Come In and Know Me Better, Man

When my brother, Brenton, first approached me about opening a Christmas store I thought he was joking.  He had driven 9 hours from Raleigh to New York City the day before to pick up me, my husband Ben, and our 6-month-old Bulldog Humphrey for the Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays. 

We were halfway through the drive back to Raleigh when he announced his idea while Humphrey and Ben snored in the backseat.  I assumed it was another spur of the moment idea from him.  After all, his wife, Alana was 8 months pregnant with twins and we were in the middle of a holiday season that was shaping up to be unlike any we’d experienced courtesy of Covid-19.  It hardly seemed like the opportune time to start a new business.  I was wrong.  He was completely serious.  Not long after their twins were born and settled into a routine, we started the process of setting up Beth’s.  We spent the better part of 2 months on nightly video calls that lasted hours.  The website and products you see when you visit were truly a labor of love and a family affair right down to the 2 newest members of our family.  When it came time to come up with a name, Brenton had it right away: Beth’s.  A way to honor our late Mother. 

Brenton and I come by our love of Christmas honestly.  It was a gift from our Mom and store’s namesake, Beth.  Decking our home each year was a marathon weekend of sparkle, tinsel, laughter, arguments, baubles, and pine needles as Darlene Love’s “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” blared from the speakers.  The following weeks would fill our home with the smell of Frasier fir intertwining with cinnamon and vanilla cookies in the oven.  The warm glow of the lights on the tree and mantel replaced the table lamps as Mom, Brenton, and I quoted Rankin and Bass’ Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (verbatim) to each other while our Dad wondered aloud why we recorded and watched it each year if we knew it by heart.  Now, without our Chief Elf Christmas looks and feels a bit different; Darlene Love still accompanies us, but so does our Mom’s memory.   

We believe that life is short, and holidays should be celebrated and shared with loved ones.  In that spirit, over the next 16 weeks we’ll be sharing stories of Christmases past from Ben, Alana, and our family—some funny, some sweet, some poignant.  We hope these stories allow you to get to know our family and team a bit better and that you feel our love for the holidays and celebrations through them.  We invite you to share stories of your own families and holiday seasons past in the comments so we can learn more about you as well!   

Welcome to our countdown to the holiday season; and most importantly, welcome to Beth’s! 

We’re glad to have you with us, 

Kendall and all of us at Beth’s Christmas