About Personally Yours Gift Baskets Celebrates 30 Years of Holiday Seasons
Personally Yours Gift
Baskets Celebrates 30 Years of Holiday
Seasons
Personally Yours Gift Baskets of Clark, New Jersey will be celebrating 30 years of holiday seasons this December, an accomplishment small business owners dream of. With such a monumental anniversary approaching, local residents have become curious as to how this customized gift basket and chocolate shop has come to experience such success and security, especially in an economy where local stores find difficulty in keeping their doors open for longer than a few years, even months.
Dean Russo, the owner of Personally Yours Gift Baskets and Clark resident, was excited to share the story of the business he holds so near and dear to his heart. Dean, who wasn’t born into the gift-giving industry, was actually an accountant in New York City in the 80’s and progressively noticed the up rise of gift baskets in the corporate industry and the lack of businesses in New Jersey who offered them. That is when he decided to bring it here himself. In 1988 Russo opened the doors to the first Personally Yours Gift Baskets in Cranford, NJ completely from scratch.
Russo opened the store focusing on corporate and business accounts and soon found himself with major clients specifically in the pharmaceutical industry including Johnson & Johnson and Hoffman LaRoche. PYGB even assisted in Schering Plough’s launch for Claritin and produced over 3,000 baskets in one order. With time he also found success in personal baskets as well as small and medium-sized businesses which used the gift-giving industry to reinforce relationships with both clients and employees.
For the next few years, business continued to sky rocket and it wasn’t until the tragic and unforgettable events of 9-11 when everything Russo had learned about the industry would change. With New Jersey and New York suffering, the location of his clientele, the idea of gift giving instantly declined. “No longer did sending gifts seem appropriate” Dean recalls, “in order to keep my business alive and thriving, my game plan had to change.” Russo began looking into acquisitions rather than marketing and purchased his first business-client list from one of his local competitors Celebrations. With this move proving successful he continued on and acquired the client list from From Fruit to Nuts of Short Hills in 2008 and then another from Wayne’s Market of Red Bank in 2014. In 2015, PYGB ventured out again and paired up with Balic’ Winery which enabled them to supply clients who desire wine as part of their gift giving options. With these small but plentiful acquisitions, Russo broadened his clientele while still keeping his small business feel, often a strategic plan of larger companies. Russo states, “No matter how many years you have been in business you cannot stop striving for growth.”
So what is the difference between Personally Yours Gift Baskets and other big box stores? The answer is simple: customization, budget, and customer service. As opposed to other larger chain companies, you are not picking something out of a magazine or online where what you see is what you get. Personally Yours Gift Baskets customizes baskets to a person’s liking and budget no matter if it is one basket or 1,000. Russo explains, “While we don’t mind national companies as they support the notion that gift giving is an important aspect of reinforcing relationships for both personal and business, we take it that extra level by customizing to order and giving the option to include company logoed and marketing items in addition to quality hand-picked items.” He goes on to say, “Every year we go to several tradeshows seeking out the best gourmet items, negotiating prices, and keeping our gift baskets affordable and of high-quality brands.”
Today, Personally Yours Gift Baskets has clients who have been with them for almost 30 years, and still serving a variety of industries both big and small. From large manufacturing companies who place year-round orders to show thanks to their employees and customers, to smaller financial and specialty businesses who use gift baskets as a token of appreciation for other’s trust in their services.
“That is why it is with such pride to be celebrating our 30th holiday season this year and to constantly be evolving with the industry; always seeking products to keep things fresh and new,” Dean states. “We offer a wide selection of gourmet chocolates, fresh cheeses, Balic’ wines, assorted cookies, nuts, and dried fruit which can be arranged in a large selection of containers aside from baskets such as boxes, salad bowls, ice buckets, and magazine holders.”
To celebrate their 30th holiday season and client appreciation, Personally Yours Gift Baskets will be hosting an open house anniversary event on November 24th (small business Saturday) from 12p.m. to 4p.m. There will be wine and cheese tasting, gourmet product sampling, and a preview of their holiday gift basket collection.
The store itself is truly worth a visit which is full of house décor, host and serving utensils, wine accessories, and enough sweet and savory treats to leave any foodie happily satisfied. Visit today at 23 Westfield Ave. in Clark or call 908-272-3737.