FIVE FACTS

FIVE FACTS The

Chrstmas Shop

The Christmas Shop on Roanoke Island, circa 1967. Photo courtesy of Edward Greene.

While a white Christmas might not always be in the

cards on the Outer Banks, there’s at least one spot that still celebrates the wintery holiday year-round – and it’s been doing so for more than a half-decade now. Known to most as The Christmas Shop, the sprawling store located right off 2 Not So Humble Beginnings Few locals and visitors alike are unfamiliar with the name Highway 64 isn’t just another shopping establishment, it’s an Edward Greene…and for good reason. experience, and many vacationers claim their trip wouldn’t be The man who inspired The Christmas complete without a stop at the relatively unassuming-looking Shop wasn’t content with establishing red building in Manteo. But beyond the bright (holiday) lights, just one business, so he branched out in a number of directions – including starting there are at least a few things you might not know about one two local newspapers, The Outer Banks of the Outer Banks’ most iconic retail fixtures. Current and The Outer Banks Sentinel. Along with his fellow Lost Colony alum Andy Griffith, architect and artist David BY KATRINA MAE LEUZINGER Stick, and famed local businessman George Crocker, Greene was also a founder of the Outer Banks Community 1 Lights, Camera, Christmas New York transplant Edward Greene fell in love with the Outer Banks when he was here dancing in The Lost Colony alongside actor Andy Griffith in 1953. Back then, the fledgling tourism 3 Foundation – a nonprofit dedicated to fostering charitable giving that still exists to this day. Eleven Times a Charm Although The Christmas Shop might have started out small, that didn’t last long. In 1967, Greene and his business partner industry was just getting started, and lacking the Richard Lacerre purchased a second building that aptitude for farming or fishing, Greene wasn’t quite was once an old World War II mess hall and had it sure how to make a year-round living here. One hauled over to their lot from Airport Road on the thing he did know a lot about though was Christmas north end of Roanoke Island. And they didn’t stop decorations – a skillset he picked up in the city where there. Over the years, Greene and Lacerre purchased he once worked as a decorator in between dancing nine other buildings that they connected a bit like gigs. Armed with the idea, Greene invested in a lot Lego pieces – until The Christmas Shop eventually with a small wooden building for about $10,000 in evolved into the 25,000-square-foot interconnected 1964 and never looked back. maze of holiday-themed rooms it is today. 4 It’s the Inside that Counts With an eye for the aesthetic, Greene and Lacerre also painstakingly crafted each room in The Christmas Shop to heighten the shopper’s experience. Brightly colored paint adorned the walls in some rooms, while others sported quilts, tin siding, shingles and fabric, or – in true Outer Banks fashion – lumber that had washed up on the beach. Traditional merchandise display racks were also passed over in favor of antique furniture, including a baker’s table from the 1840s. And when the old Manns Harbor general store and movie theater was slated for destruction, the partners sought to preserve it by moving the whole front façade to its new home inside The Christmas Shop.

5Hard to Say Goodbye A “Closed Forever” sign was first posted on the front door of The Christmas Shop in 2006, prompting a flood of heartbroken letters, phone calls and emails from loyal customers who couldn’t bear to see the store go. Only two years later they got their wish – lacking a buyer during that time, Greene and Lacerre reopened the doors and started buying new antique displays to replenish the ones they had auctioned off. A decade later the shop briefly closed again and reopened under new management in 2016 – allowing Greene to retire at the age of 90 with a list of 90 things he planned to do in retirement, including “start a new dance craze” and “enjoy being a sex symbol.”

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Ray Meiggs Broker Associate

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