Easy 5 stars for this wonderful local five and dime type of store that's been under the same…read moreownership for decades. It's small downtown establishment that packs a punch. Amazing service from the woman who assisted me on gift ideas. They offer so much and have unique VT, UVA & JMU items too! Even children's collegiate branded items. They are beginning to roll out Christmas merchandise now. I totally get why this quaint store has a full five stars on Yelp.

This little gift store is located in the heart of Roanoke's Historic Market Square. I always enjoy…read morelooking at their window displays, which contain many quality items tastefully displayed. Besides being a place where one can find a good variety of beautiful gifts for all occasions, one can also find very nice Virginia and Roanoke City souvenirs, as well as Virginia Tech Hokie Bird and Virginia Cavaliers t-shirts and items. The pink flamingo is the store's logo, which has been opened for over 40 years. Victoria, one of the store's owner, and working there on the the I visited was very nice and helpful in showing me around. For the small space, they have a very nice variety of quality items very well placed all around the store. It's a pleasure just visiting the store, and one will always find something irresistible to have to buy and take home. I would recommend this store to anyone who is around Roanoke Market Square and looking to see a nice variety of good quality items in a small but well used space, and treated with excellent customer service that will make you feel at home while shopping.

I wish I could teleport this store to New York so I could shop there more regularly. I love…read moregreeting cards and the selection here is incredible and it took incredible restraint on my part to only buy seven of them! My husband on the other hand, showed no such restraint in the confection department as we spent a lot of green on candy purchases both times we visited the store during our long weekend in Roanoke. They also have so many neat gift ideas and items for your house. If you like to have fun cocktail napkins at your parties, you will find a huge assortment here. If I'd had a bigger suitcase, I would have bought more. The staff here is super friendly and helpful. They seem to enjoy what they do and it shows in the pride they take in the store and in their interactions with customers. Excellent place!

This amazing gift shop family business is full of surprises. Located on Market Street near the…read moreRoanoke City Market, it carries a wonderful selection of the finest artisan chocolates from around the States, as well as a nice variety of creative greeting cards, and gifts of all kinds. The store is completely packed from wall to wall and display case to display case in a well organized way and they manage to always be caught up with the current Holiday Season at hand. Besides this, it has a warm and friendly group of employees who greet you warmly from the time you step foot in the store and are always ready to answer any questions you might have of any of their products as well as assist you in selecting a gift or putting together a group of nice chocolate for that special person in your life. From the time you enter the store, you encounter a vast variety of greeting cards, chocolates, and gifts of all kinds; including books, local souvenirs of the Star City of Roanoke, and many curiosity items that will be the a surprise and topic of discussion of anyone fortunate to receive it as a gift. I highly recommend this unique chocolate, greeting cards, and gift shop to all those who are looking for a special gift for a family member, a friend, or a loved one, during the Holiday Season, for their birthday, or just to make any day a special day by surprising them with that "one of a kind" gift.

Most of the major cities I've lived in have had a Christmas store that has been opened year round…read more Here in Downtown Roanoke we are fortunate to have Boxwood Lane. This store is opened year round and carries Christmas and seasonal decorations, gifts, and products for holidays like Easter, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, St Patrick's Day, and Forth of July. When I visited the store, the owner manager greeted me with a warm welcome and a smile, explaining where the different one of a kind items were. They had a great variety of Christmas items from blown German ornaments, to gnomes, nativities, Santas, Christmas trees, Snoopy ornaments, candles, Jim Shore Grinch, Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, and Willow Tree figurines. But besides this wide range of unique Christmas items that you won't find anywhere else, and can help make any Christmas season merry and bright, they also carry seasonal decoration items that one could purchase to give as gifts or to buy for oneself. For example during Thanksgiving they might have turkeys, pilgrims, cornucopia horn of plenty, and other decoration items relative to this Holiday Season. Then as soon as this holiday passes by, the remaing items are put aside on sale. I invite all those reading my review to look at all my photographs accompanying my review and visit the store, you will have a blast from viewing all their items and maybe you will find that one of a kind gift for that special person in your life.

