Who needs a Department store? With Christmas around the corner THIS is the store you need to visit or email!
Back in August as part of our quick whizz around Alabama to visit some the boutiques that carry our line, we stopped in to see Mary-Ann - the owner of Crystal Corner in Boaz.
And wow - we were blown away...this is not a corner - more like all 4 corners...more like an empire! And there's a slight lie in the title - it may have started off as a crystal matching service but it pretty much offers EVERYTHING you might need for the home, wardrobe, wedding and party...
30yrs ago, Mary Ann started working here when it was purely a crystal matching service store and she discovered boxes of letters for people trying to match broken china and crystal services. She took it on as a project and tried responded to the letters taking $30k in a month...
From then she tried to grow the business and promote it but the owners were not keen so she started to match discontinued crystal from her own basement instead. From that massive success she decided to buy her neighbours house and turn it into a store! She has 35,000 different patterns you can match to and a warehouse as large as her store just waiting to try and help you!
She has since expanded 3 times, struggled with an horrific fire which most people would have walked away from but she decided to expand AGAIN!
Over the years she has added and added and if you now visit you get room after room of home products, kitchen and cooking, toys, kids clothing, gift registry, home decor, women's clothing and accessories and free gift wrap!
Take a look at the amazing video tour of Crystal Corner.
At the heart of this incredible business is the amazing woman that is Mary-Ann - what a vision and what a character...full of strength and a work ethic that has to be applauded and admired.
But of course she still offers the amazing discontinued crystal and china matching service which is priceless - who knew this even existed! On top of that she has an all round Christmas room where she sells much loved and collectible pieces from Thomas Kinkade, Department 56 and Christopher Radko. And if you're looking for collectible Christmas gift ideas she has a huge collection of retired Precious Moments porcelain figures and Bradford Exchange plates and collectibles.
Of course she ALSO carries Me & Henry and Vignette in her huge back kids room which is larger than most kids stores in itself! In fact the only section she doesn't currently carry is mens clothing and she hasn't exactly said no to that!
Be sure to share with your friends and family because we are pretty sure this is a hidden gem for North America and not many people are offering this kind of unique service that Mary-Ann started 36yrs ago. She has a website www.crystalcorner.com and truly deserves our support.
We can't wait to see Mary-Ann in Atlanta next year - she is already excited about seeing and buying Me & Henry and Vignette Fall 21.
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