Love love love the Crystal House! I live out of state, but each time I visit family in Minnesota, I look forward to shopping at the Crystal House. I travel frequently, and special boutiques like this are getting harder and harder to find. I always leave with unique pieces that repeatedly receive a lot of compliments. The store features an excellent variety and price point for most any taste, and they only order a few of each item so I can be sure I won't "see myself" everywhere. Along with being an exclusive boutique, I also consider the Crystal House to be an amazing gift shop. I've purchased everything from clothing items and accessories to small appreciation gifts and even black pepper - they sell Watkins products as well.
I also appreciate that the staff is attentive without hovering, and knowledgeable of the store's inventory. There is an amazing amount of merchandise for the square footage, and I don't always have enough time to take it all in. But, the staff takes an interest in getting to know my taste and always help to point out things that appeal to me.
Recently, my husband and I were at the Biltmore Hotel in Santa Barbara, CA having a glass of wine on their ocean front patio. As I was walking through the lounge, a gentleman came up behind me and asked me where I had purchased my purse. I explained there was this lovely boutique near Minneapolis called the Crystal House. He asked me what the brand was. (To be honest, I didn't know, I just liked the purse, so I bought it). He asked if I would mind looking. When I told him the brand was "Big Buddha", he laughed and said, "I knew it!" He asked me to follow him to his table so I could show his buddies sitting with him. Apparently, they had a bet on this, and his buddies were about to lose. He asked if I would mind taking a picture with him. As it turns out, the man was the owner of the company. I think this speaks to the distinctive vendors and designers Crystal House chooses to support. How fun it was, that the owner of the company was so excited to see someone with one of his bags in CA that they had purchased in MN. This won't happen with anything you purchase at the mall. What's really funny is, when we left there, we went to another restaurant on the beach for dinner, and a man and his wife at the table next to us, complimented me on my purse. Of course, I had to share the story... read more