Jolly Christmas Shop Coming to Downtown Loganville

A new shop is coming to downtown Loganville called The Jolly Christmas Shop. 

Opened online in 2012, The Jolly Christmas Shop sells a variety of holiday items such as blow molds, trees, decorations, garland and collectibles. Owned by 28-year-old Conyers woman Meghan Nicholas, the shop will have a grand opening the weekend of Sept. 27. 

Nichols spoke with Loganville-Grayson Patch about her new storefront and what locals can expect from the shop. 

Loganville-Grayson Patch: Are you the primary owner, or do you own the business with someone else?

Meghan Nichols: No, I'm the primary owner. My sister owns a business, I own a business, my parents have always owned businesses, so I guess it's kind of second nature to do that. It's fun!

Patch: Do you have another location for The Jolly Christmas Shop? 

Nichols: This is our only location, but we have an online [store]. We kind of stumbled upon this location. We were looking for a warehouse because last year was the first year for our online store, and it was doing really well. I was driving down the street and saw this for rent and out of curiosity, we were just going to use this for a place to store stuff. I got a good deal on the rent, so I figured, why not just [set up shop] here, kind of last-minute? 

Patch: Is the shop here only for the season? 

Nichols: Right now, we're going to say seasonally, but if it does really well and I think that we should be open year-round, then I will be. I also have to see how much product we have left because the problem with Christmas stuff is you put your order in once a year, you get your product and that's it. It's not like clothes or something; you can't get it throughout the year. 

Patch: What inspired you to get into the Christmas business? 

Nichols: My family is so into Christmas that I've always grown up around it. I love Christmas. When it gets to September, I always get excited that Christmas is close. I started [the business with the mindset of], "Why don't I do this? It would be a fun job!" It did well, so I stuck with it. I guess they say do what you love and things work out.

Patch: What are the different types of products you have? 

Nichols: In a nutshell, everything Christmas. We have stockings, lights, trees, animated decorations, outdoor decorations, ornaments, collectibles such as Department 56 houses, garland, wreaths... We have a lot of vintage stuff, like from the 50s, 60s era. I really love it, like the tinsel trees, the bubble lights.

Patch: Do you make any of your items?  

Nichols: I get them from wholesalers. I try to find a lot of different people that other people don't go to, because it's so easy to get what everybody else finds, but I try to find [merchandise] outside the box. I'm always searching for cooler stuff. 

I start shopping for products in January. It's kind of weird because Christmas is over, but you're going to these showrooms and everything is Christmas. Right now, they're trying to get us to buy Easter stuff. 

Patch: Do you sell Easter products, too?

Nichols: We did last year on the website, and it did pretty well. We're mainly Halloween and Christmas because there's not a lot to find in Easter stuff. Not a lot of people sell it.  

Patch: What are some of your favorite items in the store? 

Nichols: We have these little Santa statues. I love the bubble lights, blow molds, and also the Luminara candles. They look so real. But I like everything we have because I pick everything. I buy the stuff that I would put in my house! 

The Jolly Christmas Shop will have a grand opening the weekend of Sept. 27 at 263 Main Street in Loganville. Their hours are Tuesday-Friday from 11 a.m.-6:30 p.m., Saturday from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday from noon-5 p.m. Holiday hours will be extended. Their phone number is 770-680-6634. Visit them online at www.thejollychristmasshop.com.