LEWISTON – The baskets are teeming with temptations: chocolates, specialty nuts, exotic teas and inviting jams.

But the real bonus is what you can’t see: the gift of time.

That’s the philosophy behind The Perfect Basket, a new retail store that opens Monday in downtown Lewiston. Owner Celeste Yakawonis wants to make it easy for people to give great gifts as much as she wants the recipient to be thrilled with its contents. Her company offers custom designed gift baskets for customers ranging from large corporate clients to the individual who wanders into her new storefront.

Yakawonis’ store is brimming with possibilities. Colorful, enticing food products compete for attention on display shelves. Baskets of varying sizes are already filled and beribboned. The small, 500-square-foot store has large windows that Yakawonis plans to use for seasonal displays. And a small workroom in the back holds inventory and gives her space to assemble baskets as they’re ordered.

A Lewiston native, Yakawonis never dreamed she’d have a store of her own when she was a girl heading into town to shop at Woolworth’s or Peck’s.

“But here I am,” she says with a smile.

Her decision to locate downtown was fueled by two things: a desire to “reclaim” her house in Turner, which she had been operating from for the past five years, and a chance to be part of the downtown’s rebirth.

“If we want to reinvent the downtown, we have to have retail,” she said.

A member of the Chamber, Rotary Club and Network L-A, Yakawonis is a community booster. She’s excited about the changes she sees happening in Lewiston; that’s why she picked the Southern Gateway location.

Although a good portion of her customer base is mail order, Yakawonis wants her market to grow. The traffic passing her shop each day gives her instant and continued exposure.

“Women from 22 to 80 and beyond are my target market,” she said, in addition to her corporate clients.

“I also want to help working people who need to buy a great gift and who don’t want to go all over creation looking for a nice gift at a good price,” she said.

Her specialty baskets start at $25, although she says she can work within any budget. She also has a selection of non-basket gifts such as custom chocolates, packaged in boxes stacked in a tier and topped with a votive candle that sells for $18. Catalogs are available as well.

Yakawonis started Baskets by Celeste five years ago, learning by trial and error what worked. As her business grew, so did its presence in her farmhouse home.

Her daughters, Margaret and Katherine, said that during the holidays – and Valentine’s Day in particular – the entire house was overrun with gift baskets waiting to be assembled, wrapped or shipped. Shredded paper for packing was in every nook and cranny.

“It just took over,” said Margaret. Both girls helped their mom set up the new shop, and they work there part time.

This year, Yakawonis bought Juli Chicoine’s The Perfect Basket when Chicoine decided to scale back to spend more time with her family. Yakawonis kept the name.

Now her corporate clientele include Butler Bros., medical centers and real estate agencies – many of whom want to send thank-you or congratulatory baskets. A client in Massachusetts who boards animals sends bereavement baskets to clients who’ve lost pets.

“You’re only limited by your own imagination,” she said. “That’s what makes this so much fun.”

What: The Perfect Basket

Where: 284 Lisbon St., Lewiston

Hours: Noon to 6 p.m. Monday-Friday. (Expanded holiday hours will be announced.)

Contact: 782-6300; www.perfectbasketofmaine.com