It Won't Be a Blue Christmas for Elvis Presley Enterprises

Creating holiday gift baskets doesn't have to be limited to the traditional snowmen, sleighs and red and green enhancements. Consider creating themes that reflect the interest or hobby of the recipient. Now that Elvis Presley Enterprises has rolled out four new holiday coffee flavors, for example, the Elvis fan would get a thrill from these blends: Blue Christmas, Santa Baby, Love Me Tender and decaf Silent Night. To learn more about other rockin' good Elvis javas, roll over to elviscoffee.com

For another great themed gift basket idea, view the demo on my homepage at giftbasketbusinessworld.com . To access it, enter
User name: VIB
Password: profit

Sell Your Gift Baskets to the People Who Have Money

Most gift basket designers begin with great enthusiasm and hope. They create a business plan, gather inventory, set up a studio, create beautiful designs and maybe even start a website. Soon they’re ready for business. Sadly, the majority of these startups go out of business within the first year. There are many reasons that businesses fail, but one key reason is not earning enough money to realize a profit.

Business owners can sabotage their own money-making efforts by pricing their products and service too low, and marketing to customers who don’t have the means to use their service. If you want your business to thrive don't fish in an empty pond. Consider marketing to the affluent. There are several good reasons to do this.

1. The wealthy can afford your products and service. When famous bank robber, Willie Sutton, was asked why he robbed banks, he said “Because that’s where the money is.”

2. Many affluent are not sunbathing on a beach, but often work hard long hours and can be reached before and after business hours more easily than the 9 to 5’er.

3. The truly rich have worked hard for their money and don’t just throw it away, but they appreciate good service, convenience and quality.

Learn more about marketing to the rich from Thomas J. Stanley. He wrote the book.

Gift Basket Designers Write, Right?

You’re a gift basket designer and selecting the best gifts and gourmet food is your primary concern. But at some point. you must write descriptions of your baskets and your service for your website, marketing materials, and business letters. Spell Check is a big help, but if you confuse “effect” and “affect,” for example, you need additional help to make sure you’re saying what you intend and in a way that makes you look good.

Here are some great sources to help you write right:

Top 10 Letters for Gift Basket Designers

Fifty Writing Tools

Online Rhyming Dictionary

Reference Site

Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling

Free Translation

Are Offers of Free Shipping A Good Move for Gift Basket Retailers?

Consumers are looking everywhere for ways to save money, so offers of free shipping for online purchases are quite attractive. These promotions are being offered by 79% of online retailers according to a survey done by Shop.org and BizRate. While this may cause some gift basket designers to want to imitate this move, think about these things before you do.

If 79% are offering free shipping, that means 21% aren't.(WalMart isn't.)

Shipping DVDs and flannel shirts is less labor-intensive and cost prohibitive than shipping a $150 six lb. basket that fills a 16 X 16 X 20 box.

Consumers who buy custom gift baskets are motivated by the uniqueness, personalized service and convenience more than by price or shipping costs.

These free shipping offers are usually available only with a minimum dollar amount purchase.

The Goliaths absorb this loss by placing higher prices on other items and creating higher volume sales.

Retailers don't typically make money on shipping, although consumers mistakenly believe it does. Shipping costs cover the fees charged by your shipping or courier service. If your customer doesn't pay it, guess who does?

This was a survey conducted among willing participants. The findings don't represent how most retailers do business, just how some retailers responded to a survey. The findings aren't directives.

Katrina, Rita and Wilma have certainly dampened some holiday sales this season and sent up red flags to many online retailers, but if you want to come out of the holiday shopping season with your head above water, think twice before you imitate Goliath.

Need help setting prices for your gift baskets? Check out these articles

Pricing Right

A Pricing Formula That Works

How Can You Improve Your Gift Basket Service? Ask Your Customers

Want to improve your gift basket service and increase your profits? Consider creating a survey to submit to your customers. Customer relationships are the foundation of your business. Surveys can help you better understand customer satisfaction, discover the weaknesses in your service, and often get ideas for improvement.

