GIRARD -- Jim and Wanda Lodwick have spent the last 42 years working together.

GIRARD -- Jim and Wanda Lodwick have spent the last 42 years working together.
First, they worked together as letter carriers at the Youngstown Post Office. But after having a child, Wanda Lodwick decided to start a business, and soon she and her husband created Wanda's Doll & amp; Gift Boutique.
The Lodwicks opened their business in a flea market in Hubbard. They also tried locations in Girard and Austintown before settling at their current location eight years ago.
Wanda's Doll & amp; Gift Boutique sells numerous dolls priced from $10 to $1,000, including porcelain antiques from the 1890s, Annalee cloth dolls, composition dolls from the 1930s and dolls made from vinyl that were popular in the 1960s. The business also features many unusual items, such as dolls from the Great American Doll Co. that resemble Jacqueline Kennedy, Brigitte Bardot and Diana, Princess of Wales, as well as a pair of Elizabeth Taylor dolls.
The Lodwicks also keep their business well-stocked with other hard-to-find items, such as a $1,600 set of life-size Doberman pinschers, numerous jewelry and glassware antiques and various Civil War and other military figurines, including one of the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial Wall and a Gen. Douglas MacArthur figure made in the 1940s.
On the road
Jim Lodwick said he travels occasionally to gift marts in Columbus and other cities to buy much of the merchandise Wanda's Doll & amp; Gift Boutique sells, and that he has been buying items from some companies for more than 20 years.
Wanda Lodwick recalls buying her first doll at age 12 after saving money by mowing lawns, working on a neighbor's hair and performing other odd jobs. She said her collection really took off when a customer who cleaned attics tipped her off to finds that he saw on the job.
Today, she enjoys going to wholesale shows in Pennsylvania about once a week and to shows in Cleveland monthly. "I love to travel," she said. "I'd be happy if I could be on the road every day."