Ornament shop travels over land and time

You could have no recollection of what you did all year, but as soon as you scan the thematic trees and bins laid out in the Old World Christmas outlet store filled with niche glass ornaments, you’re sure to be reminded.

From Rudolph to Brussels sprouts to Stanley-insulated tumbler cups, whatever you can think of, there’s probably a reflective, shimmery glass-blown ornament in its shape.

The thousands of niche ornaments are peddled worldwide and on the brand’s website, but Spokane boasts the sole factory outlet location that sells overstock ornaments at slashed prices, located at 4005 E. Main Ave.

“The original owner was Tim Merck, and he always kind of called it his ‘Thank you to Spokane,’ ” said outlet store manager Jackie Saling.

Merck and his wife, Beth Merck, founded the company in 1979, traveling from Spokane to Germany hunting for antiques when inspiration struck to recreate traditional European-style glass-blown ornaments in the states. They’ve since sold the company, but Spokanites and visitors continue to revel in the Christmas cheer in the local warehouse.

Ornament design, customer service and wholesale shipping all happen in the building, situated among other warehouses in the East Central Neighborhood. Twice a year, they open the doors of their outlet store: for the holiday season from mid-October to the day before Christmas Eve and for a month for Christmas in July.

Holiday music softly plays in the store space where staff decorated dozens of trees filled with the glistening ornaments. Tables are filled with bins for customers to hunt through.

There’s a tree dedicated to the outdoors lined with critters and hunting and fishing gear, another with dogs of various breeds and creative displays, like a food cart filled with glass mangos and cut onions or a small grill covered in bedazzled hamburgers.

As they handle the sparkling ornaments, customers’ hands, clothes and faces show traces of stray glitter.

“When we’re done here, we sparkle,” Saling said. “That was always the joke is they could never go home and tell their husbands that they’ve been to the grocery store.”

The ornaments are pillars in many a Christmas tradition. Customers buy some for themselves or as gifts that remind them of a significant milestone they’ve crossed that year or an inside joke with the recipient.

Some, like couple Barb and Brad Houser, collect the keepsakes for their kids, with the intention of passing them on when they have their own Christmas trees to decorate.

This year, the Medical Lake, Wash., couple selected a skein of yarn for their daughter who’d taken up crocheting, a tuxedo cat that looks just like one that their other daughter has and a set of dog tags representing Brad’s military service among classic snowmen and Santas.

But there’s one in her cart this year that brings tears to her eyes. The death of one of her daughters two years ago still stings, as she does her yearly tradition selecting ornaments for each of her four kids.

“Once they get their own home, I will gather all their ornaments I have collected since they were babies,” Barb said, tears welling in her eyes.

She has selected a large angel dressed in red to represent her late daughter, Elizabeth. She plans to continue collecting for Elizabeth and add hers to her already-heavy tree branches.

“We’ll be keeping hers,” she said.

The couple also selected a snuggling pair of cardinals that represent Barb’s parents, who died within the last five years; a black lab that looks just like their lab mix puppy Ruger; and two others that caused emotions to well for the couple. They adopted Ruger shortly after Elizabeth’s passing and days after another beloved dog died.

Their doted-upon lab is heaven-sent, the couple said.

“We knew he was sent by Elizabeth,” Barb said, describing the puppy nuzzling into their arms as soon as they met.

Shopper Kellie Slippy comes to the store with no premeditated plans on which event from the year she’ll immortalize in ornament form. They’ll jump out at her as she shops, recalling moments from the year.

“For us, it’s just the memories, like going back on what they were for and what year it was, especially if there’s a date on it,” Slippy said, perusing the store with her husband, Scott Slippy, and adult daughter Hannah Griffin. Among her picks this year are a greenhouse, as the family built one that year, and a gardener’s apron in memory of Scott’s late mother.

“She loved to garden, so we had gotten one that looked like a garden; it was super cute,” Kellie said. “Every time I put it up, I think of his mom.”

In childhood, Griffin recalls her parents gifting her a shimmering volleyball the year she started playing and a Volkswagen Beetle to mark another milestone.

“I love when they come here and they pick us out one that reminds us of something,” Griffin said.

This year, she’s getting a house-shaped ornament to represent buying her home.

“As we’re putting them on the tree, it was fun this year to just kind of talk through and go, ‘Oh, I remember this one.’ Or, ‘We got this one for this reason,’ ” Kellie said.

They’ve been collecting ornaments for more than 15 years and have amassed around 25 that they hang on their tree each year. It’s a humble collection compared to other enthusiasts; some put up multiple trees to showcase their collection, arranged by theme. Shopper Emily Friddle estimates she has more than 100 carefully stashed away in plastic totes.

“For years I wouldn’t let anything else be on my tree, except for the glass ornaments,” Friddle said.

She’s been enamored with them since high school, when she worked at a gift shop that carried the ornaments. Thirty years later, that store owner continues to send her yearly ornaments as gifts.

Her first time in the Spokane store brings back memories.

“It brings me back to when I was in high school and we had them on the table like this; it’s really delightful,” she said, a speck of glitter on her face. “I walked in thinking, ‘I don’t need anymore, I really don’t need anymore,’ but here we are.”

Much like the Slippys, Friddle picks sentimental pieces that remind her of the year’s events. She’s selected hummingbirds for each of her kids in memory of their late grandmother, as well as dogs for her friends who lost pets this year.

There’s something special about Old World Christmas ornaments, Friddle said, that makes them glow and glisten on the branches of her tree. Perhaps it’s the coats of glitter and shine and vibrant, reflective glass from the liquid silver solution poured over the ornaments that allow them to refract the twinkle lights on trees.

“They’re actually really nice hand-blown glass, high-quality glitter,” Saling said. “It’s funny, once you hang them on your tree, no other ornament looks like they do.”

Elena Perry’s work is funded in part by members of the Spokane community via the Community Journalism and Civic Engagement Fund.