Tips on creating a survey:

1. Decide on the goal of your survey.
2. Write a brief introduction explaining the purpose and how the results will be used.
3. Keep your survey brief.
4. Make each question deal with only one issue.
5. Include an “I don’t know” option and/or space for explanations.
6. Say” thank” you at the end of the survey.

Need help creating a survey? Check out these websites:

Zoomerang

Survey Share Resources

Opinion Power

Cool Surveys

What Christmas Rush? How to Add Life to Sluggish Sales

Here is an excerpt from a subscriber's email:

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Over the past three weeks, we have been giving out colorful marketing packets with all kinds of pictures of baskets to about 250 dentists, doctors, lawyers and wealth management companies. We are hoping that they will call us with holiday orders to thank referring doctors, etc.

Up until now, we have focused on realtors, but the basket orders are few and far between, even though we give away about 2 baskets per month and make all kinds of presentations. Everyone seems to love our baskets, but no one is ordering.

We don't know how much to prepare for the holidays.

Any suggestions?

Thanks very much!

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I suggested to this basket company that they need to follow up. Because they hand-delivered their marketing packets in person, they wondered if they should go back in person as follow up.

Although some business offices and corporations already placed their holiday orders months ago, some have left this task for the last minute. Whether you follow up in person or by phone, you must follow up fast and ask for the order if you hope to stand out from the deluge of other catalogs and promo packets landing in all of our mailboxes during this season.

Blog Readers, what do you think? What advice do you have for this company? Enter your comments.

City Redevelopment Can Mean New Sales

Many major cities around the country are redeveloping and revitalizing. Not only will these cities bring increased business to their communities, but new opportunities for your gift basket business as well.

Downtown Los Angeles, for example, is going through a makeover that will result in a new 1,100-room headquarters Hilton Hotel with 160,000 square feet of meeting space. Named “l.a.live,” this $1 billion, 4 million-square foot complex will also include a 7,000-seat concert hall and 40,000 square-foot open air plaza for outdoor events, a 3,700-seat cinema and more.

In anticipation of the 2008 completion date, the Los Angeles’ convention center and visitors bureau recently launched Direct Line Service, a program for planners who need 10 to 50 hotel rooms per night. Direct Line promises quick response in taking care of all the planners’ requests including car rentals, and more. The planner will receive See's Candies.

Can you imagine business meetings, special events, and conventions without flowers, balloons and gifts? A wealth of sales are waiting for the energetic and resourceful gift retailer: welcome gifts for VIPs, grand opening balloons, appreciation for keynote speakers, thank you for planners, congratulations for awardees, baskets for drawings in show booths, and infinite customized and personalized incentives.

New sales await you. Go after them.

Need more ideas for capturing sales? Get my audio CD, 99 Sizzling Marketing Ideas for Making More Money from January through June.

Ensure Success in the New Year: Plan to Attend Gift Shows in 2006

You may be wading in holiday orders right now, but it’s time to start planning to attend gift shows in the new year. Serious gift basket retailers attend shows to learn about new products, meet with vendors, but also to strengthen their skills by attending educational seminars. No matter where you live it’s likely that there’s a major gift show in your state or a state near you. Start researching now to find out about deadlines, requirements for registration and fees, if any. The larger shows offer free or low-cost demonstrations, seminars and sampling.

Before attending a show, be sure to preregister and plan to carry the following:

plenty business cards

comfortable shoes

water and light snacks

a small notebook and pen

Find the gift show nearest you at Gift Basket Business World.

Candles Can Make Your Profits Shine

Candles make great additions to your gift basket designs. Lighting candles is a central part of the ceremonies and traditions of major celebrations such as Christmas, Kwanzaa. Hanukkah, weddings and birthdays.

