The Shop Hop

Greenville had a shopping extravaganza last Saturday and Laura was fortunate to be visiting me at the time so she was able to join me.  The merchants called is a Shop Hop.  Shoppers were encouraged to go to all of the seven merchants participating in the Shop Hop so that our names could be entered in the drawing for the grand prize of $400 in store gift cards.  Some guy won the grand prize but Laura and I had fun anyway.

Pepin's Country Store, which sold gifts, antiques and gourmet food, piqued Laura's interest because of the buildings historical significance.  This building was the third jail in Greenville's history and the only recorded hanging in the entire county took place behind this building.  The owner even highlighted the wood cell door and key ring within the building.  

Another highlight of our day was our visit to Watson's Drug Store.  They carry Hallmark items as well as typical drug store stuff.  We enjoyed browsing the gift selection and the many sale items.  Laura found the perfect serving platter for us to use at the pond.  Since s'mores are one of our favorite desserts during the summer, I had to agree with her.  A special s'more serving platter is almost a necessity.   

The Watson's sales clerks really got into the theme.  They said it was a 'sock' hop and decided to come to work dressed in 50 style leather jackets and sweater sets.  What was fun about that is that some of their clothing items like the cat eye glasses were items that they had actually worn in the 50's and saved.  

Probably our favorite store was Nzuri Boutique which sold women's and children's clothes.  Laura and I both bought some tops there.  

Two of the seven shops had just opened in Greenville in recent months so I was glad to get a chance to check them out and make some local purchases.  Also one of the seven shops was Adam's Brothers coffee shop.  Since I love coffee and shopping it was a foregone conclusion that I was going to have a good time at this shop hop.  

It turned out that Laura had a good time too.  This probably had something to do with the fact that five of the seven stores were located within walking distance of the town square.  This meant we could shop all seven stores very efficiently.  Since Laura's shopping attention span is very short, we were able to conclude our shopping before she got cranky, I mean, lost interest.    

There are rumors that this shop hop was so successful for the seven local merchants that they are planning to do it again in the fall and maybe even more merchants will join them.  If they have it, I will come.