kellisgifts.blog

A Real Life Hospital Gift Shop Experience

At the ripe old age of 60, I'm keenly aware that most life experiences encompass good & bad, positive & negative, and this past week was no exception!  My older son Nathan, age 39, required emergency surgery at St. Vincent's Hospital in Birmingham, AL, so off I flew from Dallas last Thursday, where I stayed until Sunday, when I was able to take him home to recuperate.  Certainly a frightening experience for me, my son and the rest of our family, but he came through it quite well and is comfortably resting now and feeling stronger every day. 

Now for the good/positive side of the coin:  I got the opportunity to wander through St. Vincent's Hospital Gift Shop and meet its manager, Lee Patterson.  Lee, his staff and his wonderful shop couldn't have been nicer! In fact, Lee even loaned me a phone charger for my son to use while a patient there. He told me how much he enjoyed being a Kelli's customer, and he couldn't stop raving about his Kelli's rep, Mary Ann Petts.  What a pleasure to hear such compliments!

Lee's gift shop was amazing...one of the largest I've ever seen: it even included a book store along with the standard gifts, plush, HBA, balloon treats, candy & snacks, etc. Lee told me that this combined book store & gift shop was among the largest in the nation, and I most definitely believe it!

Having worked at Kelli's Gift Shop Suppliers for nine years now, it was a fantastic opportunity for me to see one of our customer's stores in person, see so many of our products on someone else's shelves, and to actually see one of the statistics I've heard about in action: the largest percentage of hospital gift shop customers are the staffers.  The nurses taking care of my son told me they're always running down to the shop for something...snacks, books, gifts for their kids, etc. 

I actually became a customer as well, purchasing candy bars for my son (a real sweet junkie) and contact lens solution for me.  Thank you, Lee, for providing me with such a positive experience. And thanks to all hospital gift shop managers, volunteers & staff for providing such a fantastic service to hospital staff, patients and visitors!

Shipping Chocolate Candy In Hot Weather

Special care must be taken when shipping chocolates during the spring and summer months to insure their quality. Hot weather shipping is required once temperatures reach 75º.
                               
Most people don't realize that the melting point of chocolate actually depends on the quality and processing methods used.  Since Kelli’s supplies a variety of chocolate candy from multiple vendors, we are forced to “ice” our chocolates at different times.  Below you will find a list of our premium chocolate candy that require our hot weather packaging sooner than our everyday chocolates due to their melting point. The weather dictates the exact dates when we must begin our icing procedures.    

Kelli's hot weather packaging consists of an insulated container and reusable frozen gel-packs.  Hot weather packaging charges are $7.00 per box, with each box holding many packages (based on their size, of course!).  Consider ordering more chocolates with any order, as shipping costs become more reasonable per box.

Item # Description 1353 ORIGINAL ALBERT'S ICE CUBES 1379 LONDON $100 BILL CHOCOLATE MINT 27121 GRAND MARNIER FILLED CHOCOLATE 2827 COLD STONE CREAMERY CHOCOLATE DEVOTION 28281 BAILEYS FILLED CHOCOLATE 28291 MALIBU FILLED CHOCOLATE 2838 COLD STONE STRAWBERRY BLONDE 28471 KAHLUA FILLED CHOCOLATE 3512 LINDT LINDOR TRUFFLES® MILK CHOCOLATE 3513 LINDT LINDOR TRUFFLES® DARK CHOCOLATE 3514 LINDT LINDOR TRUFFLES® WHITE CHOCOLATE 3515 LINDT LINDOR TRUFFLES® HAZELNUT 3516 LINDT LINDOR TRUFFLES®  PEANUT BUTTER 3517 LINDT LINDOR TRUFFLES®  MINT CHOCOLATE 3534 LINDT LINDOR TRUFFLES®  DARK CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY 3539 LINDT LINDOR TRUFFLES® EXTRA  DARK CHOCOLATE 3557 LINDT LINDOR TRUFFLES® STRACIATELLA WHTE CHOCOLATE WITH COCOA 40200 LONDON $100 BAR CHOCOLATE MINT 700103 MRS.CALLS PRETZEL RODS CHOCOLATE 7212 CELLA CHOCOLATE COVERED CHERRIES 4115 RUSSELL STOVER® ALMOND DELIGHT BAR 9540 RUSSELL STOVER® ASSORTED CHOCOLATES 9540EA RUSSELL STOVER® ASSORTED CHOCOLATE S 9540MD RUSSELL STOVER® ASSORTED CHOCOLATES  MOTHERS DAY BOX 9541 RUSSELL STOVER® ASSORTED CREAMS CHOCOLATES 9542 RUSSELL STOVER® NUT, CHEWY & CRISP 9543 RUSSELL STOVER® ALL MILK CHOCOLATES 9544 RUSSELL STOVER® ASSORTED CHOCOLATES 9544EA RUSSELL STOVER® ASSORTED CHOCOLATES  EASTER 9544MD RUSSELL STOVER® ASSORTED CHOCOLATES MOTHERS DAY 9545 RUSSELL STOVER® DAIRY CREAM CARAMELS 9546 RUSSELL STOVER® FRENCH CHOCOLATE MINTS 9548 RUSSELL STOVER® ASSORTED CHOCOLATES 9555 RUSSELL STOVER® COCONUT SUGAR-FREE CHOCOLATES 9556 RUSSELL STOVER® STRAWBERRY CREAM SUGAR-FREE CHOCOLATES 9557 RUSSELL STOVER® MINT PATTIES SUGAR-FREE CHOCOLATES 9558 RUSSELL STOVER® TOFFEE SQUARES SUGAR-FREE CHOCOLATES 9559 RUSSELL STOVER® PEANUT BUTTER CUPS SUGAR-FREE CHOCOLATES 9549 WHITMAN’S® SAMPLER ASSORTED CHOCOLATES 9551 WHITMAN’S® SAMPLER  ASSORTED CHOCOLATES 9552 WHITMAN’S®  SAMPLER SUGAR-FREE ASSORTED CHOCOLATES 9553 WHITMAN’S® SAMPLER SUGAR-FREE ASSORTED CHOCOLATES