But candles are not just a seasonal and special event item anymore. Since scientists revealed that scents and aromas can help affect our moods, scented candles have grown in popularity for year-round use. Candles are now available in a wide variety of fragrances, sizes and shapes, as are many accessories to go along with them. Add candles to your gift baskets as hostess gifts, bath companions, home décor or patio centerpieces. Then watch your profits shine.

Need to find sources for candles, aromatherapy and bath products? See my new directory, Pamper It!

Unwrap the Office Holiday Gift Exchange

Holiday gift exchanges in business offices are popular, but vary widely. Some offices have definite gift policies with someone designated as the facilitator. Other office managers just leave it up to the employees to muddle through the gift-giving season in whatever way they see fit. At the far end of the spectrum are the offices that issue official policies banning gift-giving and even festivities altogether. Somewhere in the middle are the companies who still enjoy informal gift-giving. As a gift expert you may be asked to provide guidance to office workers and managers regarding holiday gift exchanges. Here are some guidelines you may share with them.

1. Participation should be voluntary. Respect the wishes or the workers who choose not to be involved.
2. Set a budget to prevent disparity in gift values.
3. Exchange names or numbers, often called Secret Santa. When names are exchanged the giver can tailor the gift to the recipient. When numbers are exchanged, unisex gifts are best.
4. Avoid gifts that touch the skin: clothing, intimate items, colognes, even lotions.

Read the full article.

Learn more about Business Etiquette in Business Etiquette for the Savvy Gift Basket Retailer.

Stress Customer Convenience to Gain Online Gift Basket Sales

According to Jupiter Research online sales will reach $26 billion this holiday season. Convenience is one of the main reasons customers buy online according to a recent hotel news article.

So have you made your online service convenient? Here are some points to consider:

1. Is your website easy to load? Leave the flashy sites for web design competitions. Too much flash means slower loading. Customers are impatient and will quickly go elsewhere.
2. Are your gift baskets prominently displayed in small and larger images? People love to click to see a larger image for the designs they are considering.
3. Have you adequately described contents and listed prices? Be sure to tell customers which design is shown if you offer more than one size.
4. Do you provide a disclaimer in case you must substitute products?
5. Is there a place in your ordering process for customers to choose shipping options and create a gift card message?
6. Can customers finish the entire transaction including paying by credit card on your site?
7. Do you also offer the option to call or fax for customers who prefer using these ordering these methods?
8. Will you receive immediate notification of the online order in your email?

If you answered yes to all these questions, Congratulations. Enjoy the increased gift basket sales from making your customers’ online experience convenient.

What Do Women Really Want?

Successful gift basket designers must keep up with trends in order to select gifts wisely and meet customer needs. Because women make up 40% of business travelers according to the Travel Industry Association, many companies are earnestly trying to find out what women want.

Mel Gibson tapped into women’s minds in the popular movie, “What Women Want,” with unexpected consequences.

Cyndi Lauper said girls just want to have fun.

Marilyn Monroe insisted that diamonds are a girl’s best friend.

This quest to find out what women want has extended to the hotel industry. Major hotel chains are scrambling to capture their share of this business. According to an article in USA Today, it’s security and luxury that women business travelers want. Some hotels are creating women-only floors, others are stocking the bathrooms with major brand toiletries. While one size definitely does not fit all, major hotels are showing concern for the needs and desires of the business woman.

To get ideas for supplying gift baskets to hotels, read the scrolling hotel industry news on the lower right column of my website.

Stay in Touch to Build Loyalty and Profits

Staying in touch with your current clients is one of the best ways to increase your profits. Research has shown that it’s easier to get more business from current clients than to find new clients. Some of the most effective ways to stay in touch are through postcards, thank you cards and newsletters. If you want to use these methods but lack confidence in your writing skills, consider using a service that does most of the work for you.

