Christmas In Blowing Rock

Some retailer relationships last a season. Others become part of your story.

This month, we are especially proud to recognize A Perfect Present by Christmas in Blowing Rock as our Retailer of the Month—a relationship that has been part of The Nola Watkins Collection for more than 30 years.

Our story with Christmas in Blowing Rock began all the way back in 1995, when Milt and Sue Thompson became one of our very first wholesale customers.

At the time, The Nola Watkins Collection was still a young family business. Nola and Bill were building the Collection one ornament, one retailer, and one customer at a time. The support of independent shop owners like Milt and Sue meant more than simply placing an order—it helped introduce Nola's hand-painted ornaments to families far beyond our little corner of Virginia.

Nestled along Main Street in the beautiful mountain town of Blowing Rock, North Carolina, Christmas in Blowing Rock has spent decades helping visitors celebrate the magic of Christmas and take home a little piece of the mountains with them.

A Blowing Rock Tradition

There is something special about walking through downtown Blowing Rock, particularly during the Christmas season.

The storefronts glow with lights, wreaths line the streets, and the entire town seems to capture the feeling of an old-fashioned mountain Christmas. In the middle of it all sits Christmas in Blowing Rock—a shop filled from floor to ceiling with ornaments, gifts, keepsakes, and treasures waiting to become part of someone's family traditions.

For many visitors, a stop inside has become part of the Blowing Rock experience itself.

And for more than three decades, Nola Watkins ornaments have been part of that experience.

From Milt and Sue to Felicia

One of the things we treasure most about this relationship is the continuity behind it.

For many years, Felicia worked alongside Milt and Sue, learning the business, getting to know its customers, and becoming an important part of the Christmas in Blowing Rock family.

When the time eventually came for Milt and Sue to pass the business on, Felicia took over ownership—allowing the store and the traditions they had built to continue in the hands of someone who already knew and loved them.

Today, we have the pleasure of working with Felicia just as Nola and Bill once worked with Milt and Sue.

For us, that makes this relationship particularly meaningful.

Businesses change. Generations change. Products change. But when relationships are built on trust, friendship, and a shared appreciation for what small businesses bring to their communities, they can endure for decades.

More Than a Retailer

At The Nola Watkins Collection, independent retailers have been at the heart of our business since the very beginning.

These are the shops where customers wander in, discover something they weren't necessarily looking for, and leave carrying a gift or keepsake that may remain in their family for generations.

Christmas in Blowing Rock has been one of those places for us since 1995.

More than 30 years later, our ornaments are still hanging on their walls, still being discovered by visitors to the mountains, and still finding their way onto Christmas trees across the country.

There aren't many business relationships that span that kind of time.

We don't take it for granted.

To Milt and Sue, thank you for believing in The Nola Watkins Collection so many years ago and for becoming part of our story when we were just getting started.

And to Felicia and the Christmas in Blowing Rock team, thank you for continuing that relationship, supporting American-made and hand-painted work, and carrying forward a wonderful Blowing Rock tradition.

We are incredibly grateful to have grown alongside you.

It is our privilege to name A Perfect Present by Christmas in Blowing Rock our Retailer of the Month.

Visit Christmas in Blowing Rock

If your travels take you to the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains, be sure to stop in and experience Christmas in Blowing Rock for yourself.

A Perfect Present by Christmas in Blowing Rock
1125 Main Street
Blowing Rock, North Carolina

And when you visit, be sure to look for the wall of hand-painted Nola Watkins ornaments and find the one that tells your Blowing Rock story.