The time has passed
when Flagstaff business owners can
take it for granted that residents
will shop locally out of mere
loyalty or a desire to see tax
revenues stay in town. For years,
local businesses have pondered the
question, “How can we keep our
customers from going to Phoenix?”
One local business, Creative Gifts
To Go, now has us asking, “Why would
they want to go to Phoenix?”
In an era of
deep-pocket discounters,
mega-packers and mass merchandisers,
this local business is thriving and
growing. Owner Joyce Reid
contributes it to outstanding
customer service, quality, and the
willingness to take a chance on new
ideas.
Joyce began
Creative Gifts To Go in the autumn
of 1992 as a personalized gift
basket business. During the past 13
years, this gift company with a new
way of thinking has gradually grown
to be much more than merely a gift
basket business. The small retail
shop has expanded to include
handcrafted gifts from local
crafters and is Flagstaff’s only
distributor of the upscale line of
Crabtree and Evelyn toiletries. The
company website
Unique Gifts Online attracts
buyers from all over the world.
Why would you
want to go to Phoenix to shop? “I
can’t imagine,” Joyce tells us. “My
product lines come from all over the
world. That’s today’s advantage of
attending tradeshows and networking
with other gift company owners
through the internet. I import rum
cakes from the Grand Cayman Islands,
tea from the British Isles, smoked
salmon from Washington and Alaska,
and am constantly searching for new
and different products to introduce
to my customers”.
Some of
Joyce’s best customers live in
Phoenix but shop in Flagstaff,
placing their orders either by phone
or email. “I deliver locally and
ship nationwide. Most of the time I
can ship for next-day delivery to a
business address in Arizona cheaper
than my customer can pay to have it
delivered locally. And, I’m familiar
enough with the other gift basket
companies that for those times when
you need same-day delivery, I can
refer you to a company that will do
a good job for you rather than just
choosing a name from the phonebook.”
Joyce prides
herself on her reputation of
providing outstanding customer
service. Realizing that time is
valuable to her customers, Joyce
makes regular “in-your-office
presentations.” No longer do you
have to fight traffic and crowds or
spend hours making the long drive to
Phoenix in the heat to do shopping.
It’s as easy as picking up the phone
and making an appointment to have
Joyce go to your office with her
portfolio and some sample gifts and
baskets. “Each gift order is
custom-designed for each customer,”
Joyce tells us. “The samples give
you much more of an idea of what you
will receive than flipping through a
catalog from one of the national
companies will. Product photography
can make a gift basket appear much
larger and elegant than it really
is. I’ve had customers tell me that
they’ve ordered their holiday
thank-you gifts from some of these
national companies and were
disappointed with what they received
for their money.”
Creative
Gifts To Go works with other local
businesses as well, either
incorporating their products into
her “Flagstaff’s Finest” gift
baskets or serving their customers
who are looking for something
different.
Housewarming
gifts, in all sizes and price
ranges, are regularly used by
Flagstaff Realtors and Property
Managers. There is a large national
company, headquartered in Phoenix,
that some local apartment managers
use for their move-in and renewal
gifts but Joyce now counts eleven of
these complexes as regular customers
for her line of housewarming gifts.
“I can easily compete with the
national company as far as price and
quality and there’s no shipping
costs. I also offer a much larger
variety of gift ideas to choose
from. A large company can’t afford
to provide the individualized
personalization that I offer to my
customers.”
Imprinted
ribbons and personalized advertising
specialty items are two more
features that Joyce can provide. “I
invested in an imprinting machine
several years ago so that I could
personalize the ribbons for my
corporate customers and I’m a rep
for Kaeser and Blair, one of the
country’s oldest and largest
providers of imprinted advertising
specialty items.”
Variety and
uniqueness are two qualities that
Joyce searches for when shopping the
tradeshows. “The term Gift Baskets
is really a misnomer,” she tells us.
“Baskets are still the most popular
container but I use golf buckets,
wagons, birdhouses, flower pots and
even a rolled-up garden hose as a
container. When I shop, I look at
just about everything as a
possibility. Creating
uniquely-different gifts that will
make people smile is what keeps this
business fun and exciting. After
all, my motto is “delivering smiles
nationwide since 1992.”
What does the
future hold for Creative Gifts To
Go? “Our door is always open to new
ideas,” Joyce says. “The willingness
to take a chance is what growth and
business success is all about. For
example, I’ve just completed
shipping out an order of gifts
created as premiums for
subscriptions for a new national
parents’ magazine Recipes4Learning.
This was an opportunity that
resulted from my website. I’m one of
the organizers of The National
Specialty Gift Association, Telegift
International, Giftbasketnetwork and
am editor of the online newsletter
for the industry. I'm also a staff
writer for Rave Reviews, the
national trade publication for the
gift industry. These connections
always provide new opportunities and
new ideas for providing better
service to my customers.”
Why would you
want to go to Phoenix to shop?
Perhaps you enjoy the long drive,
the heat, and maybe even the
excitement of the crowds. But
there’s no reason to go to Phoenix
to buy a gift when you’ve got one of
the best-known gift basket companies
in the state right here in
Flagstaff.