I just discovered a customizable newsletter that is fresh, clever and easy to use. In addition to having the option of selecting your own custom title for the newsletter, you can also personalize it with your photo, contact info and even a short message. Started by John and Debra Hamilton, Working Like a Dog is a unique and well-done idea. Sign up for their free newsletter and learn more
at www.workinglikeadog.com

'Tis the Season to Be Cautious: Steer Clear of Strange Gift Basket Orders and Online Fraud

Most gift basket designers long for the “big” order that will yield phenomenal profits and make all the years of hard work pay off. Being able to accept payment for our gift basket orders online has been a tremendous advance in commerce. Unfortunately, some of the crooks who once placed fraudulent phone orders or engaged in shoplifting have now graduated to cyberspace. Here are some of their schemes:

1. Late night orders, especially from outside the U.S.
2. High volume orders
3. Rush orders where they want to pick up the order right away or insist on next-day air and don’t care about cost.
4. Email address is from one of the free email accounts such as @hotmail, @yahoo, @juno.
5. When you try to confirm order by email or phone, there’s no such number or person.
6. They give you several card numbers in case one of them doesn’t go through.
7. Claim they never received order.
8. Claim their card was stolen and the order is not theirs.

To learn what to do if an order seems suspicious,
read the full article

Create Outside the Blahs

Holiday gift baskets are fun to make, but can get ho hum for you and your customers if you limit your selections to the typical red and green or gold and silver packaging and enhancements. To add dimension, life and fun to your array, consider offering designs outside the blahs.

Gifts that speak to the recipient's interests, hobbies or lifestyle are appealing to your customers and treasured by the receiver. Here are some ideas to get you started. After that you're on your own.

1. Millions of women in 29 countries are members of the Red Hat Society, an organization that insists on greeting middle age with verve, humor and elan. Only a fun-filled gift basket, like the one created by Avenue Baskets, would be right for a red-hatter.

2. College final exams take place in December across the nation. This design from Send A Smile Gifts promises to stay up with the tired student all night.

3. Celebrate the recipient's region during the holidays. This Windy City theme blew in from Awesome Creations.

4. Thousands of happy families move into their new homes just in time for the holidays. A housewarming theme, like the pasta design created by Cesta, would warm their hearts and bellies.

5. If there's no slowing down race car enthusiasts, then join them on the fast track with a design inspired by this one from World Famous Gift Baskets.

6. For the couple that chooses the holidays to wed, consider a wedding favor cake not in holiday colors, but using the couples color scheme, of course. World Famous Gift Baskets used stacked wedge boxes to achieve this design.

7. Don't forget that very important family member, the pet. Use the Catch of the Day created by Cats Play as the starting point for your own ideas.

Okay, you're on your own.

Gift Baskets are Everywhere!

Gift baskets seem to be everywhere these days, especially during the holidays. Here are just a few places they’ve been spotted.

1. Schools use gift basket sales to raise money. The students and staff at Maryville Christian School in Tennessee have raised almost $75,000 in the past four years.
2. Art galleries like to showcase stationery or small art pieces.
3. Church bazaar auctions gather donated gift baskets and use the profits for church needs.
4. Craft malls rent space to basketeers and/or take a percentage of the sale.
5. The florist and produce departments of major grocery store chains carry fruit, gourmet and gift designs. While they may occasionally hire outsiders to make these, they frequently count on employees.
6. Bookstores—from college to church—sell gift baskets, usually with related themes.
7. Spas often sell bath products and accessories. Dressing them up in gift baskets helps spur sales.
8. Beauty and nail shops often allow gift baskets on consignment.
9. Corporations may allow vendors to sell in their lobbies on employees’ payday.
10. Decorating stores and firms like designs that emphasize the comforts of home.
11. Restaurants may buy baskets as giveaways so they can collect business cards.
12. Street fairs are weekly events in many cities. Although the majority of products for sale are fresh fruit, nuts, and handmade crafts, gift baskets are often featured as well.
13. Swap meets are often a mix of new and used items. Since folks are looking for bargains, you can expect them to haggle even over gift baskets. Beware that the county health department may scour these venues looking for violations of their health code. If that’s the case, consider showing only nonfood designs.
14. Kiosks and carts in shopping malls are convenient for shoppers.
15. Partnerships between malls and social service agencies provide training and job assistance to teenagers. Bliss Unlimited in Glendale Galleria in Glendale, CA is an example. They carry T-shirts, coffee mugs, candles, gift baskets and greeting cards.
16. Home parties are still popular in some communities.
17. Upscale liquor and liquor accessory stores like to encourage customers to do their gift shopping in their stores.
18. Warehouse and discount stores offer an abundance of affordable designs.
19. Hospital gift shops are convenient for loved ones visiting patients, but the hospital personnel are their best customers.
20. Business conferences and conventions may welcome every delegate or preferred vendor with a gift basket matching the theme of the event.

