YORK-Granny’s House of Crafts, commonly referred to as “Granny’s” by locals, is inviting the public to a re-grand opening from 10am to 4pm Friday, May 13, and Saturday, May 14.
With 18 craft booths, the shop has added a few new crafters to its lineup and reorganized the storefront to lend more space for booth displays. In celebration of the completion of remodeling efforts, all merchandise will be offered at a 10-percent discount over the weekend.
The original owner, Lucille “Lou” Hayes, passed away December 1, 2021 at the age of 86. Hayes opened her original location in York Square Shopping Center in 1996, and, after relocating to another storefront within the same shopping complex a few years later, the store moved to its current location next to Beachcombers Restaurant in September 2012.
Hayes’ daughter, Donna Carrier-Tal, who had been working as a lawyer in New York City while her husband ran an antiques store, decided to purchase the store’s current location, and moved back to Hampton Roads.
Hayes was a mother of five. Her daughters, Trudy Brinkley and Christine “Chris” Carrier, assisted their mother with day-to-day operations at the store since its establishment and continue to keep it running it in her absence. The sisters have also garnered help from their cousin, Bev Emerson, and her husband.
“For the past three months we’ve been working our fingers to the bone with remodeling,” said Emerson, who works as the store’s manager. “We’ve been painting, wallpapering, stripping and waxing the floors, and rearranging the interior to allow for more vendors. We also conquered a water leak my aunt had been dealing with for years.”
The store is named after Hayes’ mother, Cora Altizer. The youngest of 11 children, Hayes had always encompassed a natural talent within the arts.
“Back when my mom was in high school in Bandy, she was offered an art scholarship to an art school in New York, but her mother wouldn’t let her leave home,” said Brinkley. “She got mad and quit school when she was 16.”
One of Hayes’ sisters lived in the Hampton Roads area, and she decided to move to the area when she was 18.
“I always wonder what she could have done had she gone to art school,” said Brinkley.
Prior to opening Granny’s, Brinkley said her mom focused on ceramics.
“She had a kiln and about 500 molds in her house, but because of arthritis, she couldn’t lift the pieces anymore,” she said. “That’s when she started focusing more on sewing and painting.”
Brinkley said her mother specialized in painting glass and metal objects in addition to crocheting and sewing.
“My mom used a wooden loom that’s over 100 years old to make rag rugs,” said Brinkley. “We hope to start making the rag rugs in the future to keep up the tradition. The loom used to sit on our grandmother’s front porch. During summers, we’d visit her and loved helping her make her rag rugs.”
This weekend, they will be featuring new vendors’ artwork and crafts at the re-grand opening, including Auntie Bev’s Creations’ cornhole boards and bags; Connie’s Custom Creations’ metal signs, wooden wreaths, mesh wreaths, and jewelry; Kay Bowden’s wreaths, bows, and baskets; Terri Schurer’s wooden porch signs and floral arrangements; and Dana and Voula Carrier’s string art and wooden flags.
Some of Hayes’ pieces are still on display and also available for purchase at the shop. Brinkley said they have four vendors who have been selling their creations at Granny’s since it was established nearly 26 years ago.
Granny’s House of Crafts is located at 8729 George Washington Memorial Highway in Yorktown. Hours of operation are 10am to 4pm Tuesday through Saturday. The shop is closed Sunday and Monday. For more information, call 757-871-7542.