Boca Park shop aims to provide perfect gift ideas

So many gifts to buy, so few gift ideas. It's an annual dilemma, sometimes even a monthly one.

If your hostess gift never gets more creative than a bottle of wine, there's a store in town that can help you appear much more thoughtful than you really are.

J.Glenn at 750 S. Rampart Blvd., No. 13, in Boca Park, is a home, jewelry and gift boutique owned by couple Jonathan Nichols and Alan Shaw. Shaw brings the business sense, while Nichols' love of design spills off the shelves and hangs from the ceilings. Their hope for J.Glenn, which opened in August, is to make Las Vegas homes more beautiful and provide the perfect gift ideas customers can't wait to take credit for.

"I don't bring anything in unless I think it's fabulous," Nichols says of his inventory, as he picks up items and gushes over each one.

He focuses on quality and rarity. Some of his products are also sold at Bloomingdale's and Neiman Marcus, others are J.Glenn-exclusive in Nevada. That said, price points are diverse. Holiday items, for instance, start at $5 for a candle ring that can double as an ornament.

Customers are greeted with the smell and sight of Christmas when they enter the boutique, three doors down from The Cheesecake Factory. A giant Christmas tree decorated in hues of gold stands at attention in the entryway. Another one, with a top hat for an ornament, serves as a surprise farther back in the store.

It's the unexpected element itself that makes J.Glenn the kind of treasure trove customers will want to tell both everyone and no one about. Nothing threatens distinction like duplication, after all.

"We try to find the creative stuff they don't have at all those chains," Shaw says.

A few examples: L'Objet platinum 24 karat gold salt and pepper shakers ($175) plated with Swarovski crystals in the form of little turtles; Magnificent Baby onesie and pants set with magnets instead of buttons ($33.95); JG Silver Collections full Christofle tea set from 1910 Paris ($2,900); Offensive & Delightful greeting cards ($4.25) that live up to their name; Ziba Designs layered necklace ($37.50) that strikes close resemblance to a Van Cleef & Arpels one priced at $16,000.

This isn't the first retail effort for Nichols and Shaw. They moved to Las Vegas from Lake Tahoe, where for seven years they owned Seasons, a boutique with the same concept as J.Glenn, whose name consists of Nichols' first initial and middle name. Tired of "driving 45 minutes to shop at Whole Foods," they packed up and headed south.

Nichols' penchant for all things design was evident early on. He used his first paycheck at age 13 to buy his mom a lamp and new end tables.

"I've always had the passion of making a space beautiful," he says.

According to him, the home is too often the last investment that people make related to design. To give his customers a little motivation, he allows them to take large-priced items home for a 48-hour test period. If it doesn't work the way they'd envisioned, they can return it. If J.Glenn doesn't hear back, they charge the customer's card.

"We're going to be around a while," Shaw says. "We're trying to build relationships."

Their first effort in that direction comes Dec. 13, when 25 percent of all sales will benefit After-School All-Stars Las Vegas.

"We're not just here to find gifts," Nichols says. "We're here for the community, too.

Further information about the store is available by calling 425-7636.

Contact Xazmin Garza at xgarza@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0477. Follow her on Twitter @startswithanx.