On a roadtrip to Charlotte Nc, we stopped in to Roanoke, for something to eat, to stretch our legs…read moreand to see where the wind would take us. The wind swept us right into WyndRose Boutique! I had to stop in with the fam for a browse after seeing the beautiful window displays. This is a great place to check out for those hard to shop for folks on your list or a secret santa or your friend with fun taste! There is something for everyone I'd think in this curated gift shop: ornaments, art, really nice smelling candles (and im not a smellt candle person), and so many things. Lovely shop. Check it out for yourself.

As I was walking down the sidewalk of the Wall Street entrance of WyndRose Boutique, which is…read morelocated right across from the Historic Roanoke City Market Building, the amazingly beautiful items behind the windows of this Gift Boutique Shop attracted my attention. So much so that I had to stop and enter the shop. Once inside, I had the privilege of meeting Rachelle Walker, the owner of WyndRose, and one who possesses not only a wonderful taste, but one of the nicest personalities of anyone I've ever met. She has grace with style, and this is reflected in all of the unique and beautiful store merchandise from all over the world and the splendid way they all have been staged. She greeted me with a warm welcome and invited me to explore her Gift Boutique that is focused on fair trade and sustainably sourced home decor with a selection of jewelry and some apparel. All the colorful and beautiful gift items there made me a believer. And if this wasn't enough, I was also very impressed with how reasonably they were priced. Customers definitely got more value for their hard earned money. When I went home I visited the Boutique's website, of which I also invite the readers of this review to explore: https://wyndroseboutique.com/ And was fascinated by easy it was to explore all their items by categories, including Brands and Local Artists. I highly recommend everyone reading my review and viewing my photographs that accompany it, to visit this gem of a Boutique that is clearly one of the Star City of Roanoke most valuable gems.

As far as local visitor centers go, the Roanoke one is a winner. Not only does it include…read moreeverything that you'd expect to find in a standard visitors center (loads of free maps, brochures, and local publications that help you navigate the area), but there's a museum here, too. I didn't get a chance to go through the museum during my stop, but the fact that it was there was a nice touch. The staff here was friendly, welcoming, and helpful. The restrooms were clean and free. Parking out front was simple. Overall, a great little stop to make before you had out and start exploring everything the Roanoke area has to offer.

Nice place to stop in before hitting up the blue ridge parkway. We didn't have time to do the…read moremuseum, but we did swing into the gift shop. Everyone was really polite.

With so many stores now a days that carry real nice imitation leather item, it was a relief to find…read morea store with high-quality genuine fine leather goods, western apparel, and unique gifts. Located in a beautifully designed store on the top floor of the Valley View Mall in Roanoke, Virginia, Leatherhous, a mom and pop small business that has survived the test of times for over fifty years and continues to thrive with much success, offering a wide range of leather jackets, wallets, purses, backpacks, belts, hats, vests, pants, and boots, among other unique gifts such as jewelry and home decoration items. I was amazed and highly impressed from the time I discovered this store through the beauty of its products being displayed through its display windows. So much so that I had to go inside to enjoy a visual delight of amazing, quality products that would make pride possessions and wonderful unique gifts. A very distinguished lady with a wonderful personality greeted me and welcomed me with a warm and friendly smile and was full of knowledge of the story of the owners and their talent for discovering beautiful quality products to add to the already existing ones. I definitely plan to return another day to purchase a fine leather jacket, wallet, or other quality and timeless products, that are reasonable priced for there quality, and highly recommend the store to all of you reading this review and viewing my photographs that accompany it.

Family run business, very nice, nice products, big selection, good hours and a beautiful storeread more

One late afternoon, as we drove along Apperson Drive in Salem, Virginia, in search of an antique or…read moregift shop, we ran into a very one of a kind and unique store named "Buy The Season: Home Decor for Every Season." Its large street sign attracted our attention, and even though it was late and almost closing time, my friend and I decided to stop and give it a look. It contained one of the largest selections of unique seasonal home decor and furniture of Roanoke Valley, with over 150 vendors. We parked and went inside, and I was impressed with how well everything was organized. The nice cool temperature of the place and the pleasant smell motivated one to walk around and explore all the items exhibited there. It was time to close, so I asked for a business card, and we decided to return next week and then have dinner in one of the many great restaurants in Salem. So, on the next week, we arrived early in the afternoon with enough time to explore the entire extremely large store space. There were some antiques in good or almost excellent condition, some Americana collections, some perfect antique, and Americana collections, some wonderful pieces of quality furniture including some Ethan Allen, some unique signs with sayings, jewelry, glassware, silverware, homemade greeting cards, books, and almost all you can think of. There is also a space with the Apperson Cafe with bread and some other bakery items made by the Amish. I was also able to talk with some of the vendors who were bringing new items to their space or cleaning the last items they brought and arranging them. They were wonderful individuals who really enjoyed finding the items and putting them for sale at very reasonable prices. The owner of the store also had items for sale there, and the salespeople treated us very kind as we asked them some questions. I would definitely recommend this store to those looking for gifts or items to decorate their own place.

