The Christmas Village store was opened 28 years ago by Gudrun Reinhold and her husband, Falk Reinhold, who died just over a year ago.

After closing for a short time following his death, the store reopened in time for the Christmas season last year, however, the Christmas Village is shutting its doors for good on Wednesday to make way for a rustic-furniture store.

Known as much for it’s European handcrafted Christmas decorations, as its prolific warning signs in its interior. Customers were often baffled by the signage telling them, to among other things, not proceed any further unless they intended to purchase something!

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Ok, so while the signage and rules got our attention, what was special about Christmas Village? Well, in a market saturated with mass-produced imports, they provided Victoria with exquisite handmade European Christmas ornaments. Countries such as the Czech Republic, Poland and Germany, where handblown and decorated ornaments are still a tradition.

It’s not clear how much longer Christmas Village will be open.

The 106-year-old, two-storey building at 1323 Government St. is still for sale at $1.275million.