A new holiday tradition started last night. Guess & Company Christmas Market in Des Arc, Arkansas is a holiday lovers mecca, and is now on my annual must-do list.
For years I would travel south to Chicot County to visit Paul Michaels store for holiday decorating inspiration, but they closed down. But I have new inspiration now. Guess & Company is Paul Michaels on steroids. Think of a Sam’s Club with nothing but Christmas decorations –and some Halloween and home décor thrown in. It was unbelievable.
Last year was the first time I had ever heard of Paul Guess and his Christmas store, but this is his 6th year of hosting these events. Last night was the first of 6 VIP nights which you have to pre-register for in advance (and they are all now sold out). My friend Carol and I had decided to see what all the hoopla was about and registered.
Then my son was asked to represent the Grumpy Rabbit and a holiday appetizer demo for their first VIP night, so it was Karma.
We got to support the Grumpy Rabbit and support our decoration addiction! A win/win for sure.
Located on West Main Street in Des Arc, is a large, non-descript warehouse (with no signage). We drove right past it looking for it. Then we saw hordes of people parking and lining up, so we knew we had found it. We thought we were fashionably early, but there were huge lines of people already. We were able to go in early to see Kyle and crew, and got a sneak preview of what was coming.
The doors officially opened at 6 p.m. and people flocked in. There were appetizers and drinks, plus the Grumpy Rabbit demo with more wonderful food, and of course, SHOPPING! The event was from 6-9 p.m. We got to meet Paul Guess, and a more delightful host, you will not find.
He has been a boon to Des Arc, his hometown. He employs countless numbers of local students, and older residents, to help work the events. A nicer group of employees you will never see.
Customer service was amazing.
If you had a question, needed a new cart because your first one was overflowing (or lost), all you had to do was ask, and someone was there to help.
Once you checked out, they were right there to help carry your stuff to your car.
I need new decorations, like I need a hole in the head, but when has that ever stopped anyone? I found some great Halloween stuff, Christmas decorations, and gifts for others.
There were long lines at check-out,
but it went smoothly and everyone was in a festive mood, comparing what each other bought, and running back to find some more treasures. Not only were the staff members helpful and friendly, but so was the crowd. It was like one huge party. It may just be mid-October, but my holiday season officially started.
A newer addition to the warehouse is the TV studio set-up with a demo kitchen and stage.
Kyle, Zack and Gina did a great job representing the Grumpy Rabbit, with outstanding salsa and chips, stuffed mushrooms, and twice baked potato appetizers for us to sample. Then they did a live demo
on puff pastry stuffed with apples, bacon and blue cheese—they were incredible.
A live recorded demo was a first for the Grumpy Rabbit, and the first of live demos for the 2022 Christmas season at Guess and Company. They have a line up of special events for the next VIP nights.
While the VIP nights are sold out, the warehouse is open to the public from October 22 – December 4th from Wednesday – Sunday each week from 9 a.m. -6 p.m. If you like to decorate—you don’t want to miss this.