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If you decide to participate in any of these ventures, or offer your gift baskets in any of these places, be sure to attach your business card or sticker with your phone number, web address and other pertinent contact information.

Increase Your Profits by Creating a Sense of Urgency

Have you ever been the first car in line at the red light? You're lost in thought when the light turns green, but the sudden horn blast from the driver behind you brings you back to Earth propelling you to hit the accelerator and resume your journey. That's a sense of urgency. Who knows how long you would have sat there daydreaming if there were no other cars on the street?

Likewise your customers may be daydreaming, dilly dallying, and "just looking." Even when they visit your website, they may be browsing leisurely. Sure, they're looking for a gift basket, but they're acting as if they have all the time in the world. If they leave without buying anything chances are they won't be back. They need a push, a sense of urgency, to propel them to action.

Have you created a sense of urgency on your website and in your mailers? It can make a difference in gift basket profits during these last few weeks before Christmas sales peak. There are several ways you can do this:

Create time deadlines
Last day for . . .
Early-bird discount expires on. . .
20% discount on orders placed by. .
Free shipping on all orders placed by.

Announce scarcity
Limited quantity.
Only 24 left.
A discontinued item. No more will be available when the last one is gone.

Tell them what to do
Hurry!
Act now!

Appeal to their fear
Tomorrow may be too late.

Let's practice. Which of these creates the most urgency?

48 days left before Christmas
48 shopping days left before Christmas.
Hurry! Only 48 shopping days left until Christmas.

The third one, of course. It combines several categories and may just the thing to light the fire under a lackadaisical customer.

Now get busy. Check your website and mailers. Are you giving your customers a push to buy from you? Hurry! This is urgent!

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Want more business tips? Visit my Business Success Tips.

Before You Pack a Peck of Pickled Peppers

Send your gift basket off to its destination with confidence that it will arrive safely. Here are some tips on how to pack pickled peppers or anything else for that matter.


1. Use a heavy corrugated NEW box with flaps. If you must use a used box it should be clean and look new. Be sure to remove all old labels, stickers and postage. The best buys on shipping boxes will be at packaging supply companies, such as Uline or Tharco, and are sold in sets of about 20 or 25, depending on size.

2. Your box should be big enough to allow about 3 empty inches around your design.

3. If you create designs with a fan at the top, consider a basket that’s tall enough to allow for the fan. Get these from packaging suppliers or box manufacturers since the average office supply store will usually carry just cube sizes.

Read the full article.

You Can Design, but How’s Your Delivery?

You just finished making a gift basket. How do you get it to the recipient? Even if customers walk into your retail store, they may want you to ship or deliver the order. Delivery is an important part of the gift basket business.

In the 1880’s the Butterfield Express took 23 days to deliver letters or packages across the country. When Pony Express signed a contract with the government to deliver army supplies in the West, they could deliver a letter across the country in 10 days by averaging 250 miles a day.

Advances in transportation and communication have made consumers grow impatient. The increase of fast food, fast cars and fast information transmission has made the public expect quick, if not instant service. Also, the success of floral wire services has mistakenly lead the public to believe that the gift basket industry has wire services that work equally as fast and as well. So far that has not been the case. For this reason you must establish some guidelines for your business regarding delivery.

Read the full article.

