Christmas House Kicks Off Shopping Season

Rogers' Christmas House hosted an open house Saturday.

The store hosting such an event was meaningful for a couple reasons - it was the first kickoff celebration by the soon-to-be owner and hosting an open house seemed unlikely just a few weeks ago.

George Rodriguez has been employed at the store - located at 103 S. Saxon Ave. - since it was founded in 1972. He served as general manager under two of the previous owners and he currently is negotiating a purchase of the business and property.

"This has been wonderful," said Rodriguez's wife, Diane. "We have had more people today than we've had in quite a while."

Employees said more than 100 customers came through the front door by 1 p.m. Rodriguez chose Labor Day weekend to hose the open house because it was the end of the summer - and typically the start of the holiday shopping season.

The previous owner - Donna Jones - filed for bankruptcy in October 2007. The store was auctioned in the courthouse atrium in May and bought by the family of the original owner.

The villages were not loaded with the same amount of display items as in years past. The time for most of the ordering and stocking is December and January. It was during that time that Jones was having financial difficulties.

Secondly, suppliers were not getting paid. Some of them might have been turned off from doing business with Rogers' Christmas House again.

George Rodriguez has been dealing with all of that - as well as paying his employees the $53,000 that was owed to them in back payroll. He said he finished paying those debts a couple weeks ago.

"Our traffic has really picked up today," said sales associate Faye Petersen. "We're very encouraged. We'll be here for another 36 years, God willing."

On Saturday, the McKay family visited the store for the first time.

"I'm really glad this place is still open," said Pat McKay, who used to vacation in the area for years before her recent move. "It would have been sad if it had closed down."

Her son and daughter-in-law, Stephen and Amanda McKay, said Christmas retailers are common in Massachusetts, but none resemble the small-town feeling of Rogers'.

"This has more of a family feel to it," he said. "In Massachusetts, the stores are more corporate."

"This feels like you're walking into somebody's home," said his wife.