Occasionally I like to showcase a local business that’s pleased me by offering great service, wonderful items, or excellent food—so let me introduce a lovely shop on Marble Falls that enchants me every time I walk through the door.
On Main Street, Indian River is the kind of gift shop where, if you want to buy a gift, but you’re not gifted at gift-giving, well, it’s the place you go. Here’s what I found when I went inside:
Art: local paintings and stained panes or painted glass items.
Jewelry: handmade, native, or quirky.
Fabric goods: clothing, trendy and comfortable; cuddly blankets, carpets and rag rugs, tablecloths and runners.
For the house, necessity or decorative: elegant lazy Susans, pottery, dishes; and oh, the bowls that’re arranged on the first display you see when you enter are exquisite.
And every item is presented and lit so attractively that you’ll want to buy everything you see. There’s not a kitchen item, artsy knickknack, or length of fabric in the entire store that doesn’t draw the eye and that I wouldn’t enjoy having in my life. The prices are reasonable and every object I inspected was well-made, which makes me think that the owner, Rick Scrimshire, has an eye for quality and craftsmanship.
Rick hails from Pampa, a town of about twenty thousand that’s an hour northeast of Amarillo, which is where I’m from. Pampa hosts tornados and an annual rodeo. The thing about the panhandle is that the land is flat, and the constant wind blows right across it with no barrier to slow it town. And the grit swirls and rises up to form dust devils; and this flying dirt forces its brown hue on everything—the fresh green of spring leaves, the red crests of fat cardinals, and the eye-stinging blue of the sky—so that the only true color is beige.
When I meet someone else from that part of Texas I’m always curious as to how northwest Texas formed them; and somehow this monochromatic background has brought us an inspired local business owner, Rick, who offers Marble Falls an aesthetically stunning, unique, and also conveniently located gift shop.
So, Indian River. Check it out.
