It’s been WAY TOO BUSY at Give Simple to even THINK about blogging until today. It is pretty weird, yesterday we were still swamped with orders, but today our customers seem to have all decided that it’s too close to Christmas to shop on line. On Monday, we’ll get a flurry of late shoppers who want express shipping (and guarantees that their package will arrive on time –as if it were within our ability to control the USPS) In fact, we’ve been absorbing the additional cost to upgrade every single order to priority mail this week, because we really want it all there on time.

I finally finished my own shopping today, really, really late for me. I’m usually super organized and early. I especially love little gifts for people who don’t expect one, like Sherry, our super UPS delivery woman. She always looks out for us, and she loves our dogs, too!

Every holiday, our customers surprise us by responding better than expected to some items. This year’s biggest hit? Stainless Steel Wallets! Big Buddha Handbags and Hobo Wallets were wildly popular, too.

Now that it’s all winding down, I have to say that we’re so fortunate to have had a good Christmas at Give Simple, pulling out a healthy increase to last year, with very little discounting. It might seem like a miracle of sorts in this economy, but I know it’s all because of our great customers and friends, who realize that a good value is a good value, even if it’s not 75% off!! The principles that we follow at Give Simple, selecting wonderful, well-priced products that are different and special, and giving fabulous customer personalized service are just perfect in today’s economy. We’ll always have great gifts at amazing prices, and treat all of our customers with great thoughtfulness.

Happiest of Holidays to all and best wishes for peace, love and prosperity in 2009