For two decades one delightful Boerne shop, er, shoppe has kept the cozy, warm glow of Christmas burning bright in hearts and minds. Come along with us to The Christmas Shoppe.
New here? Subscribe!
Publisher’s Note: We’re grateful to Old West Christmas Light Fest at Enchanted Springs Ranch for their support of our December 2018 stories.
* * *
Story by Pamela Price
Before she met her future husband Tony in person for the first time, Emily Carvalho gave him a warning.
“I said, ‘I’m an elf, I work in a Christmas store, and I’m always covered in glitter,” she recalled. “When he met me and saw I wasn’t kidding about the glitter, he said ‘You’re just so magical.’”
It doesn’t take magic to run a small town Christmas store. It does, however, take someone who never ceases to be jolly about the holidays.
“I bought The Christmas Shoppe in 2013 from the original owners, but I’d worked for them since 2003,” said Carvalho, having first arrived in town after completing a B.A. in psychology and starting a career at Meadowlands. “I wanted to be like Deanna Troi in Star Trek: The Next Generation. After an internship, I worked [at Meadowlands] for awhile and gradually started to change my mind about the field. It wasn’t a good fit for me. By then I’d fallen for Boerne, though, and so I started looking for jobs along Main Street. I started working here, and my first night was during a Dickens on Main event. Can you imagine? I knew nothing and here I was working in a Christmas store during downtown Boerne’s biggest Christmas event!”
That was back when the town of Boerne still celebrated the Christmas season with multiple weekends of activities.
“I plunged right in and fell in love with retail. My mom was surprised and concerned. Then the recession hit and I had to work retail elsewhere. I learned that I can sell clothes. I can sell furniture. But I love Christmas and would rather sell Christmas than anything else.”
Carvalho’s store is located in the heart of Boerne’s Main Street, in the legendary Hill Country Mile shopping district.
“Ours is an old building, a deep store that’s bigger on the inside than our storefront suggests. It’s part of a string of several old buildings that dates back to the early 1900s, with phases added on to the back over the decades. At one time I know this building housed The Boerne Star [the town’s historic newspaper] and it may have even been their first building. Later it housed Boerne Printing. The original owners, Michael and Shiddell Giddens, opened The Christmas Shoppe in 1998.”
Although the store’s name emphasizes the holiday theme, there’s more to the store’s offerings than one might guess. Christmas ornaments, collectibles, Boerne souvenirs, and even a few toys are on display throughout the year.
“We sell seasonal and regional items and things for every major holiday–Easter, Halloween. We have a section devoted to ‘Baby’s First Christmas’ and that has stuffed animals and other gift items. We have gifts that fit each season or any time, really, plus a lot of stocking stuffers and Secret Santa items.”
Carvalho said that Halloween items are highly sought after year round, especially as the holiday has become more popular in recent years. Bridal-themed and pet-centered ornaments are trending, too. For 2018 there’s even a mermaid-inspired, pastel ombre tree on display, one that would be darling in a little girl’s room.
Still, this is The Christmas Shoppe–and thus there’s ample traditional red and green to be seen.
“We’ve got everything here you need to decorate your tree. We even make custom-made wreaths. We also sell the famous pickle ornaments, part of a German tradition. Lots of local families hide the pickle on their trees and give the persons who find the glass ornament a jar of Fickle Pickles. That’s just a very Boerne thing to do.”
Toward the back of the store is an impressively large sleigh, apparently of European import. Above it hangs an upside-down tree, suspended dramatically from the ceiling and surrounded by every imaginable ornament. At the rear of the sleigh is a collection of cinnamon-scented potpourri, candles, and wax melts. The popular brand, which Carvalho says has been carried for years in the shop, appears to be the source of the delicious smell that often strikes customers when they come through the front door.
“I think the cinnamon is in the walls or something, after all these years. It smells like Christmas. People will walk in and ask, ‘What’s the wonderful smell?’ It’s got to be the potpourri.”
Then again maybe there is some holiday magic in play at The Christmas Shoppe after all?
Pamela Price is the founder of TheTexasWildflower.com. She’s been a fan of small-town Christmas shops since she first saw one as a child in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
Thanks for reading!
Want Our Free Monthly Newsletter?
We’d love to keep you personally up-to-date on the stories shared here at TheTexasWildflower.com. {Learn more | Privacy policy} You can also follow us on Facebook , Instagram, and Twitter.
