are separate entities. A larger number of sellers can be found online. But the two outlets engage in cross-promotion. The website gives prominent attention to the two physical stores. And customers who visit the stores are encouraged to go online.

"All of our materials in the store point to the Web site, because we get a lot of people who want to access similar goods online after they leave the store," she explains. "It's all meant to work together in terms of providing outlets for different people."

Geiger has a clear idea of who her customers are. "I think our customer is a little older and time-crunched than the customer who goes online. I think our customer appreciates a curated experience and knows they are getting a certain level of quality."

The message that quality sells still applies in the current economy. While sales at the Atlanta store have slowed, the New York store has done well since it opened six months ago. The website just went online at the end of 2008. "Our median price is $50 or $60. I think people are rethinking what they are looking for - they are looking for items that have quality and value and are unique, not quantity. That's great for our business model."

The other message that Beehive shows is that local goods sell, too. Many of those who sell in the brick-and-mortar New York store are from the local area. Some work in the store for reduced rent. "That way designers get to meet and learn from each other," she says. "That's the way this country used to be. We lost that with the big box stores."

Geiger plans to grow to as many as 200 sellers, but no more. She wants to keep Beehive Co-op small and local. "I really enjoy the impact that the business has on designers and the community," she says. "It fosters a creative community and adds value to peoples' lives. I like what Beehive stands for in terms of getting back to basics, in terms of how you buy what you buy, and finding more value in the things you acquire. The point is not just to have more for the sake of having more, but to buy something because there is a story behind it that is interesting and unique. I think our customers are buying into that idea."