Photo by Jon Anderson
Elizabeth Sheaffer
Elizabeth Sheaffer opened Edelweiss Heirlooms this past fall in the Park South Plaza shopping center in Vestavia Hills.
Q: Is this a brand new business or did you relocate from somewhere else?
A: Brand new business. I'm also a professor full time, so this is secondary. I’m a professor at the Samford University School of Pharmacy. I’m the associate dean for assessment and accreditation. I can't be at the store during the week, unfortunately. I've got a couple part-time people that work with me, but I'm always there weekends and some nights.
Q: What motivated you? Why did you want to start it?
A: Kind of in memory of my parents. My dad was in the military, so we lived in Europe when I was little, and both my parents loved collecting, and I kind of caught on. I love collecting, and it just kind of reminds me of Europe. I have a European and American theme, so it reminds me of them. … I think a lot of young people now don’t appreciate things from their family. They just want to get rid of everything, and I'm hoping to change that a little bit — the heirloom part of it, things that you can pass down in your family that remind you of your family when they're gone.
Q: Where do your heirlooms come from — the ones you sell in the store?
A: Most of them from auctions. I have a lot at my house that I haven't parted with yet because they do remind me of my family. So these I bought from all over the U.S. so I can get a good variety, but a few things directly from Europe. I just went to Spain with pharmacy students, so I brought a few new things back from Spain. I order Steinbach nutcrackers new from Germany. So I've got a few new things, but most of it's vintage and antique.
Q: What kinds of things will people find in your store?
A: A little bit of everything. I have furniture. I have a lot of dishes and glassware, porcelain figurines, music boxes. Nothing like Beanie Babies or GI Joes. Although GI Joes technically are collectible, but most of them are made in China, too. I don't intentionally buy anything that's made in China. … I've got a few things from Japan and a few Chinese vases. Other than that, it's all European, American. if you take the time to look around, there's something for everyone. I have stuffed animals from Germany. I have a few dolls. dolls. I've got things for men and women.
Q: What's the most treasured heirloom that you have from your family?
A: I have a desk that my mom bought, I think before she met my dad. That's German. It's big, and it has bubble glass in the front that I really like. Reminds me of her. I'm emotionally attached probably to a lot of the things in my house, which some people say is a bad thing. But yeah, I think everything has a memory to me, you know, where you were when you got that or what it reminds you of.
Q: What do you like to do in your spare time?
A: I don't have any family, but I have pets. I have five cats and a dog, so they keep me busy. Did have two bunnies, but I decided to give them to somebody who could spend more time with them since I opened the store and it's been a little challenging time wise. I’m hoping to adopt teenagers at some point, but the store kind of put that on the back burner right now. … I went through the training a couple years ago, but then decided to do the store. So I’ve got to get this running before I can venture into that.
Q: What are your store hours?
A: We've scaled back to just Thursday through Sunday. So Thursday and Friday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. because I noticed I wasn't getting much business in the evenings.
Q: So you teach in pharmacy?
A: My PhD is in education. I don't teach the science classes. I teach research and professional development. But a lot of my job is administrative. I do assessment and accreditation.
Q: So how long have you been there now?
A: Nine years. I started in March of ‘16.
Q: It looks like a lot of stuff in your store is home décor?
A: Decorations, home décor. I’ve got furniture, too. And people liked antiques, too. I think it's because Alabama's a younger state. … When I went to Spain, we looked at pharmacy museums, and I went to Switzerland for two days. The students had a free weekend, and I flew to Switzerland and to Basel. In their pharmacy museums, the books were 500 years old, and they had a whole case of them.
Q: Have you traveled to Europe much?
A: In 1998, I went to a penpal's wedding in England. And in ’99, I did a tour of Italy, Switzerland, France and England. In 2000, I did a tour of Italy. Been back to England a couple times since then. When we lived in Germany, we had a camper and used to travel around. … And then my dad also worked for the State Department, and he would go to Europe a lot. I didn't go with him, but he would bring back souvenirs, music boxes. I have a whole collection of music boxes.
