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Lisa Willis and the stained glass shop cat Moonpie at The Glass Angel. The business' name comes from a glass angel that Willis' parents gave her when she attended Meredith College.
After decades of change, downtown Burlington has had one constant: The Glass Angel. This weekend the stained glass business will celebrate its 25th anniversary.
Lisa Willis opened The Glass Angel in 1996. At the time, she had been teaching stained glass classes at Alamance Community College part-time for several years while working for the North Carolina Employment Security Commission full-time. She decided it was time for a change.
The Glass Angel, which will celebrate its 25-year anniversary Saturday, is located at 224 E. Front St. in downtown Burlington.
Times-News
Courtesy of Lisa Willis
"I just needed something a little more creative," she said. "I had always been drawn to stained glass and colorful things. ... I just knew that that would be something exciting to try and I have enough common sense and practicality that I thought it'd be worth it."
The Glass Angel started out on the second floor of Lionheart Antiques. The antique shop owners, Kate and David Byrd, offered Willis use of the space and she dove in.
The business' name comes from a glass angel that Willis' parents gave her when she attended Meredith College. The trinket was meant to symbolize the college, which was nicknamed the angel farm. When Willis set out to find a second glass angel, she realized she could learn how to make stained glass and thus began her journey.
Four years after The Glass Angel opened above the antique shop, Willis started renting her current location at 224 E. Front St. About six years ago, she purchased the space.
Lisa Willis and the stained glass shop cat Moonpie at The Glass Angel. The business' name comes from a glass angel that Willis' parents gave her when she attended Meredith College.
Times-News
Courtesy of Lisa Willis
"When I first started I had a very small amount of gifts to go along with the (stained) glass supplies and I still taught at the community college," Willis said of the early days. "I now have a large classroom here and teach four days a week."
In addition to stained glass classes, The Glass Angel sells stained glass supplies and creations by about 120 different artists including Willis herself.
"It's very colorful and people come in and make something and they're just so excited to have created something," she said. "We have a really good time in the classroom and people are doing all sorts of different things from kaleidoscopes and stepping stones and lamps to panels and things to go outside, things to hang inside. Everybody's doing something different and people just have a really good time with each other."
To celebrate the business' 25 year anniversary, The Glass Angel will host a celebration from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 21. The celebration will include food, special sales, a prize wheel featuring items from other downtown businesses, a beanbag toss, a puzzle table and live music from 1 to 3 p.m.
In an area where so many businesses have come and gone over the years, Willis attributes The Glass Angel's staying power to its uniqueness and its loyal customer base.
The Glass Angel in downtown Burlington was born out of Lisa Willis' love for making stained glass art and teaching others how to do it.
Times-News
Courtesy of Lisa Willis
"It is a unique business and I think having established a pretty loyal clientele to start with and built on that (helped)," she said. "There were times when things got a little rough and I wondered if I still want to keep doing this, but I got through those times. There were times when there was hardly anybody else down here on the block, but I still was teaching four days a week and had a lot of folks traveling in (for) the stained glass, the sheets and that sort of thing. So that's really kept me going."
As new neighbors and a revitalization efforts have rolled back into the downtown area, Willis said she is grateful to be part of thriving community.
"I'm just really proud to be part of the Burlington downtown community," she said.
To learn more about The Glass Angel or for detail on this weekend's anniversary event, check out the business' Facebook page.
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Elizabeth Pattman is the trending topics reporter for the Times-News in Burlington, covering business, COVID-19 and all things trending. Contact Elizabeth (she/her) at epattman@gannett.com. I'm also available on social media @EPattmanTN on Twitter or @burlingtontimesnews on Instagram.
