What Is A Gift?

Posted 07/10/2009
The main topic of discussion in the office this week has been one that is close to home for all of us in the giftware business.

Why do we choose a certain gift?
The simple answer is as a token of appreciation, love or thanks but what drives us towards a certain gift for a certain person?

We spend hours agonising over the things we give measuring up colours, styles, size, personal taste, cost and value only to find what we give often suffers the same fate as those gifts you have at home hidden in the dark recesses of a cupboard. Brought only into the light when your old aunt Meg comes to visit when the said gift takes pride of place on the sideboard filling your otherwise reserved display of art deco cork screws with an infusion of colour that could only be a tasteful and eloquent decorative miniature Teapot.

For this very reason when we source our products we have to give way to the voice of reason and look beyond our personal tastes. I always feel that style should outweigh substance but in buying for the mass public this theory is mute. A delicate balance of affordability, style, trend, practicality and desire is ideal but when it comes to the crunch what MR and Mrs Public want remains a mystery that is beyond all comprehension.

So that is the conundrum that H&G are facing. What do you and our beloved public want?
Style, and trend are fickle. Practicality is boring. Desire is in the eye of the beholder. Affordability is a personal choice and taste is impossible to gauge.

All we can do is rely on instinct and cunning and hope that our heads over ride our hearts in our buying so that we can read the emotions of our own particular client base.

Good luck to one and all, I fear we all may need it

Daniel and Prue