Mar 17, 2009

Gift shop proprietor offers the personal touchBy BirminghamPost.net

An entrepreneur who has just launched a gift shop in Bournville is hoping to beat the recession by selling products with a personal touch.

Helen Dean, owner of ‘Gifted’ in Bournville Lane, said living in France for several years had influenced her approach to running the store which provides a bespoke gift-wrapping service alongside a selection of hand-crafted cards, bringing continental customs to the streets of Birmingham in the process.

“I thought the gift-wrapping idea was a very French thing which I could use as part of a personalised service for my customers,” she said. “We always have to buy gifts for various occasions and people can come here instead of going into town so they are buying local as well.”

Miss Dean said, despite cultural influences from her time spent in different places around the world, the emphasis on her company would always be to supply British products whenever possible.

With her shop in the heart of one of Birmingham’s most unique areas, she said it’s “properly old-fashioned” style was perfect for her business model.

“The shop looks a bit different and lively, not your usual retail outlet,” she said. “I think this will help me make a success of it, despite the economic climate.”

She had taken the advice of investment specialists in setting up her business, in a bid to beat the effects of the recession and, whilst some of the biggest names in the high street had succumbed to the downturn in the retail sector, she said it was a focus on providing a unique service to the customer that would be the key to the business’s success.

“Selling gifts could possibly be recession-proof,” she said. “Naturally we are always going to have periods of decline but, by not charging high street prices and personalising the service, I think we could beat it here in Bournville.”

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