AUSTIN, Texas — For several generations, it was considered South Austin’s best-known display of outdoor Christmas lights. The Crumley Grocery Store on Interstate 35 near Onion Creek shined like a beacon on cold winter nights as thousands of festive lights meant the holidays were here.
In 1965, D.E. Crumley and his wife, Nova, opened the Crumley Store on the newly built I-35. It soon became an Austin landmark known for its impressive Christmas light display. Mr. Crumley said that putting up Christmas lights for the public was a family tradition begun by his parents at his childhood home.
The lights were a familiar landmark for travelers along the interstate begining around 1970. A story in the Austin American-Statesman once noted that "people didn't fall in love with the store's produce, but rather Mr. Crumley's charm."
Texas Monthly listed the store under Best Christmas Decorations in its article "The Best Strikes Back" and mentioned it again in 1982, stating it took "D.E. Crumley four days to string the 2,400 lights."
Music videos shot at the store included "Guitars, Cadillacs" for Dwight Yoakam and "God Bless Texas" for Little Texas. When the store was sold, the Crumleys continued the Christmas light tradition at their home in Kyle with even larger displays.
Mr. Crumley passed away in 2016 and was preceded in death by Nova, who died in 2013. They had been married for 76 years. And although the Crumley Store is no more, many long-time Austinites will remember that bright spot on South I-35 at holiday time.