Onion Creek Offers One Of A Kind Gifts

FARMINGTON -- The new Onion Creek House of Gifts on Main Street is more than a typical gift shop. To owner Leah Williamson, the experience of being in the store is just as important as helping a customer find that perfect gift.

Jazz music, fragrance from burning scented candles and beautiful surroundings all come together to provide a place of relaxation, peace and fun, Williamson says.

That's what Williamson loves about owning a specialty gift shop. She is able to meet new people and many times, these people become regular customers or just regular visitors to the store.

"For us, when people have a place they can go in where there's music, it smells good and things are pretty, they can just for a minute, release and people need that," she said. "I've found that it's blessed many people and I feel like we're offering something there. I'm grateful we have that."

Onion Creek House of Gifts is packed with antiques, interior decorative items, unique jewelry and custom made gifts.

"What sets us apart is that we have special one of a kind items," Williamson. "We carry certain lines and hand select all our pieces."

The store, located at 183 W. Main St., has been open about two months. It is open 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Monday-Friday and 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Saturday. It is closed Sundays. Phone number is 479-267-0026.

Williamson opened her first gift shop 10 years ago in Baton Rouge, La., and was looking for a name for her store. She grew up on Onion Creek in Madison County and had just returned from visiting her daughter in northwest Arkansas.

Using Onion Creek as the name made sense, she said.

"I needed a little piece of home, a piece of my soul," she said.

She and her husband, Nolan, later moved to northwest Arkansas and she opened another Onion Creek gift shop in Fayetteville but quickly outgrew the space. They wanted a new place with character and personality and when they walked into the building in Farmington, she said she loved it and knew instantly, "This was it."

Her business card describes the store as antiques, interiors, jewelry and gifts. She said it is not a flea market but is a shop with many special product lines.

One of her favorite lines is called Grandmother's Buttons.

"I love her work," Williamson said.

The jewelry, which includes earrings and necklaces, is made from antique buttons, most 60-120 years old.

"She travels the world to find buttons," Williams said.

The shop's candle line, Pickwick and Co. Candles, uses candles made of pure oil that burn clean and wonderful, Williamson said.

"They are $24.99 and you really get your money's worth out of them."

Her jewelry at the shop includes designer pieces and simple, less expensive items. Other fashion lines include head bands that can be used everyday or as part of bridal attire.

Williams said she selects items that she is passionate about and loves.

"If we would use it in our home, I know someone out there wants the same thing," Williamson said.

Home decor includes vintage, antiques and new items. Some of the specialty pieces are from New Orleans.

Williamson loves her new building because it has separate rooms that she has made available to local vendors and artists. These vendors also create unique, one of a kind items for customers, such as handmade aprons and chalkboards.

"Our vendors work so hard to do such gorgeous, beautiful custom work," Williamson said.

Another reason she loves the building, she said, is because of its history. She's learned that a small section was Farmington's first Post Office in the 1800s. Another section was a general store in 1930. The building has been added to over the years. She plans to create a small museum area to share with customers about the history of the building.

Other future plans include an area with kitchenware, a bridal registry, a gallery wall for local artists to display their work, knocking out walls to enlarge the gift shop's main area and a baby's room. The baby's room will come first because Williamson is expecting her first grandchild in November.

"We want to be able to showcase the local artists' work and become the gift shop for Farmington," Williamson said. "We just want to give to the community, whether it's a custom gift or a quick pickup so people do not have to go into Fayetteville."

To find out more about Onion Creek House of Gifts, go to www.onioncreekhouseofgifts.com or the shop's Facebook page. Both sites provide many photos from the gift store.