Crowds of holiday shoppers flocked to Hickory Pick’N to take advantage of store-wide markdowns at the Hickory Pick’N Christmas Open House Saturday.
The event, which was coordinated to include each of the stores 50 vendors and boutiques – and free snacks – brought shoppers from as far away as Arkansas looking to find good deals and get ahead on Christmas shopping.
In the afternoon, shoppers were given an extra special treat as Santa Giraffe and the Grinch stopped by for children – and a good number of adults – to take pictures with them. The fun photo shoot outside the store drew even larger crowds as children recognized the iconic figures and rushed to greet them.
Eric Johannsen, owner of Hickory Pick’N, said people certainly responded to the Christmas Open House idea as a steady stream of people came through all day.
“It’s been real busy,” he said. “It’s just a real steady roll all day long. There’s been a few times the cash register has been backed up.”
Of course, Johannsen said, the day was not without its aggravations. Shoppers at Saturday’s Open House were serenaded by Christmas Songs as they browsed the store isles and vendor booths, but it almost wasn’t so.
“I went and bought me some new speakers to put up, so that I could make the Christmas music a little easier” Johannsen said. “After spending two hours running all the wires last night, I was sitting there trying to get it to program for the wi-fi. Three hours later, no success.”
After calling a friend to help, Johannsen said they were finally able to get the music working about 10 minutes before the store opened.
Although tired from his night battling the audio system, Johannsen said the event turned out great, which in part, was due to the talented craftsmen and craftswomen that have booths at his store.
“We’ve got some really talented people,” he said, “And most of them are locals.”
For shoppers who missed the open house, Johannsen said there’s still plenty of time to stop by Hickory Pick’N to find that last minute Christmas gift or just something nice for themselves.
