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Cypress boutique, Open Window Designs, gears up for holiday season
This year marks the 17th time Christmas has come early to Open Window Designs.
Brenda Koh, owner of the Jersey Village-area decor shop, has been peddling her holiday wares and items at the Nutcracker Market since 1999.
Koh said she started taking her store’s inventory to the Nutcracker Market to open her business up to a wider client base.
“It was back when it was at the Astro Hall, and I have been in there ever since,” she said.
Open Window also offers nonholiday inventory throughout the year, including lamps, towels, garden items, photo frames and other decorative goods. However, holiday wares are the most popular items among customers, Koh said.
“We listen to our customers, and this is what they would like to see,” she said.
Open Window has only missed the Nutcracker Market once—in 2014 due to a medical incident. However, Koh was promptly asked by the market’s organizers to return due to her booth’s previous popularity.
Koh and the store’s manager, Catherine Clark, begin preparing for the market in January, just over a month after they finish with the previous year’s endeavor.
The two start by boxing up items they think might be successful at the market and then begin shopping for more inventory in Dallas. They search for items that really stand out, take lots of photos and finalize their orders once home in Houston, Koh said.
“You have to appeal to all eyes when selecting items for the store and website,” Koh said. “Funky items are a must.”
All of the stock eventually travels to downtown Houston in large trailer trucks for the four day shopping market that is typically attended by more than 100,000 visitors and generates more than $20 million in sales.
Throughout the year, Koh and Clark plan out vignettes that will stand in each corner of their booth. These vignettes focus on a single theme, such as music boxes, winter whites and silver or holiday golds.
Starting in October, Koh and Clark begin removing holiday-geared products from the store so they can be taken to the Nutcracker Market. The items return to the shop’s stock following the November trek, Koh said.
In this way, Open Window brings Christmas to customers all year-round no matter the month or temperature outside.
