InBox | 09/13/10

Garden Ridge in Aurora

Good news for Chicagoland crafters and holiday decorating fiends: Garden Ridge will open its second area location in Aurora (a Schaumburg outpost was unveiled in early August) on September 17. Calling his company’s sprawling (at least 100,000-square feet!) superstores “the Forever 21 of home décor,” Garden Ridge CEO Tom Kibarian says its aisles of mass-produced ornaments, candles, faux botanicals (see above), and party supplies are meant to be used and enjoyed, and discarded. As someone who grew up a few miles from a Garden Ridge and knows a thing or two about the longevity of bedazzled poinsettias purchased there, I can tell you he’s right. Shopped selectively, though, the Texas-based retailer offers up gems that can quickly spruce up a dinner table for a one-night-only theme party. Or if your sister happens to own a boutique (like mine does), you can grab an orange cart, race through the store filling it with gold glitter feathers, glass ornaments and a 7-foot, pre-lit iridescent tree, and voilà! A fashionable Christmas display (see above) no one could bah-humbug.

—Amalie Drury

Posted at 10:18 AM in InBox | Back to all posts