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{Photo by: Clarence-Vernon Hargrave/Davidson Local}

Featured in the Holiday Style Magazine 2023: A publication of Davidson Local

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the River House Emporium at 23 S. Main St. in Uptown Lexington.

The store, owned by Keith and Nancy Miller and located at the corner of S. Main St. and E. First Ave., is a multi-merchant market of repurposed and new home goods, furniture, gifts and accessories, many made by local artisans.

River House is decked out with items to decorate your own home such as handcrafted holiday wreaths and table-top floral arrangements, Christmas tree ornaments, metal Christmas trees and lanterns as well as decorative throw pillows.

There are holiday gift items like Swan Creek soy candles in scents ranging from fresh-cut Christmas tree to honey-soaked apples. Rierson Farms, just outside Thomasville, has a line of goat milk soaps with scents such as lavender and pumpkin pie. “Those are very popular for gift items,” Nancy said of the candles and soaps.

Hometown Treasures, a merchant located in the back of the store, offers hand-knit and crocheted babies’ and children’s clothing, blankets, kitchen towels and dish cloths made by Linda Hall of Lexington.

Another Lexington merchant is Garrett Neal’s Triad Metalworks, which makes laser-cut, powder-coated metal signs that can be used outdoors such as on garages and barns. They have a wide variety of car-related metal art.

Elisa Stewart, who founded River House with her husband, Rick, in 2016, also has a space in the store for her repurposed furniture. The Stewarts sold the business to Martie and Robbie Beasley in May 2021 and the Millers purchased it in June 2022.

Keith, who sells handbags online through Designer Direct Fashion on Amazon and eBay, also keeps some inventory in the store.

The couple has come up with a new tagline for the shop: “From rustic to refined. Sometimes up-cycled. Often unique. Beauty from multiple points of view.”

A holiday tradition for the shop is to host a home-cooked meal for their 14 merchants and their spouses. “We both love to cook,” Nancy shared.

Their family Christmas traditions include dinner together, a dirty Santa gift exchange for the adults and presents for the children. One of the highlights of the gathering is “a very competitive” game of one-handed unrolling of a 2-foot wide, Saran-wrapped gift ball, which is loaded with gift cards, candy, cash and lottery tickets. Nancy said they got the idea from a niece’s youth group event. “It’s hysterical,” she said. “The adults have as much fun as the kids.”

The Millers moved from Florida to this area six years ago to be closer to family, including their daughter, Krista Miller-Jarvis, who owns Cooper Road Collection at 110 S. Main St., which sells women’s plus-size clothing. She organized the Open Market Collective at 114 S. Main St., a business incubator designed the help local entrepreneurs test the market for a brick-and-mortar presence without a lot of overhead.

While the Millers have not been in retail previously, they both retired from business careers before becoming entrepreneurs. Nancy worked as a C.P.A. and executive with the Orlando-based Darden Restaurants chain while Keith managed several restaurants, including some at Disney World.

“We keep trying to retire but it just doesn’t work,” Nancy said with a laugh.