Reader's Choice Awards

POSTED: Monday, Dec. 08, 2008

Best holiday decoration store: Greenhouse

FIRST PLACE

GREENHOUSE

Location: 1235 Cornwall Ave., 676-1161, hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday

Web site: www.greenhousehome.com

From the boss: "It's something that I have always enjoyed personally. We've always carried lots of Christmas ornaments, and as the store expanded into a home store, I would look at seasonal presentations and look for ways to incorporate that into the whole store. We want to invite people to decorate their homes." Chris Foss, co-owner with Foster Rose

Reader rave: "The Greenhouse is great around the holidays because they create such a cozy atmosphere. They really strike up nostalgia and holiday memories with yummy smells, beautifully decorated rooms, and warm lighting. There is a range of styles, so I never fail to find something I love, whether for me or as a gift. Most of the time I wish I could move my stuff in and live there!" Britt Potter, Bellingham

Highlights: The warm, spicy smells of candles arrayed on shelves welcome shoppers as they enter the bright, colorful interior of Greenhouse. Store displays are themed to tell a "story": On one rack, shoppers find everything related to snowmen, on another all the trappings of a gingerbread-themed kitchen. Co-owner Chris Foss designs the store this way to make it easy for customers to follow a concept in their decorations or gifts.

Each year, she starts working on holiday decorations displays in January. "There really isn't a week that goes by that we aren't doing something on our holiday presentations," she says. For one of Greenhouse's most popular holiday gifts, try Frasier Fir candles by Thymes.