Gift wrap and birthday cards greet customers at the door, and entire aisles are dedicated to international potato chips and and folk art home decor. Hammocks and patio furniture crowd between bath products and kitchen supplies.

With its varied collection of international gift items, food and home furnishings, Cost Plus World Market is aiming to meet consumers’ needs — and to take advantage of newly slackened liquor laws to sell its large inventory of wines and beers.

“We want to make it the kind of store that’s known in Evanston,” said store manager Julie Cowsert, adding that she hopes Cost Plus becomes a common shopping destination.

“If a party comes up, the first thing in their heads is ‘I’ve got to go to Cost Plus,'” she said.

The store, at 1725 Maple Ave., is the newest addition to the Church Street Plaza. Despite some roadblocks before its March 4 opening, Cowsert said the chain has made a “smooth transition into Evanston.”

After an eight-month struggle to receive a liquor license, Cost Plus got a break from the Evanston City Council just two days before opening. The council decided to liberalize the city’s liquor laws so that retail stores no longer have to sell liquor separately from other goods and with separate registers.

“We were going to be here either way, but it’s helped the business,” Cowsert said. “It would be a real inconvenience to customers to purchase items at two different registers.”

Cost Plus’ corporate office declined to comment about the Evanston store’s alcohol revenues, but the city of Evanston expects to receive as much as $100,000 a year in additional sales tax revenue as a result of the less stringent regulations.

Another benefit of liquor liberalization is that Cost Plus can cross-market its products — such as selling gourmet wine in the dining department and Mexican beer next to the pi