Saturday, November 23, 2024
Noel informed me of a "new" antique place, at least new to us, that sells glass ornaments and other Christmas tchotchkes during November and December. I asked if it was the old Nakashian O'Neil place that was bought by a couple of guys who continued to sell antiques there after Nakashian died a number of years ago. She said she didn't think it was.
Noel plugged the address into her phone and when we arrived there it turned out it WAS the guys who had bought the old Nakashian O'Neil and it was in the same charming space!
Years ago Noel and I ventured to Nakashian O'Neal. at the recomendation of one of her friends. We found it funny you needed to ring a bell to have them come get you and let you in. It was an antique store and the owner, who was sitting at the front of the store in a chair smoking a cigarette, was giving directions to his employees as to where he wanted the ornaments hung on the tree and set out other holiday decor. He was a cheerful fellow and welcomed us into the store. He looked quite old and frail, cheeks sunken. The store was just magical. It reminded me of the store in the movie The Shop around the corner. There was a staiway that led up to a mezzanine which. wrapped around the entirety of the store. The upstars was decorated as well. I ended. up buying a replica of a dime store cardboard Nativity scene that was the same as the one Mom had when she was little and the one I found in the coatroom during the first Christmas I taught at St. Bernard's.
Before we left the store Mr. Nakasian asked us where we were from. When we told him Minneapolis he asked if we knew a couple of antique dealers from there that he had some gossip about. Nothing mean but it was a little dishy.
The day after Christmas Noel and I embarked on our annual Boxing Day post Christmas shopping spree to check out any items marked down to 50% off. We found a note on the door that Mr. Nakasian had died on Christmas Eve and that the store would be closed for a while. He obviously loved Christmas so I glad he had one final Christmas Eve.
Fast forward to today and we were delighted to discover that the store has carried on the holiday tradition of selling glass ornaments and more during the holiday season.
As I mentioned, the mezzanine was decorated as well.
There were additional trees. Lots of trees with more ornaments.
I bought the above Belsnickle Santa. I love that it's purple. Noel got one that's green.
To check out I was seated at a desk across from a friendly woman who rang up the purchase. She sent the santa to the back room where the owners were wrapping up purchases and boxing them.
When we left Noel mentioned that it's too bad we missed so many years of shopping there. I answered that the flip side of that is that we probably have saved hundreds of dollars.
