This past Friday, June 24, marked the first day of Dallas Market Center‘s Total Home and Gift Market, as well as the inaugural Dallas Shop Crawl, which offered a way “to connect the World Trade Center with the Design District,” according to event co-founder Sabrina Smid, and brought all the fun of a pub crawl to Dallas’ many impressive showrooms.
Shop Crawl guests (including myself) hopped on free shuttle buses to the Design District and received “passports” to keep track of visited showrooms, who each provided hor d’oeuvres, drinks, special discounts, and raffles. Scott + Cooner served up margaritas while McGannon Showrooms threw an ice cream social, both of which were welcome complements to a day of browsing luxury furniture.
One of my favorite stops on the crawl was Empressive GeoDesigns, a stunning showroom filled with hundreds of spectacular geodes that come from places near (Arkansas) and far (Brazil). All of the crystals, minerals, and geodes are collected and curated by owner Empress Gilbert, who kindly answered a question (that is presumably asked of her all the time) by saying she has just two geodes in her home—one that was half a million dollars and one that was fifty cents. A balanced life is important!
The event allowed design enthusiasts to visit showrooms they might never have explored otherwise and highlighted all of the Design District’s fabulous resources. Click through our slideshow to see some of our favorite sights from the Home & Gift Market as well as the Shop Crawl.