Design Tips for the Savvy Gift Basket Retailer

1. Remove sticky price stickers or labels safely. To remove sticky tags from anything that's not porous (like paper items,) use a dab of lighter fluid
or charcoal lighter, and rub in circular motions.

2. Prevent blowing holes in your shrinkbag. Snip a tiny hole in the corners or bottom of the shrinkbag before shrinkwrapping it.

3. Make products stand up in a baskets without handles. Create a wall in the center of the basket and place the other items around in front and back of it. Gifts that work well as walls are large picture frames, trays, cork-backed placemats, cutting boards.

4. Tame clashing colors. When the colors of your various products clash, use curling ribbon that’s the same colors. Curl the ribbon and drop it in and around the gift and gourmet food in the basket. Also create a bow using those clashing colors. It’ll appear that those clashing colors belong together.

5. Choose the right basket sizes. Based on the number of items for your designs, choose basket sizes that you can fill to overflowing rather than using extra large baskets and trying to fill them up.

Following these tips can help make your designing easier. To learn more about designing great gift baskets, get Gift Basket Design for Fun and Profit.

Stocking Stuffers: A Profitable Gift Solution

Stocking stuffers are not new, but a new website claims to be the first offering them online. Started by working moms, Barb Sobjack and Caree Brownfield, StockingStuffersToGo.com is starting its first season with hopes of helping customers short on time and ideas when shopping for stocking stuffers. By filling organza sacks with unique, reasonably priced gift items they hope to appeal to the business client in need of low-cost gifts for employees, clients and even the beloved dog.

Many basketeers who offer low-cost alternatives to their customers have simplified their workload and increased their profits. In addition, it's a great way to use still new, but excess inventory. If you need more affordable gift ideas, get my pdf "Satisfy Customer Demands for Low-Cost Gifts." It'll be emailed to you as soon as your order is processed.

Where to Get What You Need for Business Success

Running a successful business requires finding the right information, products, services and vendors. The increasing number of possibilities and choices makes it critical to know where to begin your search. Here are some tips to help you get started:

1. To get driving directions go www.mapquest.com or Yahoo Maps
or AAA.

2. To find a type of store when you don’t know the name of the store go www.yellowpages.com

3. To find a store or person when you do know the name go www.whitepages.com

4. To find gift basket classes in your area call your local community colleges, adult schools, craft suppliers and gift and gourmet warehouses.

5. To learn how to do almost anything go www.about.com or www.howstuffworks.com

6. To find specific wholesale companies by type or state get Contain It!--directory listings of over 100 sources for baskets, trays, tins and many other containers.

7. To find products for your basket designs in downtown Los Angeles, CA, get Where Did You Get That

8. To find gourmet food products get Savor It!

9. To learn how to find wholesale products on your own get
How to Find Products in Your State

10.To learn how to solve computer problems gojefflevy.com

11. To find free and low-cost business classes go to Small Business Development Centers

12. To find gift and gourmet tradeshows, go USTradeshows

This list is by no means exhaustive. As you become more skillful at finding sources you will develop your own favorites and this list will expand. Here's wishing you much success in your quests.

Take Charge of Your Time If You Want to Be Happy and Successful

It always amazes me to hear folks say "I didn't have time," to explain their failure to get something completed. The truth is we all have time: 168 hours a week to be exact. It's fascinating that one person can complete a sculpture, compose a song, or send off a book proposal in the same one-week time frame that others will complain wasn't enough time.

Don't get me wrong. Using your time wisely doesn't mean working nonstop or meditating all day. On the contrary it means balancing your time to get the things done that matter to you. Taking a nap is a very good use of your time to rejuvenate your body. Spending several hours to write a business plan is a very good use of time to ensure the success of your business. Singing a lullaby to your baby is an investment of your time that will pay off in immeasurable ways.

One good way to evaluate your use of time is to keep track of what you do for one whole day. Then decide which of those actions advanced your business or your personal life. Those that didn't may need to be eliminated.

