CityView Magazine

business Christmas Past A family operated store in Fayetteville ing in sprawling lines at electron- ics stores. But for nearly half a century, a cozy business on Cumberland Road has offered shoppers a gentle, nostal- gic alternative to the big box holiday experience, an achievement that brings Christmas Wonderland (formerly Par- nell's Christmas Wonderland) owner Ruby Hood tremendous pride. "There's not a lot of personal interac- I tion [at other stores]," Hood said. "You pick what you want, you take it to the register and someone rings you out. But we offer that personal touch; a one-on- one relationship with our customers. I think that's an art and I'm afraid that a lot of companies are getting away from that," she said. David Parnell founded the Christ- 26 | Food & Wine • 2011 mas-themed store with his wife in 1965 and soon-aſter the business became one of Fayetteville's must-visit holiday at- tractions. Aſter several successful years running the store beside her husband, Mrs.Parnell fell ill and David, realizing that the shop was too great of an under- taking to handle by his lonesome, ap- proached the Hoods about purchasing the business in 1988. Ruby and her then-husband, Carl, were reluctant at first, but aſter three years of consideration they became re- ligiously inspired. "We prayed about it and felt compelled by the Holy Spirit to buy the store," she said. Not wanting to run the risk of alienat- ing the generations of shoppers who had grown accustomed to the look and feel of Wonderland, the Hoods smartly decided not to stray from the Parnells' original model. In fact, the store's homey atmos- phere and relative absence of modern t's a tragic reality that many locals will spend the bulk of their holiday season idling in endless traffic jams or stand- takes shoppers back to simpler times BY JAYMIE BAXLEY technology suggest that precious little has changed over the past 46 years. To the leſt of the shop's entrance stands a wall of silky ribbons and sta- tionery, and a cash register from which an alternating member of the Hood clan cheerfully welcomes incoming custom- ers. According to Hood, Wonderland is a family effort through-and-through, with each member contributing some- thing to the business, from arranging wreaths to dressing trees. To the right of the entrance, beyond a pair of candy-stripped columns, is a lobby area filled with Christmas trees. Impressive as the surrounding trees are, the centerpiece of this veritable "for- est" — a staggering, 10-foot tall pine — warrants a special mention. Walking through this section of Wonderland, it comes as little surprise to learn that the Hood family ran a successful garden business for twenty years prior to their

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