Shopping for gifts is a big part of the holiday season for many Americans. Buy locally is a seasonal mantra. However, Falcon or Peyton residents have few options to buy gifts locally.Dave Ahrens, president of the Eastern Plains Chamber of Commerce, said there are a few shopping possibilities, but ìFalcon is still considered a bedroom community.îìPeople work and buy everything in Colorado Springs, but they live in Falcon,î Ahrens said. ìThe problem is that the mom and pop shops cannot compete with corporate America.îWhile Falcon and Peyton are growing, the area is not yet profitable for many retailers, he said.Popular retail shops like hardware stores or specialty clothing stores have yet to set up house in Falcon, but there are a few nice shops in the area that provide unique opportunities for gifts for the holiday season, Ahrens said.Don Cronkhite owns The Prairie Jeweler in Falcon at the corner where McLaughlin Road turns into Old Meridian Road. He said he kicks off every holiday season by hand-making yellow and white gold snowflake jewelry. Cronkhite said he aims to make 15 sets, consisting of a pair of snowflake earrings and a snowflake necklace, and because each snowflake is hand-made, no two are alike.ìIt is extremely labor-intensive,î Cronkhite said. ìThey take about one hour each to make. I start working on them in November, and they are all gone by Christmas.îAs a master goldsmith for the past 40 years, Cronkhite said he is mainly self-taught and cannot recall a single unhappy customer. The Prairie Jeweler has been in Falcon for 15 of the 30 years that Cronkhite has lived in eastern El Paso County.Joyce Sawke owns Plush Lady Consignment, next to the UPS store in Falcon. She opened her shop Nov. 17. Originally from Africa, Sawke said she and her family moved to Falcon in December 2016 because of her husbandís job with the military.The space Plush Lady now occupies had been unavailable for a long time, but Sawke said she would drive past the store and pray that someday she would be able to bring her dream of a consignment store to the location.ìI love consignment,î she said. ìThere is nothing like this out here, and I had been doing consignment from home, so I thought maybe now was the time to follow my passion.îSawke said she is hopeful the holiday season will bring in the locals.Situated inside Plush Lady Consignment is another one-of-its-kind-in-Falcon shop: The Fig Tree Judaica. Owned by Mike and Maria Schoening, The Fig Tree is a nonprofit organization that specializes in a variety of religious resources.ìThis is the only place south of Denver that is a Jewish resource,î Mike Schoening said. The shop carries an array of items, including Bibles, local artwork, kosher essential oils, items directly from Jerusalem and holiday items, he said.For residents who live in Peyton and further east, there is a new row of retail shops along Front Street that provides an opportunity for small-town locally owned holiday shopping. The four shops together held a ìSmall Town Christmasî event Nov. 18 to kick off the holiday season.Lisa Kane, owner of Haley Jís Boutique, offered a discount for shoppers who brought in toys for her Christmas Unlimited donation box.Peyton Junction Mercantile, owned by Shirley Archuletta, featured an essential oil demonstration, live music played by local artists and a visit from Santa. Lindsay Kawakami, owner of Lindsayís Cottage, provided glasses of free wassail for shoppers as they browsed her inventory, and Frankie Jeanís offered refreshments at the door as customers headed inside to check out owner Starla Bakerís selection of one-of-a-kind items made by local and national artists.Glenna Harrison, a Falcon resident, attended the Small Town Christmas event. ìI really enjoyed browsing and shopping at the Small Town Christmas in Peyton,î Harrison said. ìHaving lived in Falcon over 19 years, it is wonderful to now have a closer-to-home option for finding unique gifts and baked goods.î
