Sunday, December 05, 1999
Full of Goodness carves niche in gift-basket items
BY JENNY CALLISON
Enquirer Contributor
Kim Meyers' new business is a gift. Her Hamilton shop, Full of Goodness, is a cache of treasures: aromatic, attractive items destined for gift baskets. Goodies range from specialty foodstuffs — chocolate truffles, smoked salmon and sausages — to high-end bath products.
The shop provides everything necessary for the last-minute shopper. Within minutes, a customer can select just the right basket, line it with colorful shredded paper and tuck in a variety of goodies. Cellophane wrap and ribbon complete the package, and you're out of trouble and out the door.
Although Mrs. Meyers is well-prepared for this retail scenario, most of the shop's current customers are other merchants.
“Ninety percent of our customers are wholesale, like florists,” she said. “They put the baskets together themselves, and sell them.”
Since Full of Goodness opened Sept. 24, the wholesale part of the business has done extremely well, Mrs. Meyers said. “We sent out postcards right before we opened to gift basket companies. And we do have a catalog flier that we mail out.”
Their prime market is small vendors who sell gift baskets but can't meet suppliers' minimum orders, Mrs. Meyers said. One candy company, for example, requires customers to order a minimum of $1,000 worth of merchandise.
“People can buy Stewart's Coffee straight from the company in Chicago,” said Mrs. Meyers' husband, Jon, Full of Goodness' managing partner. “But they have to purchase two cases of each flavor. Here, you can buy two packets.”
No other business in this area provides the products and service that Full of Goodness does, Mr. Meyers said.
“As far as having 35 vendors under one roof, there just aren't any,” he said. “There is one store in Dallas, Texas, that we patterned ourselves after.”
Both husband and wife have backgrounds in retail management. Mrs. Meyers works as an accountant for a wholesale flooring company and fills in behind the counter in the evening and on weekends. She also handles the company's books and other paperwork. Mr. Meyers staffs the shop and researches gift foods to expand its merchandise mix.
Full of Goodness has exclusive area distribution rights for half of the products it carries, Mrs. Meyers said. For many other products, the store is the only purveyor in the Cincinnati area.
Recently, Full of Goodness added Shock Coffee, a California-based line of products for caffeine cravers. It also features several Ohio foods, such as Holopops and Fawn Chocolates from Cincinnati and Rossi Pasta from Marietta.
“They've done a magnificent job with the store,” said customer Myrna Eckler, owner of Baskets by Design in Monfort Heights. “They have a small store but carry quality items at good prices. You can go out there and buy a couple of each item instead of having to buy several hundred dollars' worth from the company. And you can see the products and the packaging.”
A recent article about Full of Goodness in Gourmet News, a trade magazine in Maine, prompted telephone calls from all over the East Coast.
“It was overwhelming,” Mr. Meyers said, adding that while many of the calls came from potential customers, others were from suppliers who wanted the shop to carry their products. Still other callers were looking for exotic ingredients for their culinary specialties.
That's not an area Full of Goodness plans to explore.
“We won't do any grocery-store products except for Jelly Bellies,” Mr. Meyers said, explaining that their goal is to increase the number of product lines they stock but maintain a focus on specialty gift foods.
Full of Goodness is also working on building its retail base, an effort that includes improving its environment.
“We sweep our sidewalks and curbs,” Mr. Meyer said. “Now some of our neighbors have started doing the same thing. There's less trash on the street.“
One neighbor is Heaven Sent Christian Bookstore. The Meyerses have bought inspirational books from the store to include in gift baskets, such as those for people who have lost a loved one.
“Bereavement baskets are becoming very popular,” Mr. Meyers said. “A lot of people are sending them instead of flowers.”
Shannon Cook of Eaton, Ohio, recently posted a comment about the shop on an Internet gift basket message board.
“I just have to put a plug in for Full of Goodness. I was able to visit their store today, and they have a wonderful supply of just about everything!” wrote Ms. Cook, who owns Apple Creek Gift Baskets.
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