I have been shopping at Cindy's Hallmark stores about as long as I can remember. I moved to Avon Park almost 20 years ago and, to be honest, I'm not sure if Cindy's was already opened or not. The first store I shopped at was located in Avon Park near the Winn-Dixie. It then moved next to Walgreens, but had to close when Walgreens moved to its present located.
Mike Cowan, the owner of that shop, still owns two Hallmark stores - one in the Lakeshore Mall and the other in the Sebring Square shopping center. Mike usually opens a second store in the mall (for a total of three stores) during the fall and winter months.
While the second location is closer to my home, I was in the store in the mall most recently. I found lots of wonderful items which would be perfect for decorating your home for the holidays.
When I was young, we went trick-or-treating for UNICEF and collected money to donate to this charity. I hadn't heard about that campaign until visiting the Hallmark store last week. This year, Hallmark stores are giving away cutely designed orange boxes to help raise money for this organization.
We laughed uproariously at the singing, dancing trick-or-treating ghost that was on display. This prankster stands about 1' tall and operates on batteries.
Most people who celebrate Christmas decorate a Christmas tree. About 15 years ago, I began decorating an Easter tree and maybe three or four years ago, I started collecting ornaments for a Halloween tree, as well. Hallmark has quite a few Halloween ornaments, including some beaded ones and some from the Peanuts (Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, etc.) line of products.
Hallmark puts out some great music CDs for various holidays throughout the year, and Halloween is no exception. I didn't buy this year's version because I have several from other years, but they are really fun to play during a Halloween party or while you're waiting to hand out candy to costumed-kids who come trick-or-treating at your door.
Of course, it goes without saying that Cindy's Hallmark has umpteen different cards for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and every other holiday of the year - including some you've never even heard about.
One of the great things about this store is that sale items are placed out front. In fact, there is usually a special table set up just inside the store's entrance so it's hard to miss. There are glass display cubicles just instead the front of the store which often hold sale items, too.
The staff has always been friendly and courteous whether I've been shopping or just browsing.
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