New shop offers special stationery, gifts
Published 9:18 pm Thursday, June 14, 2012
Shopping at a new downtown specialty shop could support more than one local business.
Cordially Invited, which held a ribbon-cutting recently at its location at 150 W. Washington St., is carrying a number of items made by Caspari, which has a distribution center in Suffolk.
“The more you buy from us, the more we’re going to buy from them,” said Tanya Hill, co-owner of the store. “By supporting us, you’re supporting them.”
The store carries candles, gift wrap and tableware, including napkins and matching plates, made by Caspari. But the store, which had a soft opening about a year ago and has been open every day since December, carries many more products.
Hill, who owns the business with her two sisters, Desarie Green and Moni Boyce, said she wanted to bring her passion to Suffolk.
“We love paper, party supplies and all things unique,” she said. “We wanted to bring what we love to the city of Suffolk.”
The store carries a large variety of stationery supplies, candles, children’s party invitations with plates and napkins to match, unique gifts — including in the bridal and locally popular collegiate categories — and more.
In addition, Hill is looking to increase inventory and customer service in the near future.
“We definitely want to amp up on the stationery offerings,” she said. The store also hopes to look into products such as boxed note cards and desk sets, she said.
In addition, she hopes to take delivery next month of a machine that can print in-house special-order invitations and other stationery. The line, called InScribe, is not available anywhere else in Suffolk, she said. Customers can specify how many they would like, from one to 1,000 or more, she said.
Hill’s favorite product in the store is Voluspa candles, a luxury line that she has several of in her own home, she said.
Hill said she and her employees pride themselves on customer service — knowing the names of repeat customers, greeting them when they walk in and doing “whatever we can to help make that gift special,” she said.
“We want to be set apart from everybody else,” she said.
Hill hopes the store will be successful, not only for her sake but also for the city, she said.
“Suffolk really needs more small businesses to bring that charm back, the way it used to be,” she said.