Merry mall: Old Towne North building filled with Christmas spirit

La Crosse Tribune, Dec 16, 2002 by Cahalan, Steve

It's obvious which holiday is only a week away, at the Old World Christmas Mall at 1217 Caledonia St. in the Old Towne North area in La Crosse.

The crafts and gifts mall opened April 1, and so far has 25 vendors, who rent spaces from mall operator Ken Barker. Barker, who also sells some of his own merchandise, in turn leases from the building's owner.

Barker estimated Christmas-related items - such as wreaths, Santa figurines, stockings and ornaments account for about half of the merchandise on display in the mall during the holiday season. They account for about 25 percent of the merchandise during the rest of the year.

"We're not just Christmas now," Barker said. "We're open yearround. But the whole thing is really about the Christmas spirit. We're trying to keep that year-round."

The mall also has two major exhibits, including the Old World Christmas exhibit that Darlene Mueller and Ed Gittens created a few years ago, depicting scenes from Charles Dickens' classic "A Christmas Carol."

The other is the European Model Railroad Exhibit, depicting scenes from several World War II-related movies such as "The Sound of Music. It's owned by Greg and Joan Brake and was built by Greg and his brothers, Barker said.

The Old World Christmas exhibit and a half-dozen vendors mostly artists - were open only during the Christmas season for three years, before Barker decided to make it a year-round destination.

The mall opened April 1 with 10 vendors. "But vendor demand has been such that we've created more spaces," Barker said. "By June, we were moving people upstairs." The vendors now occupy rooms - and hallways - on the building's first and second floors.

The merchandise in the mall ranges from toys to collectibles, farm-related hats and signs, apparel, antiques, floral arrangements, honey and beeswax products, and wood crafts.

If more vendors want in the mall, it may expand further into the building, Barker said. The building has many rooms, and housed the Sletten Furniture store until that business closed in 1981.

Barker, his wife, Judy, and some of the vendors staff the front desk and keep the mall clean.

"We do a tremendous amount of business with tourists in the spring and summer," Barker said. "We've had tourists from Germany, France and England." And passengers on the Delta Queen Steamboat Co.'s big boats sometimes stop at the mall and other Old Towne North stores during bus trips, while the boats are docked at Riverside Park.

Classes from local schools also have stopped at the mall during field trips. "The exhibits are interesting for them," Barker said of students.

Most of the "locals" who shop at the mall live within 50 miles of La Crosse, he estimated.

Shoppers enjoy being able to shop at the mall and other Old Towne North shops, Barker said. "And they can go to The Sweet Shop for ice cream or candy, and to the Maid-Rite for lunch," he said.

Tod and Carol Wilson, owners of Toys to Treasures of rural Holmen, Wis., expanded their Internet-based collectibles and toys business in April to include an outlet in the Old World Christmas Mall. Tod said the couple started the business in 1997. Their Web site is www.toystotressures.com.

"The opening of the showrooms at Caledonia Street has been a very positive move for us," Tod said. "Sales have been better every month. It's been profitable from the start."

The Wilsons, who operate the Internet part of the business from their home, have merchandise in four rooms and a display window at the mall.

Besides running the mall, Barker sells some of his own merchandise there - such as handcrafted jewelry, incense, novelty T-shirts, American Indian figurines, wallets and Christmas-related optics figures such as Santa. For the past three years, he also has sold those items at flea markets and festivals in the spring and summer. He plans to continue doing that, as time allows.

Barker, who was raised in La Crosse and La Crescent, Minn., has been selling things for about 40 years. "I've sold everything from hardware to paint to sporting goods," he said. "And I had my own carpet store for awhile."

He most enjoys "Meeting people. And the challenge of making this a success for all the vendors."