BOAT BIZ
PHOTOS BY BRAD SIMMONS
BY ABBY THORPE
Gifts Afloat
MORE INFORMATION Gifts Afloat 25020 Jefferson St. Clair Shores, MI 48080 586-777-8300 GIFTSAFLOAT.COM
50
J A N U A R Y 2022
|
A nautical gift store for every type of boater.
I
“
t’s always been my mission to provide a nautical gift for every occasion: Birthday, anniversary, retirement,” explains Donna Flaherty, owner of Gifts Afloat located in St. Clair Shores, Michigan. From the moment you step in the door, you’re greeted with a warm welcome and an incredible variety of everything nautical, from collectibles to home decor items and every gift imaginable. Flaherty and her late husband started the store in 1976, when her intention was to create a mini department store of all nautical apparel and decor —the things she herself wanted but couldn’t find at any local marine stores. It was before online shopping took off, and Gifts Afloat grew quickly in the ’80s. To this day, things are still done the old-fashioned way. There’s no online store (although they do have a website), you have to experience the magic of the store in person when you step off your boat onto the Nautical Mile.
LAKELANDBOATING.COM
Gifts Afloat is located along the one mile stretch of Jefferson that has been dubbed the Nautical Mile for the many marine businesses that line its streets. This is a popular destination for boaters, and customers arrive at Gifts Afloat from all directions. “As soon as they step in the door, they return,” Flaherty says, who has had clientele from the late 1970s return to the store. “I love the people coming in the door. They’re very kind. The majority of them are boaters, sailors; they love the fact that I have a store open. I provide personal service and they love it.” Flaherty’s products center on the Great Lakes and Lake St. Clair, and she tries to offer Michigan-made products whenever possible. It’s the wide variety of quality, specialty products that really sets Gifts Afloat apart. “That’s what makes it popular — at the end of the day it’s such a variety,” she says. ★