Read the full article

Christmas Greeting More Than Child's Play

My mother often greeted her same-age holiday guests by quickly saying “Christmas gift” before they could say it. Then they would giggle. My childhood mind couldn’t find humor or sense in this practice, but recently I learned its origin.

Although slavery in America was a harsh existence endured by many Black Americans, there was often a brief reprieve from their exhausting work during the period between Christmas and New Year’s when slavemasters allowed slaves to briefly socialize with their fellow slaves on the plantation. Adult slaves would put little presents, such as a piece of fruit or candy, in their pockets. If someone (usually a child) came up to them and said "Christmas gif'" first, they'd have to give them a present. It was similar to the “trick or treat” tradition we celebrate at Halloween.

When I realize that this one week period of time was the only time out of the whole year that my slave ancestors had a break from forced labor so they could act and feel like real families, I’m painfully aware of why the holidays were so immensely joyful for them. For those who were fortunate enough to actually live on the same plantation with their blood relatives, laughing and singing the hopeful strains of the Gospels and carols gave added dimension.

The cultural, sociological and religious history of holiday customs is long and intertwining with many twists and turns. Learn more about the origins of the major holidays and traditions to become a savvy gift basket retailer.

All I Want for Christmas

What do you give a gift basket retailer for the holidays? That’s going to be the dilemma for our family and friends every holiday. Sometimes they do a pretty good job of gift selection. Other times they fail miserably. So, this Christmas I’m not taking any chances. Here’s what I'm emailing to all family and friends.

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Dear Family and Friends,

I love you dearly, and I don’t mean to sound ungrateful
But some of your past gifts were downright hateful:
Boxes of chocolate candy, two pounds of it no less,
Were yummy ‘tis true, but made me bulge in every dress!
No more fuzzy slippers, no figurines to collect dust.
No more plush poodles, or cheap jewelry sure to rust.
To make me truly happy, to ensure my holiday cheer
Choose from the following gift certificates this year:
Bath and Body Works, Nordstrom or Macaroni Grill
Starbucks, Best Buy or Staples would all give me a thrill.
And if none of these suit you, but you want to fuel my panache
Go with the low-tech gift solution: SEND ME CASH!

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Where Did the Gift Basket Business Begin?

Using baskets to carry gifts stems back to the beginning of mankind. Folks in most cultures carried fruit, bread and wine to share with neighbors and friends during the holidays or to cheer the sick. The basket for carrying precious gifts is found through history and literature. Little Red Riding Hood carried treats to her grandmother in a basket.

But baskets always played more serious roles. Being placed in a basket and hidden among the reeds saved Moses from a certain death at Pharoah's direction. Betsy Ross put stars and stripes on the first U.S. flag using needle and thread pulled from her sewing basket.

Gift baskets are now used not just for personal, but also for business gifts. They are now commonly used for thank you, apology, congratulations, and birthday. During the holidays many companies choose gift baskets to extend holiday greetings to their best clients and colleagues.

Modern gift baskets feature varied containers and contents. Any item that will hold gift items can serve as the container: planters, top hats, trays, trunks, wagons, and so on. Contents can range from gourmet food to bath products to toys and whatever the imagination can conceive.

One of the oldest gift basket companies in the U.S. is Harry and David, famous for its picture perfect and delicious fruit. Beginning with 260 acres of orchards in 1910, they have grown to over 3000 acres.

For over 50 years Hickory Farms has been known for its sausage and cheese baskets. Like Harry and David they have expanded their offerings and containers to include many popular gourmet food products.

The gift basket business is one of the fastest growing enterprises, especially for home-based entrepreneurs and retailers seeking to add another dimension to their stores. A number of classes, seminars at trade shows, instructional materials, supplies and informative websites have sprung up to meet the needs of these burgeoning businesses. Whether you are a new or veteran basketeer you are part of an exciting and growing industry. Visit here often to keep up with tips, tricks and my take on the gift basket industry.