A word about holiday decorations . . .

I have always had the rule that we don't decorate for Christmas until after Thanksgiving. This is our ritual; I want it to really feel like the holidays. So on Saturday, November 29th we're having our official Holiday Open House. Flyers will be printed, announcements made and email and postcards sent out. Retail store Christmas decorations are an often underrated facet of the big picture holiday promotional mix. But stores and shops contribute a vital purpose in the overall shopping mood. They remind customers of the current season at hand and, subconsciously, stir up positive emotions associated with holiday memories and traditions. We will be stepping up to the plate and dressing up and putting on all the trimmings in our store to conjure up the holiday feeling!


I thought I'd share what we did display today. This 10 foot building facade is now hanging in the middle of our shop. It's awesome and we hung a chandelier in the middle to finish it off. As I've said before, we just can't get enough of the architectural pieces, they're the most fun to decorate with.

Our Award

Our store just won an award! My husband Bob and I went to an awards ceremony and annual appreciation banquet this evening put on by the Ocean Beach Mainstreet Association. Our award is "Most Creative Use of Commercial Space". There are over 350 businesses in our Ocean Beach business district so we were very flattered by the award. In the front of our builiding there is a setback or alcove so we had a fancy iron facade installed which created an extra room or foyer for us where we have outdoor garden furniture, chippy painted tables, etc. The back of our store was a small parking lot so we built a fence and gate and had a cottage built and created a backyard garden retail area. We love our back yard! there are architectural items, potting benches, garden statuary, signs, iron plant stands, planters, and cast iron outdoor furniture. It's been so much fun so to get this award was the icing on the cake. Thank you OBMA for noticing our effort!

We had fun decorating for Halloween!

Well, I made it past September without succumbing to displaying for Halloween. I can't get myself to do it since we've all been seeing Halloween items for sale since before the 4th of July.


Today, Friday, October 3rd, we launched our fall and Halloween decorating and had fun putting it all together. Debbi, my good friend and our decorating guru, came in and did a number on the store. Debbi is talented beyond belief. She pushes the envelope and thinks of ways to display things that take it to a whole different level. I'm always in awe watching her work. I'm good at display and I've had employees that are outstanding at pulling everything together but no one comes even close to what Debbi is capable of. Today was no exception. I brought in our annual pumpkins, big & small, Indian corn, licorice for our antique apothecary jars, fresh fallen leaves, you name it! Then the magic began. Displaying the fall with our antiques, it all mixes so well and voila - wonderful vignettesjust waiting for our customers to see. The energy it creates is infectious. I can't wait for the weekend and all of the comments we'll hear from customers. That's really the fun, watching our customers enjoy browsing and shopping our store.


This is one of the best times of year for decorating - for fall and autumn, and Halloween. The colors are so rich and it's the beginning of the entire holiday season.



















Come by and see us and our new displays. We have some great merchandise just in and we're getting ready for the big bi-annual antique district sidewalk sale next weekend, October 11th & 12th. There will be tremendous deals and you don't want to miss it.

Estate Jewelry - some beautiful pieces just in!

Timeless and beautiful cameos:


Beautiful hard-to-find cameo earrings:



and a platinum & diamond pendant/brooch thrown in for good measure