Immaculate Heart shop seeks to provide meaningful gifts

Intermountain Catholic

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Standing among religious pictures and CDs sold at Immaculate Heart Religious Gifts and Books, owners Julie Carlson and Carrie Zmyslo credit the help and prayers of their friends and family with the opening of the store. IC photo by Christopher Gray

DRAPER — Connoisseurs love to shop at stores that have something more to offer than just the books on their shelves or trinkets in a basket. At Immaculate Heart Religious Gifts and Books, items from doe-eyed angel statues to masterpieces of 20th century Italian cinema are purveyed with a smile at the store its owners say was "divinely inspired."

Open only since November, and still without a mailbox, the Immaculate Heart gift shop is burgeoning with new retail ideas at its location at the corner of 700 East and 12200 South. Owned by sisters-in-law Julie Carlson and Carrie Zmyslo, the gift shop treats its patrons to a location easily accessible from the freeway and just a few miles from many Catholic churches.

"We were inspired to do more, to minister to the people in this area," said Carlson in an interview with the Intermountain Catholic. Crediting the conception of the retail store to the 2005 Our Lady of Fatima Conference they both attended, Carlson and Zmyslo are happy to afford the time it takes to get a store off the ground.

Serving not only Catholics but also others has been the owner’s favorite experience in the short time they have been operating their store. "Once," said Zmyslo with her candid smile, "a man came in thinking we sold

medical supplies."

Though they haven’t found the perfect gift for people who already have eight rosaries and drawers full of bookmarks, Carlson and Zmyslo are hard at work researching items that both edify and express a thoughtful consideration. The pair rely on the advice they receive from customers and especially the guidance of Holy Cross Sister Patricia Riley, whom they call on for help when facing a difficult decision regarding what to stock on

their shelves.

Zmyslo, however, is more than ready to give good advice to the confused customer. "The spring fashions," she said, "are definitely the Catholic Originals sweatshirts and messenger bags."