The Syracuse Gift Basket Company Blog

Round 1

2009-11-09T09:19:00.000-05:00

The first round of gifts - 92 - is heading out the door today.

Project #2

2009-11-04T09:54:00.001-05:00

No rest for the wicked....we are diving into our next big project. 40 down, 165 to go...

The first wave

2009-10-29T06:57:00.001-04:00

We have a tractor trailer coming today to pick up the first wave of gifts - 9 pallets wrapped and ready to go. I was a little worried about having the space to get these together, but it all worked out fine.

A New Skill

2009-10-28T07:26:00.001-04:00

We learned how to wrap boxes on a pallet yesterday...and discovered that, YES, we can actually fit these things out the door.

The Home Stretch

2009-10-28T07:20:00.002-04:00

The boxes are snaking down the hallway...we're running out of room!

But the client stopped in yesterday and checked on our progress, and they were totally thrilled. If the program is successful, the next time around it will be about 2000 gifts. Yikes!

We are contemplating warehouse space and World Basket Domination....LOL.

Update, Part 3

2009-10-26T09:02:00.002-04:00

And many, many more that still need to be shrink wrapped and bowed. We had a potential crisis yesterday that halted production, but luckily it turned out to be a false alarm. Onward and upward...

Update, Part 2

2009-10-26T09:00:00.001-04:00

We've got about 250 gifts completed and in various stages of production. These are waiting to packed.

Update from the SGB Annex

2009-10-26T08:58:00.002-04:00

We had busy productive weekend at SGB, and we're at about the halfway point with our project. The first wave of baskets are boxed, labeled and ready to go out.

The Basket Factory

2009-10-22T09:50:00.002-04:00

We've had a productive couple days at our satellite location, aka "The Basket Factory". The first 100 baskets are complete and have moved into the shrink wrap area. Thankfully, all the unexpected kinks in the project have been worked out, the rest of our materials have finally arrived, and we're moving full-speed ahead. 540 gifts in 2 weeks? No problem!

Of Mice and Men

2009-10-20T15:01:00.003-04:00

You know that saying about the best laid plans of mice and men going awry?

When we moved to our new space in the spring, we felt pretty confident that the extra square footage and a more easily accessible location would serve us well for at least the next few years.

A few months later, we are pretty well settled in and gearing up for our first holiday season in our new location. At this time of year, we are typically doing a lot of planning - creating holiday designs, lining up extra inventory, and enjoying some free time before the holiday onslaught.

We were surprised (and thrilled!) when we landed 2 large and unexpected new orders, due within a week of each other and both on VERY short notice. We went from being pretty happy with our new space to looking around going, "Really? WHERE ON EARTH are we going to put all this stuff????"

But, we've never backed down from a challenge (like the year we outgrew our original downtown location....but that's another story). We contacted the building manager in our old place on Teall Avenue and rented extra space for the holidays. This will be our satellite location for the next couple of months, devoted entirely to our larger corporate orders. The inventory and supplies have started to arrive, and we are getting ready to start working on the first order - 540 baskets, due in less than 2 weeks, and packed to ship - on pallets no less, which is a first for us.

The picture above is one of our new work rooms - the calm before the storm!

Central NY Products

2009-07-22T12:19:00.002-04:00

We recently set up a display showcasing the many local products we carry.

Custom Gift - Survival Kits

2009-07-21T16:10:00.003-04:00

These cute bags were delivered to the Turning Stone over the weekend for a conference - the theme was "Survive and Thrive".

June Basket of the Month winner - CallieAnn Pappastavrou

2009-07-17T14:14:00.002-04:00

Congratulations to CallieAnn Pappastavrou, the winner of the June basket of the month drawing!

BBQ season is here!

2009-07-08T16:12:00.002-04:00

While the Dinosaur might be the most well-known BBQ joint around here, they are definitely not the only game in town when it comes to sensational sauces and seasonings to add to your grill this summer.

Local entrepreneurs have created all kinds of yummy things - Tom's Bootleg BBQ, Juanita's Soul Classics and Yellow Dog are a few great sauces, and Yellow Dog also makes a wing sauce and a dry rub. If you want a change of pace, try Mare-o-Lin's Chili sauce or Salamida's Spiedie sauce.

I've been a die-hard Dinosaur fan for years, but I have to admit - I LOVE the Yellow Dog.

They say variety is the spice of life....and that's especially true on the grill. ;-)

Pics....continued

2009-06-30T15:38:00.001-04:00

New store pics...interior

2009-06-30T15:37:00.001-04:00

Not that different from our old showroom....the difference is in the "behind the scenes" parts of the store.

New Closeout Gifts!

2009-06-15T16:34:00.002-04:00

When you relocate your business, a funny thing happens...all sorts of odd bits and pieces turn up. Containers left over from big projects, off-season inventory that got lost in the shuffle and things we just plain bought too much of (6 cases of stuffed gorillas? Really? What was I thinking????). And often, our vendors will discontinue an item in one of our standard gifts, which forces us to redesign it - which in turn leaves us with orphan inventory.

