Seasonal finds

View larger image David Lassiter’s store, E. Pearl’s, on King Street in Strasburg, offers seasonal decorations, but Lassiter focuses more attention on decorating at Christmastime. — Rich Cooley/Daily View larger image A Christmas ornament David Lassiter made hangs from a mantle in the store. — Rich Cooley/Daily View larger image Lassiter makes festive arrangements. — Rich Cooley/Daily View larger image The outside of Lassiter’s shop along West King Street in Strasburg previews what shoppers will find inside. — Rich Cooley/Daily

Strasburg gift shop attracts customers with sidewalk display

By Jessica Wiant -- jwiant@nvdaily.com

STRASBURG -- For most people who drive or even walk through Strasburg on any kind of regular basis, it's probably known merely as the place with all the stuff on the sidewalk.
Shopkeeper David Lassiter, however, assures that his store does, in fact, have a name: He calls it E. Pearl's, after his grandmother.

Inside, the eye-catching combination of plastic gourds and silk flowers, grapevine wreathes, rustic furniture and antiques that spill out onto the sidewalk is multiplied. The sheer volume of merchandise -- of gift baskets, ornaments, uniquely decorated Christmas trees -- coupled with the exposed-log interior and fireplace give the store an even more whimsical feel than what is hinted at on the outside.

"I'm the best kept secret on Main Street," Lassiter said, confessing that most people don't catch the name of his store at 188 W. King Street or venture in.

The truth is, there's plenty more to look at inside the building than there is out, but, Lassiter says, as much as 70 percent of his sales come right "off the front porch."

"It draws them in," he said. "It brings them back to Strasburg."

Those who do come in are very much surprised at the range of quality he offers, he says, from candles to 18th-century mirrors.

Lassiter opened the store in April and is gearing up for the holidays by planning on having 75 to 100 fully finished Christmas trees on display and for sale for an open house the first weekend of December. He hopes to feature themed open houses each month, and offer things like gardening classes or even sessions with a watercolor artist in the future.

"In this economic time trying to get a shop going is ... fun," he says. "I'm encouraged by it. It's slow, but coming."

His history with the building goes way back. Lassiter operated David and Sara's with business partner Sara Davis several years ago before closing it to work more out of antique malls. He just about had something ready to re-open, he says, when a fire did severe damage to the building in February 2008.

Following the fire, Lassiter has done major renovations to the building, known to many as the Snapp House and reputed to have been built in 1740, according to Lassiter.
"Everything was just in a sodden heap," he says.

After years of work, however, the upstairs, formerly an apartment, now features a more open floor plan for store space. The original log beams downstairs are now visible, as well as a fireplace. New hardwood floors have been installed as well.

He was hoping to open the shop before the holiday season last year, but a series of personal events prevented the opening until April.

Now, one Christmas tree in the shop boasts an unusual garden theme, featuring pine cones, clay pots, tiny birdhouses and garden spades. Another has a teddy bear theme, and another features pears and pine cones. A wreath nearby contains a mini-muffin pan and cheese grater. Gift baskets feature mugs and cocoa or bath towels and soaps. Books line shelves in many places. Mixed in are antique turkey platters, plastic and ceramic gourds and pumpkins, photo prints, individual ornaments, live plants and much more. It's "a mixture of everything," he says.

"A lot of people come in again and again ... just for inspiration," Lassiter says.

The store space currently takes up two stories, and Lassiter plans to open up a third, as well as extend the store into the room next door in the near future.

Lassiter says what is available changes daily. He is constantly rearranging and creating, as well as bringing in items from other local artists. It's what he's always done, he says, whether it was decorating the church with his grandmother, the store's namesake, or doing floral arrangements or gardening. He expresses things in his decorating that many times others don't see, he says, like putting butterflies or grapes on a Christmas tree.

"It's always been a God-given talent for me," he says, "and that's what I attribute it to."
The store, too, is more than just being about making a living for Lassiter. He said he wants to encourage others, both by showing them that running your own business is possible and by giving people a place to get their mind off their problems.

"I think that's important," he said, whether that place is in a greenhouse or while shopping for a present for a friend.

While the store is seasonal, focusing on each one as it passes and more on gardening in the spring, perhaps Christmas is a particularly important time for a store like Lassiter's.

"Christmas is the time of hope," he said. "The main reason we're doing this store is to be encouraging that everything is not gloom and doom," he said.

That's one of the reasons behind his sidewalk displays, as well, which he said have gotten more complaints than compliments.

The fact that Strasburg is a safe town, where he can trust that the things he leaves outside 24/7 will be safe, is one of the reasons he has stayed here, he said.

"That itself is a great statement about Strasburg," he said.

"I feel like small towns are dying," he adds, but Strasburg has that hometown feeling and great values, he says.

"All is not lost. There's still a lot to be gained," he says.

He said E. Pearl's is his way of contributing.

"It's all I have to offer," he says. "I want people to see that life goes on, and can look nice -- and be affordable."

E. Pearl's is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, call 247-0929 or look up E. Pearl's on Facebook.