A group of Wawota businesses showcased local shopping and dining as they hosted their first annual Open House on Nov. 5 and 6.
Front Porch Interiors Furniture and Design, King's Department Store, and Grammie's Gift Emporium welcomed shoppers, while 2nd Street Eats, Moose Mountain Meats, and the Wawota Hotel served specialty meals for the occasion.
Shannon Houff, owner of Front Porch Interiors says, "Come in and let us dazzle you."
Houff's 4,000 square-feet of selling space allows her to both inspire and encourage clients when it comes to design decisions.
"I am in the fashion furniture industry, but I'm really in the business of helping people make their dreams a reality. What I do is help make beautiful, meaningful spaces for our customers and make everything look good together; whether that's working with existing pieces in their home or starting from the floor on up. We carry quality furniture from suppliers such as Stylus, Norwalk, Thomasville, Palliser, and others. And we work with contractors and suppliers to make the building and renovating process as enjoyable as possible," Houff says.
"We'll help people with a room plan and work with ideas that they have. We also sell everything off of the sales floor. What we do is create a vision in the store. The room scenarios are there to inspire people, and I change them often, so I can keep things fresh."
"Everything on the floor is 90 percent customizable and for sale."
However, Houff's elegant and sophisticated store is not just for homeowners.
"We also have a boutique area, because not everybody can walk out of the store with a sofa in their purse," she laughs. "We have lots of gorgeous giftables right now-for Christmas as well as any other occasion. A few of the things we have are Thyme Fraser Fir candles, Naked Bee body butters and balms, and we have a great new line of jewellery from Beaucoup Designs, which features buildable necklaces with charms."
"We have everything up right now-Christmas decor, accessories and extra giftables. We continue to welcome our existing clientele and of course, new clients. As I said, come in and let us dazzle you."
Bev King of King's Department Store agrees. "Try us before you go out of town," she says. "We've been in business 40 years, and we have clothing and shoes for the whole family-from infants to grandparents."
Both King's Wawota and Carlyle locations stock apparel and footwear from a large cross section of brands, and this year is no exception. "Among the items we have this year are Nixon watches," says King. "For women, we also have Manitobah Mukluks, for men we have shirts, socks and Saxx underwear, and we have Ten Tree sweaters and T-shirts for both men and women."
"We also have fleece sheets-from cradle to king-size."
King says the stores' commitment to customer service is at the forefront of their business. "Like many stores, we offer gift certificates. But we will also bring in stock between our stores and our return policy makes it easy to shop with us. We are committed to our customers."
At Grammie's Gift Emporium, owner Wendy Brehaut says of her customers, "When they come in, I want everyone to think of their Grandma, to experience a welcoming place like home."
In addition to her floral business featuring both permanent and natural arrangements for all occasions, Brehaut also sells a wide variety of goods-including shabby chic furniture pieces (which quickly sold out), Enamelware bakeware, Energy Muse jewellery, Painted Pony and Willow Tree figurines, Melissa and Doug toys, Lang calendars, as well as greeting cards, and everyday stationery and office supplies.
"I am one of a few retailers in Saskatchewan that carry Enamelware," she says. "It's really great bakeware, it's very colourful, and it bakes like a breeze," she says. "I'm also featuring firepots. They are safe to use inside and safe to roast marshmallows with, so I'm serving s'mores to my customers."
"I have gifts for everyone, and I like to say, 'If I don't have it, you don't need it,'" she laughs. "But seriously, I always keep a quote by Maya Angelou in mind, 'People won't remember what you said or did; they remember how you made them feel.' That's something I want to embody in my business."
"Because of that, I have a Remembrance Day window display, and my Christmas stock isn't available to purchase until after Nov. 11. I'm hosting the store's Christmas Extravaganza on Nov. 16 from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m., and I'll have all of my Christmas stock out by then."
Kristine Duff of 2nd Street Eats says, "We appreciate the support of the community and all of our customers, whether they dine-in, or do take-out or delivery with us. The open house is a chance for us to say thanks by serving a special, which is our chili in a bread bowl and our brownies."
"We're already taking bookings for Christmas parties," adds Duff. "We can do in-house catering for up to 100 people and we can do off-premises catering for groups over 100. Year-round, we offer licensed dining, take-out and delivery, and we feature pizza, pasta, steak, and Canadian cuisine. Our desserts are all homemade, too. We also serve both Sunday brunch and Sunday dinner throughout the year."
"We pride ourselves on delivering 'family dining on the finer side', and we welcome people to dine with us anytime."
At Moose Mountain Meats, manager Sue Leny also takes pride in supplying quality local cuisine. "This year, I've teamed up with Barb Dixon at the Wawota Hotel, and we're happy to be hosting a meal as part of the Open House, featuring our chicken souvlaki."
"At Moose Mountain Meats, we get a lot of compliments on our products at our retail outlet. One hunter texted us and said ours was the best sausage he'd ever had. If you want something special, give me a call," says Leny. "All of our products are made in-store, from sausages and patties to things like our braided pork loin that's stuffed with sausage meat. We also sell boneless dry ribs, breaded pork cutlets, harvest leg hams, prime rib, and cooked and sliced roast beef."
"A very popular item is our chicken cordon bleu," she adds. "All of our products are locally made and of the highest quality. We appreciate our customers and we aim to please them."
Wawota Hotel owner Dixon agrees. "We're happy to do the Open House, as a way to say thank you to our regular customers and to welcome our new clientele. We're looking forward to serving them during the Christmas season and beyond."
"I'd like to always thank my customers for the support they give me, and I'm sure everyone with a business in town feels that way," says Wendy Brehaut. "When my customers shop locally, it not only benefits me and my business, it also allows me to donate to local fundraisers that help teams and causes in our area. It helps the entire community to shop locally and this Open House helps to remind us all of that."
