HOULTON, Maine — The owners of the Mini Music Shop along Houlton’s Main Street are getting a significant expansion.
Underneath the music store, a new shop is making its debut, featuring an assortment of goods such as Christmas decorations, barbecue grills, puzzles and horse supplies. The new store is being overseen by Holly McNally, but is part of the upstairs store run by Cheryl Lovely, and is named after her — Simply Lovely Gifts.
“It’s just a collection of many different things,” said McNally. “I’m trying to get a huge assortment of gifts, and so there are lower end things and there are higher end things.”
The music store on the first floor sells all types of musical instruments and related accessories, and has expanded its space over the years. But Lovely always had an interest in expanding to sell different kinds of gifts.
“I always liked Christmas stuff,” she said. “And then my brothers wanted me to get into the grilling stuff too. And then I still do the horse tack [supplies] because I have 15 horses.”
When the previous tenant moved out, Lovely began work on creating her new gift store.
The store held its open house on Oct. 16, showcasing its essential oils and gemstones, along with its Christmas wares. Lovely said she hopes the new store will pick up momentum when the holiday season rolls around in winter.
“We’re going to be offering free gift wrapping,” said Lovely. “A lot of people don’t do that anymore. We’ll be doing the free wrapping from now until Dec. 25.”
