Christmas shop takes shape in five days
Darlene Cecil, left, maker of Pillow Talk (decorative lavender-filled pillows) helps Penny Frank of Kalispell with her shopping on Thursday at The Christmas Gift Shop.
A folk art Santa made from driftwood graces the Main Street entrance of The Christmas Gift Shop in Kalispell.
“Bernie” the bear is just one of the Recycled Fur Coat Bears on display at The Christmas Gift Shop.
Cathi Spence and Darlene Cecil are two of the main organizers of The Christmas Gift Shop on Main Street in Kalispell.
Crazy talk.
That’s what most of the artisans said at a meeting Dec. 7 when Cathi Spence shared her dream of opening a gift shop for the holidays. Was she really pitching this idea less than three weeks before Christmas?
Spence herself was tired, having just completed her 13th annual Christmas show at her home over the previous weekend, but she didn’t see any harm in mentioning the idea to the group of friends gathered.
“I have always wanted to have a little shop through the holidays,” Spence said.
Darlene Cecil, a semi-retired advertising veteran, said “let’s do it.”
With only 2 1/2 weeks until the holiday, the women joined with Janelle Buchanen, the designer behind Cool Jewels, to put together the shop in just five days.
While most of the people at the meeting said they couldn’t put anything so big together without a year of planning, “three stubborn women said anything can be achieved,” Cecil said.
A seasoned pro used to participating in travel art and craft shows, Buchanen said she knew they could do it quickly. “Everyone is so professional in what they do. That’s our lives.”
Active with the Think Local art series, Spence and Buchanen already had a list of contacts for merchandise.
They had brought in 40 vendors for Summer’s Last Art Blast, held in August in Kalispell.
“That took months to put together,” Spence said. So even though the Christmas Gift Shop was her idea, she admits a little hesitation in going forward. After all, she has two small daughters who want their mom home for winter break and, following the planning of the summer art shows and her own private Christmas show, she was ready for her own break.
“Who decides to open a store, find a building with an owner willing to lease for two weeks and find 12 other artists all in one day?” Spence said. But with Buchanen and Cecil rallying behind her, things started to fall into place and the trio forged ahead.
Spence and Buchanen found 13 artisans, including their own brands Montana Homemade and Cool Jewels, to participate, then contacted Holly Jean Larsen, owner of the building that formerly housed Books West.
The popular bookstore had just closed Nov. 30 and was still being emptied by store owner Jo Ann Jensen. Larsen gave the keys to Spence and Buchanen on a handshake, happy to fill the void the bookstore’s closing had left in downtown Kalispell, even if only for a short time.
“We needed a place and this place needed us,” Buchanen said. Spence added, “To have something come in was good for all of us.”
“What we did in 24 hours is just miraculous,” Cecil said. “I wish we had taken a picture of [the former Books West] when it was just a shell.” As it was, the women were moving their gift items in as Jensen was still moving out books and fixtures on Dec. 11.
The Christmas Gift Shop officially opened for business Dec. 12, just five days after Spence originally had voiced her idea.
Everything in the shop is handmade in Montana, much of it here in the Flathead Valley.
“We’re trying to give people a place to come to get a unique gift,” Spence said. “Look around and try to find something made in the USA anymore in the big stores. It’s very hard. Everything here is made right here.”
“There are gifts you can buy that are made in the Flathead Valley and support the local economy,” Cecil said.
A third-generation Montana resident, Cecil has her Pillow Talk line on display. The handmade organic lavender-filled pillows range in price from $25 to $75 and feature exotic stone accents. First picked up by a Naples, Fla., boutique, Pillow Talk also can be found at Piney Creek Interiors in Whitefish.
“They are primarily sold in boutiques, but I wanted to support this effort,” she said.
Gifts in the shop range anywhere from $3 trinkets to $450 hand-carved rocking chairs. Shoppers can even purchase vests for their pooches from North Fork Fleece.
Other vendors include John Ashley Photography, handmade teddy bears and Raggedy Ann dolls by Sherri Attard, children’s hair accessories by Lois Wisher, The Orchard at Flathead Lake, Rick Williams’s rock candles and hand-painted china by Myrna Warkins. Homemade soaps, driftwood creations and wish boxes also are available for purchase.
“Kalispell has an incredible support system for local buying,” Buchanen said. “I don’t know if this would work as well any place else.”
“In this economy, we didn’t say it couldn’t be done. We said how can we do it and we did it in five days,” Cecil said.
The Christmas Gift Shop is open now through Christmas Eve from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at 101 South Main St. in Kalispell in the former Books West location on Main Street.
The shop accepts major credit cards and offers gift wrapping services. For additional information, call 261-3874.
Reporter Erika Hoefer may be reached at 758-4439 or by e-mail at ehoefer@dailyinterlake.com