SACRAMENTO, CA – Just in time for Halloween and the holiday shopping season, two new businesses have opened their doors in Old Sacramento.

SLIDESHOW: Old Sacramento Christmas Store

Christmas & Company and Chef’s Mercantile opened for business on Oct. 7 in the newly remodeled Ebner House and Empire Hotel located on K Street in Old Sacramento.

Christmas & Company is a year-round holiday shop that will specialize in Christmas decor, but will also feature elaborate displays for every holiday season.

“We will have Christmas decor up all year, but we will also have a year-round Halloween section too, then we will have a special display that changes with every holiday,” said store co-founder Mark Snyder.

Mark and his sister and co-founder Amy Guthrie already have several displays planned for Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, and Mardi Gras. The idea, according to Snyder, is to reach collectors of all seasonal holiday decor.

“People that collect Halloween or Christmas decor look for items all year long, so we think Old Sacramento will bring us a dedicated clientele,” Snyder said.

Guthrie and Snyder’s other business opening this week, Chef’s Mercantile, shares the building with Christmas & Company and is a full service cooking and kitchen store. The shop is also set to feature a coffee bar and cooking demonstration space sometime next year.

“Right now Chef’s Mercantile is open for business and we plan on having some small demonstrations during Christmas season, with the whole demonstration area open by next year,” said Guthrie.

The names Amy Guthrie and Mark Snyder may sound familiar. They are the children of longtime retailer William Snyder, who was one of the founders of William Glen specialty stores.

Snyder died in December 2009 and in September, William Glen announced after 47 years in business, it would be closing in 2011.

Guthrie and Snyder say their father’s influence has definitely played a part in branching out on their own and opening a holiday and cooking store in Old Sacramento.

“Christmas and cooking were our father’s two favorite things, they were a family tradition. We knew if we opened a store it had to incorporate those things,” said Snyder.

Christmas & Company and Chef’s Mercantile are open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and are located at 118 & 116 K Street in Old Town.

For more information go to www.candmerchants.com

By By Tish Palamidessi, tpalamidessi@news10.net

News10/KXTV

Today is March 25th.  It’s been about

We took some of our bird ornaments and flowers and hot glued them to a bleached manzanita branch to create a simple Easter Tree.

three months since the last official major holiday and nearly five months until itisn’t weird to start decorating for Halloween.  If you are anything like us, you have to agree that on Labor Day that flag is going up because in our family, Holidays are special and a reason to celebrate and decorate.  Spring, while fun for sun, outdoor grilling and swimming, can be bleak for the holiday die-hards. Easter offers some respite but there is a long haul until fall.

Some of our die-hard customers at Christmas & Co. leave their trees up year round and change them out for each month’s holidays.  We asked one of my customers “what about April, May, June? What do you do during these months?  What does the tree look like in August?”  The reply: “Come on! The garden, Mother’s Day, Easter, Independence Day? Spring and summer mean the outdoors, the garden the grill anything you want. My tree looks like whatever the calendar says”.

This table was created for Independence Day and shows the patriotic spirit we feel on July Fourth and everyday!

Clearly, we missed the answer right in front of us.  When we decorate for the holidays, whether it’s Halloween, Christmas or Easter, we decorate in the way we love, a way that speaks to us.  Spring and summer, they mean something different to us all.  So we thought about it: vacations, the kids and extended family, friends, long-lost friends, the yard.  There are plenty of ways to celebrate the non-traditional holiday months.

The key is – take those things and decorate around them.  Tree or not, in the coming months we will be discussing different aspects of the holidays and as we get closer to our big holidays we will be sharing more of our personal, favorite ways to celebrate.  In turn, we would also love to hear your stories about the holidays and see the way you deck your halls or BBQ.  Write to us, sends us videos or photos. Let us know what you love and how you celebrate everyday!