Local Business Transforms West Unity into Holiday Destination
A family business that started 15 years ago as a hobby, has grown into a seasonal powerhouse that attracts visitors from across the country to Northwest Ohio.
Carrie and Jason King are the owners of the Holly Jolly Christmas Store, and their holiday empire began with another family-owned business. “We had a furniture store here for 23 years,” says Carrie King.
Their idea for the holiday shop came while visiting the vendor show of a furniture line we would sell in their store.
“We were looking to do something different, and we were at one of our markets for the furniture store and we went up on one floor and it’s all Christmas stuff, and boy we were like kids in the candy store! That’s the business that we’re going to start. We’re going to open a Christmas store.”
Since they first opened, the West Unity location has grown from 1500 square feet to over 25,000 square feet, spanning six storefronts on Jackson Street. They closed their furniture business in 2022 to concentrate on the Holly Jolly Christmas Shop.
Today they operate a second, much smaller location in Swanton at 201 W Airport Hwy. “The Swanton location is a small little cabin on the south side of Airport Highway,” says Carrie. “We opened that store for clientele coming from the Findlay, Bowling Green, and Toledo areas. That has turned out to be a wonderful little location, and it’s kind of like the first stop from people that’s coming from the East or Southeast. That one is about 2,000 square feet has a little bit of everything that we have at our main store.”
Carrie, her cousin Sara Locke, and a designer work from the end of March to the end of December, they also employ sales associates at both locations.
In January, they begin selecting items they will carry in their stores the following season. “We start going shopping suppliers and going to markets. We price everything and get it put into the stores,” says Carrie. “Then we paint the walls to match the decor or install wallpaper to give the store a cohesive look”. She says they sell an incredible variety of items from “really fancy looking trees, like all your crystals and glass ornaments, to very whimsical.”
“We have a selection of maybe 45 trees that we sell, in different styles. We have all of the ribbons and the garland to match the trees and then we also do have a huge selection of lighting. We offer both indoor and outdoor lighting.”
Carrie wants it to be a source for designers as well as families looking for personalized ornaments, which they can do in the West Unity store. “We sell candies, chocolates, and cheesecake from Junior’s cheesecakes in New York, that we bring in each season, but we also do a nice display of items for all budgets.”
Carrie and Jason King are very community oriented. “We try really hard to make our community look great. We try to keep the buildings looking great to create more of that Hallmark kind of feeling.
“We have customers that have been very loyal and come from all of the place; explains Carrie. “Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Detroit, Fort Wayne, anywhere in the surrounding area within a 3-hour radius.” Carrie says they often attract visitors from other states.
Last year, over 50,000 customers came through the West Unity store. “It really boosted the town, and helped build awareness of where we are and what we have
to offer”, says Carrie. The visitors also frequent the other community businesses in town. “They are going to flourish as well, because they’re not just going to shop at one place. They’re going to stop at every place. They’re going to eat lunch here. They’re going to get gas here. So, it really does help all of the other businesses throughout the town,” she explained. “We’re only seasonal, but it still allows you know people to remember oh they have a phenomenal Hardware store or they have a nice Pharmacy. We have a massage therapist here in town, we have a butcher shop. So those businesses should be able to flourish with people coming in to shop from us during the holiday season.”
Their website is https://www.hollyjollychristmasshop.com/ but they don’t offer online sales. “You can go on our website and kind of tour the store,” explains Carrie, “but you cannot order online. We don’t want to ship things and then have it break and all that stuff. We want to make sure that you’re taken care of. If you want to have a day out and just have a smile on your face you need somewhere to go that’s going to lift you up, the Holly Jolly Christmas shop will definitely do that!”
Both West Unity and Swanton locations are open October 1st through December 24th Monday through Friday 10:00 to 7:00 Saturday 9:00 to 7:00 and Sundays 12:00 to 4:00
