Christmas Store Review - 3 French Hens, Leawood, KS

I found myself in Kansas City, MO recently and decided to check out a local Christmas store, 3 French Hens, in Leawood, KS. Here are my thoughts in my very first holiday store review!

LOCATION: The store is located in an outdoor-type mall/strip mall. Having no familiarity with KC roads and directions, I had no problems finding the shop. It is a ways from downtown Kansas City, though (almost 20 miles). And there is plenty of parking! The store itself is pretty large, considering it solely concerns itself with Christmas all year.

MERCHANDISE: The store is packed with items, but not so packed that you worry about knocking things over as you walk around. The shop deals almost exclusively with ornaments- there are a few other knicknacks, like a few nativity pieces, magnets, wall decorations, and purses, but ornaments are definitely the centerpiece.

The primary way in which the store displays the ornaments is through themed Christmas trees. In addition to the classic red and green Christmas trees, some of the highlights were:

• An Outerspace Tree: The tree itself was metallic blue. Ornaments resembled planets (my favorite was a glass red/orange "planet" with a blue glass ring around it. Very Saturn-like.), aliens, and paceships.
• A Food-Themed Tree: Ornaments resembled candy and food, including cake, burgers, and ice cream. Others were made from popcorn (then painted). Also prominent were the M&M characters- my favorite was garland made to resemble M&Ms strung together.
• A Drink-Themed Tree: This mini-tree had ornaments resembling drinks of all kinds. Glasses of wine, bottles of wine, beer, and soda, little Coca-Cola ornaments.
• A Mardi Gras Tree: The tree was a bluish/purple color and had peacock feathers stuck throughout. All the ornaments were glittery or jeweled- all in greens, blues, and purples.
• An Irish Tree: Pretty self-explanatory. Decorations included little leprechauns, beer mugs, and other Irish themes and colors.
• A Halloween Tree: The only reference to the upcoming holiday in the store, which I found rather impressive. So many times, holiday/Christmas stores have to cater to the nearest holiday to maintain business and customers. This tree was super-cute too. Ornaments of ghosts, pumpkins, witches, and other Halloween critters!

ODDS AND ENDS: The staff is super nice. A friend mentioned that one of her purchases was going to be a gift, and they had a box for the ornament and spent quality time hand-tying ribbons to decorate the package. As long as they aren't busy, they noted, its something they're happy to do!

The prices are very reasonable- a majority of ornaments were in the $5-$10 range. But don't be surprised to see most price tags that include three numbers in the cents column (i.e. $5.671). The last number is just an internal itemization number; not an overly confusing pricing scheme!

BOUGHT: From the Food-Themed Tree, I bought a glass ornament (measuring about 4 inches tall) that resembles an ice cream cone- complete with syrup and cherries (and glitter!) on top!

OVERALL: The selection of unique ornaments is fantastic- especially for mid September. And you really can't beat the prices on most items. Definitely worth checking out!