{"id":1313141,"date":"2019-08-03T08:00:50","date_gmt":"2019-08-03T14:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/?p=985394"},"modified":"2019-08-03T08:00:50","modified_gmt":"2019-08-03T14:00:50","slug":"in-silt-a-unique-retail-gift-shop-with-impressive-variety-and-a-big-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/in-silt-a-unique-retail-gift-shop-with-impressive-variety-and-a-big-heart\/","title":{"rendered":"In Silt, a unique retail gift shop with impressive variety and a big heart"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Charlie Bears, an English company that makes handmade collectible bears and characters, keep with The Whimsical Wagon\u2019s unique theme and add something fun to the shopping experience.<\/strong>
Courtesy photos<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Small-town shopping has something that big box stores or online retailers will never have: Charm, character, human interaction and genuine customer service. <\/p>\n

In Silt, small-town shopping also has another one-up on less personal shopping experiences: Carol Back, owner of the Whimsical Wagon. <\/p>\n

Online reviews link Carol and her unique store \u2014 which won first place for  \u201cBest Gift Shop\u201d in the Post Independent\u2019s 2019 Locals\u2019 Choice awards \u2014 together like a two-for-one special.<\/p>\n

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Every single item in the store is meant to evoke a certain playful spirit within each shopper, which reflects Carol\u2019s personality and joy for what she does.<\/strong>
Courtesy photos<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWonderful gift shop, lots of variety. Great place to get a last minute gift. Carol is a delight,\u201d wrote one reviewer. <\/p>\n

\u201cGreat local shop whether you stop in for a cup of coffee, or need that perfect gift! Carol the owner is so friendly and has great jewelry, home decor, candles, and Jelly Bellies,\u201d wrote another.<\/p>\n

Back has lived in Silt since 1992. While she said it wasn\u2019t the easiest place to open up a retail store due to the lack of foot traffic, it was the only place she wanted to have her store. Silt needed a little gift shop, she said, and The Whimsical Wagon is located in a great spot on Main Street.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re long-time Silt residents and my existing customers thank me for being here \u2014 they\u2019re happy the store is in Silt,\u201d she said. \u201cI have a lot of customers who come in and want to support local businesses, and they want to touch and feel the products they buy. Many of my customers have become long term friends I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to meet so many wonderful people.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Whimsical Wagon is located in a great spot on Main Street.<\/strong>
Courtesy photos<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

An evolving store<\/strong><\/p>\n

Carol opened The Whimsical Wagon in 2004 after spending 11 years as a banker. She had always made fun and creative gift baskets as a hobby, and her colleagues had been telling her for years that she had a special talent and should open up a business. <\/p>\n

Her husband had been operating a motorcycle shop out of their building in Silt, so they built an addition to it and she began The Whimsical Wagon in about 800 square feet of space. It started out mostly as a gift basket and collectibles retail shop, but over the years it has grown \u2014 both physically and literally \u2014 into so much more. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is probably the hardest job I have ever done, but I like it, it agrees with me,\u201d Carol said. \u201cI click with it. I like to decorate and I do all of the displays, and I use a lot of unique things like antiques throughout the store. There\u2019s life in antiques, so you get that warm feeling from them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Great Recession hit and that caused the Backs to close the motorcycle shop, which allowed for The Whimsical Wagon\u2019s expansion. As customers changed their habits \u2014 people weren\u2019t as into collectibles anymore \u2014 Carol responded and started diversifying her inventory. <\/p>\n

\u201cI do everything from my heart, including offering free gift-wrapping,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re one of those stores that has evolved. I have a kids\u2019 corner, but we also have a lot of snarky humor items, too. It\u2019s a store that caters to a wide range of people from all generations. In the past two years, the collectibles part of the business has picked up and Carol has added some new items to the many wonderful items already in stock.<\/p>\n

She recently discontinued the espresso bar due to having two other coffee shops in Silt. She said it was a necessary change that has made room for more gift items.<\/p>\n

A whimsical theme<\/strong><\/p>\n

Peruse The Whimsical Wagon and you\u2019ll find unique gifts, lotions, soaps, greeting cards, wind chimes, puzzles, mugs, stuffed animals, jewelry, home decor and so much more. She added Charlie Bears in 2017\u2014 an English company that makes handmade collectible bears and characters \u2014 which keep with her whimsical theme and add something fun to the shopping experience, she said.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what every single item in the store is meant to do \u2014 evoke a certain playful spirit within each shopper. It\u2019s a part of Carol\u2019s personality, and she loves to share this playfulness with her customers. <\/p>\n

Even the business\u2019s hours are fun and unique: She opens from 9:57 a.m. to 5:49 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and 9:01 a.m. to 3:49 p.m. on Saturdays. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of a giggle,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Carol loves to see new customers\u2019 amazement when they walk into the store. She keeps things interesting and authentic, and it shows when people see the store for the first time.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst time there and I could get lost in all the fun whimsical items and local artisan items,\u201d wrote one reviewer on Google, \u201cdefinitely will be going back again and again.\u201d<\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Charlie Bears, an English company that makes handmade collectible bears and characters, keep with The Whimsical Wagon\u2019s unique theme and add something fun to the shopping experience.Courtesy photos Small-town shopping has something that big box stores or online retailers will never have: Charm, character, human interaction and genuine customer service.  In Silt, small-town shopping also […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1313141","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-21 17:29:17","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1313141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1313141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1313141\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1313141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1313141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1313141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}