What a GREAT place! Something for everyone! They even have buggy's to carry your treasures.read more

One of the required elements of a great city is to have a quality Art Museum. Here in the Star City…read moreof Roanoke that quality Art Museum is the Taubman Museum of Art. Art is what makes our lives ritcher and Art appreciation brings great joy to an otherwise boring life. For this reason is the important role that this Art Museum plays in our community. A couple of days ago I decided to become a member of the Museum, go visit it once more, and write this review for people to read, view my photographs and decide for themselves whether it's worth it to put aside some time to go visit it and what they could get out of it. First of all I would like to mention that the award-winning architectural design of the building by the internationally renowned architect Randall Stout is in of itself a Masterpiece work of art. At first sight it might look like a modern rendition of Noah's Ark. But if you look closer you can see that the architect took special care to honor naturalistic elements of the Roanoke region, such as its beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains and the Mill Mountain Star. The building itself is something to admire and visually enjoy. Expensive gems come in small sizes. I consider this as one of the most beautiful and valuable assets of the City of Roanoke. As I entered its doors and introduced myself at the guest station in the entrance, simply as a new member who had just joined, I was warmly welcomed and given a ticket for the Special exhibition of Eternally New: The Art Nouveau World of Alphonse Mucha. The general admission to the public is free, but to see the Special exhibition there is a modest fee, unless you're a member. On the first floor they had everything set up for a wedding reception dinner. The area looked so elegant and inviting. I was amazed at how this Museum used some of its space for private or public gatherings and activities to involve members of the community. They also had a nice Museum Shop and a Cafe and patio on this floor. On the second floor they have eleven galleries to exhibit artworks from their respected permanent collection as well as a special space for rotating special annual exhibitions showcasing the best of the best. On the third floor they have the City of Roanoke Atrium and a wonderful Auditorium and other meeting and activities rooms. Besides all these spaces for exhibition and social events, the Museum has excellent programs for the community as well as hosts a yearly Sidewalk Art Show that is very popular to meet local artists, see their work, and be able to purchase some quality original art pieces. Art is wonderful, I remember the joy I had the time I purchased my most valuable painting by Mary K. Trotter, an American woman artist who studied in Philadelphia before moving to Paris. I highly recommend this wonder of an Art Museum in all aspects. Go visit it, appreciate its masterpieces, attend one of its tours, take one of its classes, get involved in one of its programs, learn to love and enjoy art. For art is a wonderful and splendid thing, that brings joy and flavor into our lives.

You can't miss Roanoke's centrally located and architecturally distinctive art museum. It is free…read moreto enter, though they were working on a paid exhibit when I stopped in. The actual art was mostly on the second of three floors, while the first floor was a cafe and gift shop. The third floor was administrative space and a balcony overlooking the city. I found the utilization of space strange; you'd think a building this size could fit more exhibits, and the other facets of the building didn't seem busy. There was some good variety in the art that was there, and some kid-friendly interactive bits as well. One important positive was that they are open until 9 PM on the first Friday of each month. Art museums are often tough to get to for people who work normal hours, so I appreciate any evening hours I see.

I can't say enough about how helpful and easy it was to order flowers for someone in the hospital…read more The person on the phone was friendly, helpful and actually helped me get the room number which I did not have. I wanted to support local but had another florist say they could not fill my order so I was panicked but George's came through with flying colors!

