Mar 24, 2009

Gift shop owners get by in the slow economyBy Sydney SchwartzPatriotLedger.com

Scituate — They are carefully budgeting advertising dollars by e-mailing loyal customers. They are also supporting themselves with side activities, like selling wholesale products and doing alterations.

Business is hardly booming at local gift and boutique shops, but owners say it could be worse. Even in the worst economy, there are holidays and special occasions to celebrate, and that means there are gifts to buy.

“People are always going to buy gifts for the children. They’re always going to buy Christmas gifts,” said Sarah Nobles of Mono Mono, a boutique in Marshfield. “I think that would make the bad economy even worse if you just had to stop celebrating things.”

After a slow winter retail season, shop owners are gearing up for Easter and Mother’s Day, adding different product lines in a range of prices to their inventory.

“They feel the need to diversify now in this economy,” said Pam Smith, who sells gifts, books and toys to shops around the region.

Patricia Norins, publisher of Gift Shop magazine, a Hanover-based national trade publication, said shops are changing their focus, trying to provide more items for gift-buying than personal spending.

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