Holiday Home Pops-Up for Christmas

Deborah Young was born and raised in Bed-Stuy. She has lived in the neighborhood for more than 50 years, has raised her five children in the same house she grew up in, and for 27 years, ran a custom design business out of her home.

This year, Young opened her first Bed-Stuy storefront called Holiday Home, at 409 Lewis Avenue, taking over the space that Brownstone Books used to inhabit. The holiday pop-up store, which sells Christmas decorations and other holiday-home accessories, is open until December 23rd.

"I thought that I should try it and that if nothing else, it will be a great learning experience," said Young. "It's also a good transition between having a business out of my home and moving into a permanent storefront."

The store is festively decorated for the holiday season with a wide range of wreaths, flowers and decorations. Young also serves as a reflection of the warm atmosphere inside, happily chatting with customers and local residents who come in to say hello.

Holiday Home is one of only two holiday pop-up shops in Brooklyn, the other one located in Williamsburg. Young said she was surprised by the lack of pop-up shops in the area, but not by the concept.

"The concept of a pop-up shop is not as new as people make it out to be," said Young. "People used to come out in the street and sell trees, but everything moved indoors at a certain point. Toys R Us was the first one to really make it into a business."

Getting the store up and running proved to be a lightning fast and stressful process for Young. After taking over the space on November 8th, she worked until 2:00 a.m. every day in preparation for the store opening eight days later on November 17th, the first day that Holiday Home gained electricity.

Young is now scouting a new space in the neighborhood for a permanent storefront that includes a yard and adequate light for the plants on sale, and will change the name of the shop from Holiday Home to Seasons.

"My business is all about the changing of the seasons and celebrating that change," said Young. "I know that this is the time to make the jump because I don't have as many years in front of me as I do behind me."