Where to shop for the holidays around Boulder
While some folks get into the holiday spirit as early as October or November, Troy Rivington starts thinking about Christmas in January.
Rivington owns Paper Doll, a gift store on Pearl Street in downtown Boulder. During the year the store features elegant, eclectic and irreverently-themed items, from bejeweled fairies to packs of gum that ask “Does this gum make my butt look fat?” But when the holidays approach the store is transformed into a winter wonderland.
Rivington begins ordering for the holiday season in January in order to receive the merchandise in March, when it is stored through the spring and summer.
Then, when everything begins coming together, it takes seven weeks of working seven days a week, 10 to 12 hours a day to complete the transformation.
“It’s a lot of work, but it’s something people look forward to each year,” Rivington said.
Trees are scattered through the store, encrusted with ornaments. One tree is festooned with faux pheasant feathers with golden browns while another features silk Gerbera daisies and butterflies. Surrounding each tree is everyday merchandise to fit the different tree decoration themes, either in color, materials or idea.
These themed trees and items help customers fill a few stockings while decorating their trees. Bath sets and sleep masks surround a purple and lavender tree. Customers can grab a purple tree-topper for themselves while picking up natural lavender bath salts for Aunt Bea.
While Rivington begins thinking about the holidays in January, Dana Kortokrax lives the holidays year-round. Kortokrax owns Home for the Holidays, a seasonal store in FlatIron Crossing Mall.
Home for the Holidays has more traditional holiday merchandise, less eclectic and doesn’t offer non-holiday related gifts; instead, the store offers a massive array of choices to fit any holiday decorating need.
The original Home for the Holidays is a small store in Estes Park that carries holiday merchandise year-round. Estes Park, however, is only a major shopping area from Memorial Day until the last of the leaves drop in October; then the tourist season ends, leaving the small store relatively few customers during the holiday season.
So Kortokrax opened a seasonal store closer to where her customers live, in FlatIron Crossing.
“We got a call from the company that owns Flat Irons Crossing, asking us to see some spots in their mall,” Kortokrax said. “We have a set minimum and maximum square-foot limit. We look for lots of front windows, good lighting and configuration for lots of trees.
The hard part of finding a seasonal specialty store is location. Last year Home for the Holidays was located in the outdoor part of FlatIron Crossing, in The Village. This year it is located inside the main mall, where the Sam Goody store used to be.
But there is no guarantee it will be located in FlatIron Crossing at all in any given year. Kortokrax said her choices this year included locations in Boulder on 28th Street, Westminster Mall, Southlands Mall and in Fort Collins.
Kortokrax maintains a mailing list of customers, from Cheyenne and Laramie, Wyo. to Colorado Springs, to let them know where the seasonal store will open each year. Seasonal space opens for contract in June, Kortokrax said, once management companies know what stores will not be leased by year-round tenants.
There are risks no matter what Kortokrax does. If she waits to order merchandise until she has a location in June there is a risk that the merchandise won’t arrive in time to open the store. If she orders the merchandise in January or February she has to store it in a rented space, risking damage in storage, or worse, being stuck with it if she cannot find a seasonal store space.
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Arwyn Rice at arwyn.rice@thecampuspress.com
