From left to right: Karen Kennedy, Firefly Craft Gallery; Suzanne Camarata, The Gallery at Flat Rock, Kelli Spector, Dogwood, and Virginia Spigener, The Wrinkled Egg.

Thanks to the dedication and passion of four women entrepreneurs, our small village of Flat Rock is blessed with unusually diverse and intriguing options for holiday shopping. Within the space of a short walk in downtown Flat Rock, shoppers will find an enchanting assortment of crafts, apparel, jewelry, gifts, fine art, and warm smiles as they seek out that perfect gift for the special people in their lives.

The intrepid quartet of savvy businesswomen includes Virginia Spigener, owner of The Wrinkle Egg; Suzanne Camarata owner of The Gallery at Flat Rock, Karen Kennedy, proprietor of Firefly Craft Gallery; and Kelli Spector, the owner of Dogwood. Collectively, these four women have turned Flat Rock into a must-visit destination for area residents and visitors seeking a refreshing departure from shopping in big box stores or online. A quick tour of the four shops will quickly remind you of the nostalgic pleasures of an unhurried personal shopping experience that doesn’t involve Google searches and clicks to purchase.

It will involve, however, a warm welcome and an impressive area of gift options for the upcoming holiday season. In short, it’s an old-fashioned - and thoroughly enjoyable - holiday shopping experience.

The Wrinkled Egg
Virginia Spigener opened The Wrinkled Egg three decades ago and has firmly established her business as the iconic anchor of a bustling Little Rainbow Row - a far cry from when she first opened her store in 1990 in a part of Flat Rock she remembers as “desolate.”

Today, downtown Flat Rock is anything but desolate. Thanks in large part to the efforts of visionaries like Virginia, area residents and visitors can now spend a pleasant day exploring the many charms of Flat Rock - shopping, dining, theaters, and the pleasures of local parks.

The Wrinkled Egg offers a delightfully eclectic mix of gift ideas. Everything in the store has been carefully curated by an owner with an experienced sense of style and an eye for items that will enchant her customers. The variety of offerings include original seasonal items, folk art, vintage treasures, beautiful women's clothing, local pottery, fun stuff for kids, and much more.

As much as anything, The Wrinkled Egg offers a glimpse into the heart of an owner who remains, after three decades, passionate about finding the perfect gift for her customers. “I love helping people connect with something new and different to give somebody,” says Virginia. “To me, a gift is not just a gift. It's something that the customer wants to give of themselves.”

Virginia loves the holiday season and this year is even more special in her opinion. “I love it when it's busy,” she says with a smile. And her customers seem just as happy. “People are itching to be back to normal.” She also embraces the benefit of having other shopping options just outside her front door. “It's great because it makes Flat Rock a destination. There’s a host of different things to do and places to shop. That’s good for all of us.”

Open Seven Days a Week
10-5
Sundays 12-5
www.thewrinkledegg.com

The Gallery at Flat Rock

Suzanne Camarata stumbled across her future gallery space on a cold and snowy February day in 2014. Upon crossing the threshold of the former cafeteria for Flat Rock High School, Suzanne knew she had to bring the space back to life. “I took one look in that space and said 'I want to rent it. I don't know what I will do with it, but I want to rent it.’”

Over the course of the next seven years, The Gallery at Flat Rock has evolved into one of western North Carolina’s premier art galleries. The Gallery represents nearly 50 artists from throughout the region and their talents are beautifully displayed in a warm gallery full of natural light and almost unimaginable creativity and artistic skills.

The holiday season is especially enjoyable for Suzanne and she doesn’t mind the extra hours often involved in running a retail business in December. “I like seeing people around the holidays, and this is a nice way to do it. I really enjoy it.”

Suzanne thinks her holiday customers have a different mindset than during the normal course of the year. Shoppers are typically buying smaller and more personal items for one person as opposed to purchasing larger ticket items for the home. Several items, in particular, are popular this time of the year. “Definitely wearables such as jewelry, clothes, and accessories like scarves. Smaller items like vases and our ceramic and wood pieces are very popular.”

Suzanne is very happy to be a part of the shopping scene in a small village like Flat Rock. “It's got that small-town feel, but you still have people coming in from all over the country and even the world. That makes it really interesting and special.” She also enjoys the camaraderie that has developed with the other Flat Rock businesses. “We refer our customers to each other all the time. Our businesses are all different enough that we feel comfortable working together. It’s really a community as opposed to a competition.”

Hours:
Tues-Sat 11-4
Sun 12-4
www.galleryflatrock.com

Firefly Craft Gallery

When Karen Kennedy and her husband Mike moved to Flat Rock in 2012, she began thinking of how she might capitalize on her life-long love of antiques and her dream of one day owning her own business. Then one day, Karen noticed that there was a commercial space available for rent next to the Flat Rock Post Office. Six years later, that space houses Firefly Craft Gallery and has attracted an ever-growing cadre of repeat customers. Karen’s shop is packed full of local crafts and artwork and it has become a go-to destination for shoppers looking for unique gifts and decor.

Karen is most proud of her collection of items that are handmade in America as well as her knack for finding things that you don't see everywhere else. She is also committed to selling only the items that appeal to her. “I only carry the things that I really love. It's hard for me to sell something if I don't really like it.

Like her friends at the other shops, Karen enjoys the holiday season for reasons beyond just the increase in business. “I just like seeing my customers. I call them friends. Seeing my old customers that I haven't seen for a while is just a lot of fun. And I just love helping them find that special gift that they can't find anywhere else.”

Karen has warm feelings for her fellow Flat Rock Merchants. “I love the other merchants who are around here. We help each other. If I don't have it, I send them over to Suzanne's. If she doesn't have it, she sends them over to Dogwood or The Wrinkled Egg. I just want my customers to be happy.”

Certainly, for many Flat Rock shoppers, that happiness can be found at Firefly Craft Gallery.

Hours:
Tuesday - Saturday 11-4pm
First three Sundays of December 12-3pm
www.fireflycraftgallery.com

Dogwood

In 2017, Starr Teel was happily creating another new business on Rainbow Row by setting up a small gift shop nestled between The Wrinkled Egg and what was soon to become the Honey and Salt restaurant. Starr’s wife and Kelli Spector had been high school classmates and Starr reached out to Kelli to develop branding for the new venture and help create the feel for the store. That arrangement morphed into a business partnership and when Starr, an inveterate serial entrepreneur, embarked on a new venture, he turned Dogwood over to Kelli.

She recognizes Flat Rock as the special place it is for a store like hers. “This whole area is just really special. The restaurants and all the shops. Each one of us has a different personality and offering. It’s just a really special place to have a shop.”

Dogwood’s variety of unique gifts and home and garden items reflect Kelli’s love of whimsy and humor. It would be hard to spend more than a minute or two in her shop without smiling if not laughing out loud. And the smiles are in abundance at Dogwood during the holiday season according to Kelli. “Our customers are definitely in a holiday mood,” she says. “It's fun to see.”

Dogwood has actually been preparing for the holiday rush since mid-October when Kelli switched out her inventory to her Christmas offerings. “This is our fourth Christmas season,” explains Kelli. “I think the store really gets people in the spirit of the holidays.”

Kelli echos the congenial sentiments of her peers in Flat Rock. She even credits one of them for helping to get her started. “Virginia helped me figure out what I was doing my first time at market. Now I make it a point to go to the other shops so I can refer customers to them if we don’t have what they need.” She flashes a big smile and adds, “That’s how it works here in Flat Rock.”

Store Hours
Mon - Thur 11-4
Fri-Sat 10-5
Sundays 10-3
https://dogwoodofflatrocknc.business.site/