Special Gifts Section

Great Ideas for Gifts (From page 113)

carry everything from the cradle to the grave. We’re in a very small community, so we have to do it all.” Werner added, “You have to do everything you can to stay afloat in a small town [Humphrey has a population of 750 residents]. It was something I was told I was good at—arranging and putting things together. The main thing is it was a great fit for our paint section and the expertise we work with. We worked hard to bring in gift lines.” Werner’s measures 6,000 square feet, including the hardware section.

Customers at Pemberton Pharmacy & Gift in Salisbury, Md., are often surprised to come in for a prescription and find gifts that can rival the most high-end gift boutique. “We are a little different from pharmacies that sell gifts,” said Angie Alonge , Pemberton’s manager/buyer. “We are definitely a high-end gift boutique that caters to the women’s demographic. That said, our biggest seller in gifts would be jewelry, and more broadly, any accessories—scarves, perfumes. We sell Bare Minerals makeup, which is a huge seller. We sell a lot of fragrances. Inis has been a huge seller ever since we brought it in. From there, it would be our baby stuff. We have in-house monogramming, so blankets, bibs—anything that can be embroidered sells well for us.” Alonge said the store’s owner/pharmacist wanted to bring the boutique pharmacy concept from his hometown of Philadelphia to his new home when he relocated to the Salisbury area. “The owner’s wife was into interior design, so they teamed up and opened a boutique pharmacy. People walk in and say, ‘Whoa’. We bring something different to the area. When you think boutique, we are the very epitome of a boutique.” Alonge said Pemberton has won several “Best of” awards over the years.

Patrick Mede , owner of Ulmer’s Drug & Hardware in Homer, AK, said the gifts in their 33,000-squarefoot store are meant to appeal primarily to their strong summer tourist population. “Our best-sellers are generally our customized postcards from Lantern Press and local artists. We sell thousands of them every year. They have a great assortment of relevant Alaskan images to choose from such as eagles, bears, fish, whales, mountains, et cetera. We even created a custom image of our town’s landscape that is by far our most popular design,” he said. “These images also do well on coasters, mugs, and magnets. Tourists love hyper-local art on an affordable product, so postcards seem to be a part of most every purchase.” He added, “Our other top sellers are customized Alaskan T-shirts and sweatshirts.

Continued on page 116