While I've visited many of the new restaurants, in their VIP Grand Opening, that have currently…read moreopened in Roanoke, Virginia, something that I've noticed in common in all of them has been a beautiful floral arrangement from George's Flowers. They have not only standed out, but have given the different places an air of distinction. Two of the places that come to mind are the Six and Sky Restaurant and the new Starbucks in the heart of Downtown Roanoke. In the first case the flower arrangement was placed on the Host's station and in the second one it was placed on its large conference size table located in one of its corner there. Today, I decided to go visit the flower shop that has come out with such wonderful flower arrangements creations. Since its establishment in 1981, George Clements, the owner, has grown his business into the areas "go-to floral shop for everyday events such as, grand openings, weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, religious services, get well soon wishes, funerals, celebrations, and special occasions, making a point that not only "ladies prefer flowers." Located on 1953 Franklin Rd SW in Roanoke, Virginia, just around the corner from Towers Shopping Center and with an online presence on their website at georgesflowers.com, this locally-owned flower shop, not only has custom flower arrangements and thoughtful gifts, but is also known for its exceptional same day flower delivery services in Roanoke and the surrounding areas, including Salem, Smith Mountain Lake, Cave Spring, and Vinton. But as if all this wasn't enough, during my visit today, not only was I able to observe one of its flower arrangements' artist crafting a masterpiece for a specific customer's request, but I was able to observe firsthand the friendly, helpful, and professional staff who provide excellent customer service and go above and beyond to ensure satisfaction. As soon as I arrived to the flower shop, I was greeted with a warm welcome and after my request was kindly given a tour of place and shown the different gift products besides flowers that they have available; from gift cards, to boxes of chocolates, to stuffed animals, to bottles of champagne, to name just a few. And if you compare their prices to their masterpiece creation you're definitely getting more value for your money. I wanted to donate a flower arrangement to the Madonna House Chapel for a Special Mass they have once a month by one of our local priests, and was able to find the perfect flower arrangement in one that they were working on. It came from their catalog with certain modifications requested by the customer and created by one of their flower artists. They provided me with the name of the arrangement, the delivery price according to their address, and the option of coming back to order it once I knew the exact date, calling in the order, or ordering it through their website. In conclusion, I highly recommend this local flower shop to all those needing flowers for a special occasion. I invite you to view my photographs accompanying this review, to get even a better feel for the place as you know a picture is worth a thousand words, and I assure you that you'll be greatly satisfied beyond your highest of expectations.

One of the most beautifully creative gift shop in Roanoke, Sugar Magnolia seems to amaze me every…read moretime I visit it. Today, Black Friday, I was fortunate enough to meet the owners of the place, a husband and wife team who came up with the idea of this store and very successfully have made it come true. The husband deals with the numbers, while the wife is the creative mind and buyer of all the one of a kind interesting gifts displayed in the store. This store has so many categories of gifts that it would be impossible to mention them all in this review, but take a look of the photographs accompanying the review and you will be able to get an idea of them all. After all, it is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Two of the main categories are Chocolates and Ice Cream. I went there today to purchase a box of hand picked chocolates which I myself selected and one of the friendly employees arranged very neatly inside the box. Some other categories of gifts include very lovely, quality Greeting Cards, very nice Souvenirs of the Star City of Roanoke, Stuffed Animals, Magnets with Quotes that touch the heart, Pottery such as mugs, plates, pitchers, cookies jars, and during this special time of the year, Nutcracker, Christmas decorations and ornaments, and other festive items that celebrate the Holiday Season time of the year. There is also an area with Purses, Jewelry, scarfs, soaps, incense, and a diverse variety of other beautiful items, that the wife and co-owner of the store has hand selected on her trips as Buyer. But if all this seems amazing and spectacular, what is even greater are the hand picked and well trained employees of the store. Immediately after you enter the store they make eye contact and greet you with a smile, making you feel comfortable and at home. They help you with any questions you might have and in locating that perfect gift for a family member or a best friend. They serve you that special ice cream behind the counter, for you to enjoy while sitting at one of the small tables or while browsing around the store. The customer service they provide is absolutely amazing, and they are key in providing the ambiance that make this store so special. I highly recommend this store to all. Go in and browse around. Enjoy the beauty of the store and the diverse gift items in stock. I am certain that it won't take long for you to find a gift for that special person in your life, for your best friend, or maybe even a gift to get for yourself.

Great staff, amazing ice cream and adorable shop. My brother and I shared a banana split and my…read moredaughter got some of the chocolate truffles out of the case.