Slovacek’s convenience store is located just off Interstate 35 in West, Texas (population 2,575), halfway between Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin. Known for homemade sausages, delicious barbeque and craveable bakery treats, including 37 types of kolaches, the unique travel center also carries a wide array of general merchandise for travelers and locals—most notably, its year-round selection of Christmas decorations located in a separate building on the property’s seven-acre lot.

Christmas is Slovacek’s owner Tim Rabroker’s favorite holiday, and he celebrates all year long. In 2020, Rabroker commissioned the construction of a two-story metal building just south of the original store. The second floor currently serves as storage, and the 8,600-square-foot first floor is a general merchandise shop. Since 2022, about 5,000 square feet of that space has been devoted exclusively to Christmas decor for inside and outside the home.

“We have all kinds of decorations and ornaments,” said Ray Rabroker, general manager of Slovacek’s and Tim’s brother. “If you can think of it, we probably have it. We have several big manger scenes, holiday metal yard art and Santa Claus figurines that are dressed in exquisite clothes for inside the house.”

The figurines are produced by Mark Roberts, a California company famous for meticulous handcrafted dolls and holiday décor. Mark Roberts products also are carried by department stores such as Neiman Marcus, Dillard’s and Frontgate.

While Slovacek’s doesn’t sell inflatable plastic Santas like those available from big box retailers, shoppers can pick up a sturdy, life-size Santa to welcome guests on the front porch or a glass-blown tree ornament from Old World Christmas, a brand coveted by collectors. Slovacek’s also sells artificial Christmas trees. “We’ve had them as high as 10 feet tall, but the average is 5.5 to 7 feet,” Rabroker said.

About five or six times a year, someone will come in and buy a decorated tree with all the ornaments.”

To showcase available ornaments, Slovacek’s staffers decorate several artificial trees that serve as displays and sell the merchandise directly from the faux branches. “About five or six times a year someone will come in and buy a decorated tree with all the ornaments, and we have to get out our calculators,” Rabroker said. “By the time we take down a fully decorated tree and pack it up, we’ve got about six man-hours in it. But it’s a pretty good sale.”

According to German folklore, nutcrackers given as gifts bring the recipient good luck and protect the home. In West, shoppers will find a huge assortment of holiday nutcrackers that go beyond the traditional wooden soldier. “Nutcrackers can be anything,” Rabroker said.

Other seasonal offerings include holiday planters, angel figurines, candy cane houses, table decorations and framed prints of Santa Claus with his reindeer or seasonal snow scenes. The Christmas store also carries authentic cuckoo clocks made in Germany. “They’re nice and go up in price,” Rabroker said. “A large, elaborate one runs $500 to $600.”

About 80% of Slovacek’s customers are travelers, Rabroker estimates. “They purchase [Christmas ornaments] all year long,” he said. “But come the first of October, they start buying more. By the first or second week of November, it’s pretty steady.”

He believes that about 60% of holiday purchases made before October are for the buyer’s own use and 40% are destined to be gifts. That changes in early December when he guesses the sales are 30% keepsakes and 70% gifts.

They purchase [Christmas ornaments] all year long. But come the first of October, they start buying more.”

The Slovacek’s team enjoys promoting the store and has fun while doing it. A rent-a-Santa has made a few pre-Christmas appearances to attract shoppers and entertain the proverbial kids of all ages. “Santa posed for free photos, and some of our employees dressed up as elves,” Rabroker said. Another Instagram opportunity is the permanent 16-foot train parked near the holiday store, which is large enough for kids to sit in.

While the primary focus continues to be Christmas, the store doesn’t ignore other holidays. Slovacek’s brings in special decorative items for Easter and Halloween, plus a substantial card selection for Valentine’s Day.

A full-time Christmas store is an unusual addition to a convenience store, but Slovacek’s had space for an extra building with plenty of parking, a customer base that’s heavily comprised of travelers and an owner with a passion and desire to make the holidays happen 365 days a year. Plus, margins on Christmas merchandise are good—about 40-45%.

“That’s if we hold to our price,” Rabroker said. “But if you haven’t sold it by the week before Christmas, you better drop the price if you don’t want to wrap it all up.”