The temperatures may have been sweltering, but shoppers at the recently opened Waccamaw store in Skokie could prepare for Christmas.
Spode China Christmas plates and other holiday-motif items were sprinkled among the summer-mode housewares, home decor and handicrafts at the store at 5545 Touhy Ave.
Consumers were as surprised and pleased by the unexpectedly bright surroundings as by the early holiday specials.
In a dramatic departure from the warehouselike concrete floors and bins at the Rolling Meadows store, this location boasts a colorful, uncluttered interior. (Customers in Gurnee and Naperville will see for themselves later this year when Waccamaw opens stores there.)
”The white tile floors and contemporary fixtures are meant to be a lot more pleasing to the eye,” manager Scott Moore said.
Pronounced ”walk-a-ma,” a Native American term meaning ”black water”
and the name of a river near company headquarters in Myrtle Beach, S.C., the $180 million retailer concentrates on name brands housewares, glassware, dinnerware, crafts, linens, cookware and appliances.
The Skokie store also boasts a broader assortment and price range than ever before. For example, first-week consumers found craft supplies for 30 cents an item to a rattan dining set with glass-topped table and four chairs for $479.99.
To go along with the spruced up surroundings are several custom services, such as glass engraving, floral arranging and on-site monogramming.