When Lisa Sherbinin purchased the Gift Box, she wanted to retain the original look of the store but at the same time add her own flair.
“It was for sale for a little while,” said Sherbinin, who took over the store on April 1 of this year. “It kind of came about really quickly. I’ve always wanted to have a shop like this.”
With her two children getting older, Sherbinin, who was raised in the Castlegar area, felt now was the time to make a move.
“We have a company (Century 21) here in town so I’ve been busy with that,” she said. “It’s never been the right timing. This time it just happened quickly and worked out. I think it was meant to be.”
Sherbinin and her staff have been working hard since she bought the store to get it up to scratch.
“I’ve put in a whole bunch of orders, so the store’s been filling up,” she said. “We’re trying to get it back to how it used to be in the past with the first owner.”
The original owner, Pat White, will stick around.
“She created the Gift Box,” said Sherbinin. “She’s still here with me. So she’ll be working part-time here. We’re trying to get the store full, so they’re is always something different in the store. Every week I’m trying to bring in something new. We want to have lots of variety.”
Sherbinin said the store has items for all ages at all kinds of different prices.
“We still have Daniel’s Belgian Chocolates, which we bring in from Vancouver. So that’s a staple,” she said. “Everybody loves that we’re keeping those. Locally, we have the Mountain Sky Soaps and Body Butters from Crescent Valley. We have the Barefoot Venus brand of body lotions.”
The Gift Box also sells artwork, purses, fashion jewellery, semi-precious stones, home decorating items from pillows to throws and vases.
“We also have all your knick-knacky things, dinner ware, cook ware and food products from Gourmet Village,” said Sherbinin. “I’m going to be bringing in a new line of hot sauces.”
The store is also expanding the baby section and has added handmade quilts. There are also plenty of candles on hand for that special occasion.
“We have local candles from Nakusp, the soya candles, we still have those,” she said. “We have our dripless candles from Germany.”
Sherbinin is always looking at adding new stock, particularly local items.
“I’d like to get more local crafts in here,” she said. “I’m always looking for ideas. I love bringing in the local things.”
“Business has been really good,” said Sherbinin. “I would say 100 per cent of the people who come in are excited that I’m a local person and I have a lot of new things in the store and that there is lots to choose from. They say there are great prices in here. I have people coming in from Rossland or Trail saying this is one of their favourite stores to shop at. It’s just been positive and great, encouraging reviews.”
The Gift Box is open Monday to Friday from 9:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. until 5 p.m.
