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SEPTEMBER | PAGE 69 | 2015 "DANCING HAS GIVEN ME MORE ENERGY THAN MOST MY AGE. I CAN WEAR HIGH HEELS AND KEEP UP WITH ANY 20-YEAR-OLD." — PAM PARKER "On Sundays, our only day off from school, I went to the flea markets and shopped and shopped," says Parker, who shipped the antique pieces she bought to Houston, filling a storage unit. Back home in 1985, she scouted for a space to open a catering business, but the right one never materialized. Instead, she saw an empty space on Westheimer that had once held an antiques store. "The space had always caught my eye. I wrote the landlord a check for the first month's rent right on the spot and put all of my stuff from storage in it," she says. Krispen, which opened in 1986, was an immediate success. "I sold $5,000 the first month and $10,000 the next. Then I started traveling to buy more." Impressed by her sales, the Galleria offered her a small space to open a second location inside the mall, next to David Webb. The offer was irresistible. "Rent was only 10 percent of what I sold," she says. She stunned mall management by selling $30,000 the first month. By the end of the first year, they asked her to close her Westheimer store and the Galleria boutique, and move Krispen into a mega 20,000-square-foot anchor space vacated by Frost Bros. She remained in the Galleria for five years, but the period took a serious toll on her body. "I had to maintain mall hours, which meant I was open seven days a week. I was there from 8 am and I left at 10 at night. The result was I was eating nothing but mall junk food and not getting exercise." In 1993, she purchased her charming 9,000-square-foot store on Westheimer and moved Krispen. But the damage had already been done, and her health was on a downward spiral. Eventually she was no longer physically able to travel to Europe on buying trips — something she had done perhaps 60 times in 20 years. Thus, Parker's store has focused on finely crafted, newer pieces since 9/11 when customers' tastes — and the size of their wallets — changed, she says. Gone are the days when a customer would walk in and buy a $50,000 antique center console or drop $250,000 in an instant for a handful of 19th-century furniture. Riding the wave of change, Parker has intentionally evolved Krispen into a destination for smaller decorative items and handcrafted classic furniture inspired by fine antiques. The store is chockablock with styled vignettes of exquisitely carved French and Italian- style consoles, chairs, dining tables, gilt and bone inlay mirrors, contemporary and Asian art, decorative pillows and embroidered linens. Price tags are moderate — the costliest piece she has on the floor is $12,000, but you'll find many furnishings and objects for a few hundred dollars, she assures. A bout a year ago, someone made a lucrative offer to buy the Westheimer building Parker owns, and she decided to close the store and retire. When word got around to her customers, "Some of them came in and cried," she says. "The reaction was overwhelming." The deal ultimately fell through, and although Parker has had other offers to buy the building, she admits, "To be honest, I don't know what I'd do if I sold. I've worked all my life. I love seeing my customers everyday; I'd miss them. They've become my friends." She's now medication-free and in excellent health. "My doctor calls me a swan, because of how I've transformed," she says. Customers don't recognize her. "I have people who come into the store who say, 'I used to buy a lot of stuff from your mother," she says, laughing. "I look into the mirror now, and I can't believe it's me." Mall food is a thing of the distant past. Today she cooks at home, drawing on her French culinary training for the rustic, simple meals she prepares in her beautifully designed kitchen at her townhouse in West University. While cooking is a rekindled passion, dancing has become a five- day-a-week obsession. "Dancing has given me more energy than most my age. I can wear high heels and keep up with any 20-year-old," she says. "It's been a struggle, and there wasn't anyone there to guide me through it. But there is hope. I'm living proof." Parker dances almost every day, as if her life depends on it. And it does. Parker in her West University townhouse. Blue ribbons and metals from Parker's dance competitions. On Parker's vanity, a program from the Royal Ball, held in Los Angeles in April. It was her first competition; she won 10 blue ribbons. The antique piano was a gift from Parker's mother when she was six. Contemporary art from Krispen. French clock, circa 1850. Parker's opera glasses and collection of antique ivory and mother-of-pearl boxes. Dance competition gown that Parker had made in Italy. Custom dance shoes, made in England. Professional dancer/teacher Stefan Golubovic and Parker competing in Tampa in June, where they snagged nine first-place ribbons.