Holiday Marketplace Will Keep Its Doors Open…With a New Name

Though passers-by on busy Route 7 may not stop for a peek inside Holiday Marketplace because they already have enough wreaths and ornaments, they might be missing an unusual shopping opportunity.

The shop features far more than just holiday décor. It offers gifts, clothing, vintage items, handmade and locally-produced treasures. In fact, response to the store has been so good that owner Karen Steinhaus has decided to keep the doors open until June, packing up only the Christmas items for storage and changing the name to "Gatherings."

Steinhaus hand-selects all the stock as well as being on the premises seven days a week. With over 20 years in the retail field, she has a well-honed eye for what's unique and what will appeal to those in the area. In the summer months, Steinhaus runs a boutique called Cherish in Maine, near the Canadian border.

 She chatted  bit about how shoppers in that area want different things than shoppers here in Wilton.

"Things with more of a country feel sell better up there. It's just what the market calls for," she noted.

The Wilton location sells gifts for the home, women's accessories, vintage clothes and furs, jewelry with precious ands semi-precious stones and more. The store is set up into small, room-style alcoves- a design Steinhaus inherited from the previous tenants but which she has made work for her merchandise.

"Each area has a theme: traditional Christmas, animals and nature, topiaries made of moss, handmade Polish ornaments, a do-it-yourself area with ribbons and craft needs and vintage clothing," she said.

"We'll reassess business in the summer. I'm planning to evolve more into home décor. People seem to like the store," she said.

And how do people find out about her unique stock?

"Word of mouth has been a good friend to me and I try to be a destination store," she mused. "I buy wide rather than deep," she said, noting that she has a few of many things rather than lots of just one or two items. "I buy from all over the country and I have a daughter living in Europe who buys for me."

One of the biggest lessons she's learned in retail is to stock the store to the customer's tastes, not her own.

"I used to buy only what I liked and then I realized that you have to go beyond that and imagine what your customer would want to buy," she said.

The shop is at 643 Danbury Rd. Call 203-536-8394 for information.