Kelli's Gifts' Open House & Newest Best Sellers

Kelli’s Open House during the January Dallas Market was another smashing success!  As always, we enjoyed the opportunity to see our customers and share a delicious meal. This truly was a special night for us, because we also got to show off our beautiful new offices & showroom!

We were delighted to see the folks we’ve met before, and were especially happy to open our doors to Kelli’s customers who haven’t had the chance to come to see us before!  We had visitors all the way from Alaska this year!

This year’s market had some definite new product favorites.  Check out the list of the Top 3 per category below.  These are the most frequently ordered products from Kelli’s since January 15^th when our catalog shipped.  These are ONLY from the newest of the new items for each Web Category.

And, as always, Jan’s chocolate chip cookies were a great hit, and she was kind enough to share the recipe with our customers this year upon request.  Please email Jan at janh@kellisgifts.com if you need a copy of the recipe.

Remember: If you are in Dallas for ANY reason, whether it is to shop the Market Center, to visit your adorable grandchildren, or even to see the fabulous new Cowboy Stadium, please try to make time to come to visit us.  We’d love to show you our very own Kelli’s brand of Texas hospitality!

BEST SELLERS FROM THE NEW PRODUCTS IN 2011 TO DATE

Stock #	Description		Category
8641	1" Beautiful Baby Girl Baby Book		BABY
1872/1873	2-In-1 Newborn Halo Sleepsack Swaddles
84551/84450	Embroidered Thank Heaven Baby Blankets
19275B	18" All Sports Get Well Soon Balloon		BALLOONS
21804	18" Butterflies Get Well Soon Balloon
19215B	Get Well Contemporary Bird Balloon
9540	Russell Stover Assorted Chocolates 12oz Box		CANDY
9554	Russell Stover® Sugar-Free Pecan Delights
9544	Russell Stover® Fine Chocolates
10447/10455	Men’s Lounge Pants		FASHION
68863	Single-Layer Rhinestone Accent Watch - White
9580	Peace Tie-Dye Watch With Rhinestone Accents
9567	3½ Inch Fashion Purse Pads		GIFTS
13045	3 Inch Sequined Sentiment Rocks
2231	5 Inch Bobble Head Frog Gardeners
29815	Renu Multi-Plus® Contact Lens Solution		HBA
1782	Advil® Congestion Relief
2208	12 Inch World's Best Neck Support Travel Pillows
249R	3½ Inch Enclosure Cards - Just For You Flowers		HELPFUL
15R	3½ Inch Enclosure Cards - Wishing You A Speedy Recovery
113R	3½ Inch Enclosure Cards - Get Well Sunflowers
7805	Rhinestone Breast Cancer Watch		INSPIRATIONAL
101852	Share The Care™ Ankle Socks
98231	5 Inch Porcelain Angel Bells
79233	12 Inch Kelliloons™ Get Well Candy & 9 Inch Balloons		KELLILOONS
1456	15 Inch Kelliloons™ Baby Ceramic Planter, Candy & Balloon
70960	15 Inch Kelliloons™ Get Well Bright Eyes Pooch, Candy & Balloon
M6715	11 Inch Shout Dog		PLUSH
G701	11 Inch Brite Spots™ Patti Cakes
M4220	12 Inch Baking Betty
2023	8½ Inch Magnetic Fun® Activity Set - Dora The Explorer™		TOYS
9560	Bicycle™ Electronic World Series Poker 5 Card Draw Game
18900	18 Inch Cathay Laughing & Giggling Vinyl Dolls

