Apr 24, 2007

Gifts with a personal touch Robi Nelson combines photography, creativity to make a one-of-a-kind productBy Shenequa GoldingDaily Press

As the owner of a new business, Robi Nelson says that she’s one of Newport News’ best-kept secrets, but not by choice.

Personalize It! Photos and Gifts is a photography/gift shop that is also a distributor for the Magic Picture Company, maker of photos that appear to change from one image to another as you walk past them.

Nelson’s shop can put the customer’s own photographs or a picture taken by Nelson onto an array of items such as pillows, blankets, and handbags. “I do have regular gifts and I have really cute stuff, but no one knows,” Nelson said.

Nelson, who has owned the business for six months, said she opened the store because she wanted to have a business doing something creative. She got the idea after five years as owner of a store in Ohio called The Dog Store, which sold canine-related gift items. At that store, she began noticing people purchased items with generic pictures that resembled their own pets.

Nelson went forward with her business venture, but said it hasn’t always been easy.

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