Now that things are getting back to normal, we had time to create some fun, creative gifts using up some of that inventory - and we've added them to our "Closeout Gifts" section at deep discounts...at or below cost.

We've added some beautiful new gifts to our regular catalog as well - take a look!

Signs

2009-06-09T12:13:00.002-04:00

...and we finally have a number on the building. We appreciate everyone's patience in tracking us down at our new location.

Our new signs are up!

2009-06-09T12:08:00.002-04:00

Absolute Sign and Awning did a TERRIFIC job on our new signage! Thanks Corinna!

Landscaping

2009-06-03T13:26:00.004-04:00

As we wind down the last of our projects inside the building (and the last of the frost warnings...hopefully), we're starting to tackle the outside. I spent last weekend pulling up 2 foot tall weeds, lugging in soil, and planting new shrubs and perennials in the front of the store. This weekends project: start working on the area that runs the whole length of the building along our parking lot.

May Gift Basket Winner - Christine Praino

2009-06-01T10:10:00.002-04:00

Congratulations to Christine Praino!

Once a month we draw a gift basket winner from our email newsletter subscriber list. It's easy to subscribe - just enter your email address in the "Join our mailing list" box at the bottom of every page of our website, and click "GO".

We promise we won't flood your inbox - we send newsletters out 4-6 times a year, and it's super-easy to unsubscribe if you change you mind.

10 Things I Love About Our New Store (and counting!)

2009-05-02T22:52:00.003-04:00

1. We have the whole building. It's Syracuse Gift Basket world!
2. The bathrooms, and the shower! No more sharing and running out of TP and paper towels.
3. Lots of padded carpeting...so much easier on the feet and back.
4. It looks like us, inside and out. The owner allowed us to paint, and use our corporate colors. And there is a place to put in landscaping.
5. Windows everywhere!
6. It feels really cozy.
7. More space and a basement.
8. Only minutes from everything in the city.
9. Easy to get in and out of the parking area.
10. And, less expensive...how can you beat that?

It's beginning to feel like home...

2009-04-28T20:13:00.002-04:00

Today was definitely bettter. It might have been LOTS better if the illustrious cable company had actually changed our service over! Julie called in MARCH and set up the change for the Friday before our move. Now, however, the company insists that it can't be done until May 1st. The logistics of this whole scenario are daunting. The phones and computers are still in the old store on Teall, so that's where everything is coming in. Consequently, several times over the day one of us runs back to the old store to check e-mails, and the business calls are being forwarded temporarily to Julie's cell. (And we need this while we try to finish unpacking and set up our business???) Trying to keep the flow going with things going every which way is a little insane, but we are hanging tough... just like we always do. ( I believe I mentioned before that we are gritty.) But, two more days of this? It boggles the mind!

On the positive side, our showroom is put together and looking fab! "Mr. Scott" laid the great-looking new floor in the entranceway this morning, we hung the new window treatments, and Julie is arranging the finishing decor on the walls. Somehow we have even managed to have the shelves full of GIFTS! The production room is put together and adequately functioning, the inventory room and basket/box rooms are organized and stocked (much thanks to Laura) and the breakroom is set up. Shipping is a bit haphazard yet, and we still have a small amount of painting and rehab to complete in the back. It has been a little mind-bending going from the high-ceilinged pie shape of our old space to our new squared and compartmentalized layout. But we're managing to rethink everything, and overall we've accomplished miracles!

But best of all, our new space is really starting to feel great. It's cozier and feels like a place we really want to be. It's beginning to feel like home!

What have we gotten ourselves into????

2009-04-27T11:09:00.002-04:00

We made the big move over the weekend - we are officially open at 1015 Erie Blvd East. This is what the space looked like when we we got everything over there - yikes! We've got our work cut out for us.

We've got the important parts of the building functional - but just barely. There are a few remodeling projects still left to do, and we haven't touched the landscaping or settled on permanant signage. We have a paver coming today to look at sealing and striping the parking lot; also, someone was kind enough to dump a load of garbage and construction debris in our parking lot last night (because we don't enough of our own stuff to handle right now....seriously???).

But, we sent our first few gifts out from the new location this morning, and we're looking foward to making ourselves at home in our new space.

Coming up for air

2009-04-22T14:26:00.002-04:00

Whew.....it's been a crazy couple of weeks. We've been working our butts off to get the inside of our new building ready for the big move this weekend. Like any big project, things popped up that we hadn't expected - plumbing issues, replacing the hot water heater, and a leaky roof. Luckily, our new landlords have been fantastic partners in resolving the problems.

We've gotten most of the interior painting done (17 gallons of paint later), with the exception of some trim touch up and a couple of the bathrooms. The carpets have been steam cleaned, the kitchenette installed, and we're almost ready to go!

In the midst of all this, we had a large corporate order (118 pieces) to get out on Monday, and Administrative Professional's Day to get through (usually our biggest holiday next to Christmas). As the day winds down and the last minute gifts go out, we're turning our focus to packing up the store and making our move.