Best Selling Wholesale Balloons at Kelli's Gift Shop Suppliers

Welcome Gift Shop Buyers,

If you haven't yet discovered, balloons are great items to carry in your shops!  On their own, they're highly profitable, and they can can easily be bundled (i.e. clipped or tied) with other great-selling products in the Toys, Gifts and Candy categories, to name a few.  Kelli's Gift Shop Suppliers sold over 500,000 balloons in 2009, which speaks to their popularity in specialty gift shops. 

All of the wholesale balloons that Kelli's distributes are foil, and represent many categories:  Baby; Balloons on Sticks (pre-inflated); Birthday; Candy & Plush; Get Well; Inspirational & Nurses; Jumbo & Special Shapes; Love & Valentines; Musical; Thinking of You.  They can be displayed in your shops in a variety of ways, as you can purchase most of them in packages that are peggable, as well as flat which can be laid on a shelf. You can also fill them with helium and tie them to a shelf, helium tank, or end cap, etc. to create a festive shopping atmosphere that draws customers.

The musical balloons are terrific gift items.  Each of them can be played anywhere from 50-100 times by just tapping.  They sing songs such as Baby Face and Don't Worry Be Happy. What a wonderful way to cheer someone up, and lots of consumers find them hard to resist!

Following are some of the best sellers in 2010:

#91326	#814613
#79233	#17948
#435010B	#19085
#20053F	#21829

Labels: musical balloons, wholesale balloons, balloon gifts

Best Selling Wholesale Plush for 2009

Here it is mid-December 2009, and I've just run the reports for Kelli's best selling wholesale plush, which includes the animated (singing & dancing) and non-animated. Plush is a fantastic-selling category for Kelli's, with our customers being hospital gift shops, independent pharmacies, casinos, baby and gift shops, and the list goes on...all across the USA.

Most of these plush animals make wonderful gift items for adults for birthdays, anniversaries, Valentine's Day, etc. Some of them, like the rainbow bears and Tender Teddy, are fantastic for children,too. All of them are perfect for cheering someone up in the hospital, nursing home, etc. Kelli's offers over 300 plush items, so you have an excellent variety to choose from.

Here are the Top Ten Best Selling Plush items at Kelli's for 2009. Feel free to click on any of them, so you can see them & hear their songs (if they have one):

12" Chuey Bamba	6 1/2" Rainbow Bears	14" Laid Back Louie
12" Tender Teddy	6" Get Well Soon Bears	11" Rolling & Laughing Dog
12" Rudy	12" Mini Pearls of Wisdom	12" Fever Frog
12" Chili Pepe

 

 

Kelli's, a Fantastic Wholesale Source

If you enjoy statistics, here are a few about Kelli's Gift Shop Suppliers, a fantastic wholesale source for your shop:

• 2000 - the year Kelli's began doing business
• 3,000+ - hospital gift shops doing business with Kelli's
  
• 1,000+ - independent pharmacies buying from Kelli's
• 4,000+ - gift shops, baby boutiques, college bookstores, hotel gift shops, etc. currently doing business with Kelli's
• 100+ - gambling casino gift shops who have discovered Kelli's
• 3,500+ - unique items Kelli's offers
• 700+ - vendors from all over the USA represented by Kelli's
  

We bend over backwards to take care of our customers!

For your wholesale source, be sure to visit Kelli's Gift Shop Suppliers at www.kellisgifts.com, or call us toll free at 888-609-8860.

 

Kelli's, a wholesale source for sugar free candy

Seems that buyers from hospital gift shops and independent pharmacies are always looking for dependable sources for sugar free candy. Look no further than Kelli's Gift Shop Suppliers! Here we offer a selection of sugar free chocolates, gum, mints, chewy candy, hard candies, etc. In addition, Kelli's offers more than 3,000 items including gifts, toys, baby, inspirational, etc.