Gift shop plans 21st anniversary celebration
Michigan — Stella Delap, owner of Basket Kreations Gift Shoppe in Downtown Plymouth has seen a lot of ups and downs over the last 21 years. Since starting the business out of her basement, she has survived a recession, a collapsed roof, relocation, and now a streetscape construction project but she stays inspired by the happiness her gifts and gift baskets bring to their recipients.
Delap will celebrate the store’s 21 years with cake, prizes and other fun surprises 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday at the store’s location on Forest Avenue in downtown Plymouth.
“People said I was crazy,” she said. “In 1989, times were not good. I had left my professional job years before to have my two boys. They were getting older and I wanted to do something more, but I also wanted the flexibility to be there for them when they needed me. Finding a happy medium between work and home when your kids are little is not easy. I didn’t know where I could find a job like that so I decided to create my own.”
She heard about the idea of baskets while researching ideas in Entrepreneur magazine.
“It reminded me of when I was younger, Watching my mom create these fabulous baskets for people,” Delap said “She would give them as gifts to family and friends and sometimes make things up for people in need. She took time with them and made every little detail so beautiful.
“The look on a person’s face when they opened those lovely baskets full of goodies–you could see she had made a difference to that person with her gift,” Delap added. “She could make a person’s day with a basket! She passed away in 1983, a few years before I opened the business.”
