When Amy Sanders and Ashley Laird got ready to wrap their first gifts as owners of The Very Idea, Joan Thornton came back to teach them how the store had always done it, down to how it makes its bows. Thornton and Carla Kimbrell were the longtime owners of the shop, which has been in Jasper for nearly four decades. 78 Magazine reported that the new owners wanted that handoff to cover even the small details.
The Very Idea also moved downtown, and its new owners say they moved there to be close to the events and organizations that fill the blocks around the courthouse. December is when those blocks get busiest. In 2026, downtown Jasper's two biggest holiday gatherings fall on consecutive weeknights, a Monday and a Tuesday, and both happen downtown, where the shop now operates.
Monday Lights the Tree, Tuesday Brings the Parade
Thanksgiving weekend ends straight into the season. Here is the opening stretch as Jasper Main Street and the Chamber of Commerce of Walker County have listed it:
- Monday, Nov. 30, starting at 5 p.m. Festival of Lights & Christmas on Main, the tree lighting at Courthouse Square in downtown Jasper. The event registration from Hope for Women, which is involved in the festival, gives the address as 219 19th St. W.
- Tuesday, Dec. 1, 6 to 8 p.m. The Walker County Christmas Parade in downtown Jasper, sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce of Walker County. Its calendar listing uses the same downtown address, 219 19th Street West.
- Saturday, Dec. 12, at 11 a.m., through Sunday, Dec. 13, at 4 p.m. The Holly Jolly Trolley, a Christmas sing-along with Santa in downtown Jasper.
The first two dates matter most for planning. A tree lighting one evening and a countywide parade the next put two downtown crowds on back-to-back school and work nights, both anchored to the same address near Courthouse Square. Anyone who means to go to both is planning two trips downtown in about 25 hours, with a few things to buy or eat in between.
For parade-route and lineup details, the Chamber of Commerce of Walker County is the organization to follow. In one earlier year, the Daily Mountain Eagle described a route that ran down 19th Street, turned right on Sixth Avenue, then turned right on 18th Street, with stops at the civic center and courthouse square.
A Gift Shop That Moved Downtown on Purpose
The Very Idea's own website now gives its address as 1808 6th Ave. South. That puts one of Jasper's longest-running gift shops on Sixth Avenue, a street a past parade route used.
The transition happened fast. According to 78 Magazine, the building that housed the store was being sold, and the old location closed before the purchase was final. Sanders and Laird ended up rebuilding the inventory from scratch while trying to keep a business that generations of Jasper shoppers already knew. Sanders described buying it as inheriting an established business and starting a new one at the same moment.
They chose downtown as the new home. Sanders explained why to 78 Magazine:
"To me, downtown is the heart of Jasper. We really wanted to be where everything was happening. It's growing and improving."
The magazine reported that the move gave the shop more visibility and foot traffic and tied it more closely to downtown events and organizations. It also put the store among restaurants, retailers and other business owners that the two women increasingly see as collaborators. Before opening, they visited neighboring shops to see what each carried so The Very Idea wouldn't duplicate them. When a customer asks for something another downtown retailer specializes in, they send that customer down the street.
That habit is useful during the busiest holiday nights. A shop that knows what its neighbors stock can point a shopper to the right counter instead of losing the sale.
What's Inside at 1808 6th Avenue South
Longtime customers will recognize a few things right away. The smell of coffee still greets people at the door, and the store's signature blend is still for sale. The owners also brought back the store's namesake candle from locally owned Greenbriar Candle Co., and they persuaded its maker to come out of retirement to pour it again.
Many of the familiar gift, candle and bath-and-body lines came back too. The new owners worked from a list Thornton and Kimbrell provided. When a customer asks for a former product that isn't on the shelves, Laird makes a note, and in many cases the store brings it back.
Clothing is the biggest change. Sanders went after brands that weren't already widely available in Jasper, both to give the store its own identity and to avoid overlapping with nearby boutiques. Some of the labels required an application and approval before the store could carry them. The expanded racks include:
- KUT from the Kloth
- DAZE Denim
- Z Supply
- Sanctuary
- Ivy Jane
- Free People
The new storefront looks different from the house setting the shop used to occupy. To keep some of the old warmth, the owners furnished it with real furniture instead of relying only on standard retail fixtures. "No pressure," Laird told the magazine. "Just come hang out."
The old service style continues as well. Sanders recalled how customers could call Thornton and Kimbrell with only an occasion and a price range, such as three teacher gifts, and trust the store to handle the rest. She said keeping that level of service is something the new owners don't take lightly. In December, that kind of help comes in handy.
Apéro Got Its License on 20th Street East
On Nov. 3, the Jasper City Council held a public hearing on a restaurant retail liquor license for on-premise consumption for Apéro, at 105 20th St. E. At the council meeting, city staff said the applicant had met all requirements of state law and city ordinances and that the police department had no objections. No one spoke at the hearing, and the motion to approve passed.
Apéro's website describes a European-inspired restaurant built around food, wine and conversation. Its wine bar draws on the French apéritif tradition, and the site describes it as a place for slow evenings, exceptional wines and good conversation. The restaurant's About page, signed "Jody," frames the project as an effort to bring a European dining experience to Jasper. The homepage has a Reserve Table link that goes through Resy, plus a link to the cocktail menu.
A wine bar built around the apéritif fits a downtown whose biggest holiday nights start at 5 and 6 p.m.
Charging Downtown
One small change this fall affects how some people will get downtown. In October, Jasper Main Street partnered with Carl Cannon Chevrolet Buick GMC on a new two-vehicle EV charging station downtown. It's on 5th Avenue between 19th and 20th streets, behind Southeast Hospice, according to the Walker Leader.
With only two spaces, anyone counting on them for a parade night should plan to arrive early.
The Weekend Stop on the Calendar
After the two weeknights, the Holly Jolly Trolley on Dec. 12 and 13 is downtown's weekend event, a Christmas sing-along with Santa that starts Saturday at 11 a.m. according to Jasper Main Street's listing. It is the only daytime event among the three.
All three listings bring people back to downtown Jasper, the part of town The Very Idea moved to this year so it could be where things happen. Its gift-wrapping counter, still tying bows the way Joan Thornton taught, is now downtown for all three events.
If this season's walks downtown have you wondering what your own home near downtown Jasper is worth, we'd be glad to help you find out. Team Sparkman offers a free home valuation, with the same family-first attention we bring to every conversation about this town. Request your free home valuation whenever you're ready, before or after the parade.
