Present perfect: Gift trends to surprise and delight your lady

Around the world, flowers, chocolates and other gifts symbolize appreciation for women on Women’s Day, an occasion recognized internationally since 1975 by the United Nations. Romanians also mark March 1, the local celebration of the arrival of spring, by exchanging amulets for Martisor. BR took a peek inside the gift boxes being presented to women and found out the 2014 gift trends – and how much they would have set you back.

By Oana Vasiliu

Most women love flowers, so a safe bet when celebrating Women’s Day is giving a floral bouquet. “Because March 1 and March 8 fell on weekends this year, this directly influenced orders, which were down. Of course, corporations were our main clients,” said Marius Dosinescu, CEO of FlorideLux online flower shop. The biggest bouquets were sold for around EUR 220. For FlorideLux, 80 percent of the orders come from corporate clients. The most extravagant bouquet was delivered in Braila, for Dragobete (February 24), featuring roses, irises, hyacinths and daffodils, and costing EUR 750.
Roses are the top flower for the occasion, but in spring season buyers order also tulips, hyacinths, daffodils, snowdrops, lilies, freesia and orchids, says Dosinescu.

“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt,” wrote the famous cartoonist Charles Schulz, and he is definitely onto something.

Belgian pralines are becoming a popular present nowadays, and BR found out more from Ion Codreanu, importer of Leonidas chocolates. In this period, the biggest order came from an IT company that bought EUR 3,000 of chocolate, put in separate 250g boxes (of 16 pralines). Others opted for exquisite pralines in fancy boxes, such as the Prestige gift – 45 pralines for EUR 38. Most customers like to come to the store to see the pralines before they purchase them, but the online side has also started to grow.

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In the jewelry domain, the best known bracelets with amulets are probably Pandora, a brand that is available on the Romanian market. The best sold product is the silver bracelet (from EUR 55), 15,000 of which have been sold since it was launched on the market in September 2011. Pandora bracelets have separate amulets and customers can choose from more than 600 models (from EUR 18).

“The most expensive gift that someone bought in this period was a gold bracelet with gold amulets which cost EUR 6,700. Also, we had one customer who bought jewelry for his wife, sister, mother and mother-in-law, paying almost EUR 6,000 for the presents, after spending several hours in our store,” added Lucian Adochitei, country manager for Pandora Romania.

Alexandra Martoiu and Irina Enea, owners and designers at MyPrecious Buzztard jewelry company, told Business Review that their customers buy equally from their online shop at www.buzztard.ro and their showroom. During this period, they had special orders, such as a functional gold whistle (EUR 390) for a swimming coach and a grandfather who annually orders a pendant with photogravure of his niece. MyPrecious Buzztard has two best-selling products, the Love Circle ring (EUR 120) and earrings for children (EUR 240).

Some people consider clothes a suitable present for any occasion, and the sartorial options are limitless, even in Romania. Catalin Tirsa, store manager of La Martina Baneasa & Victoria Gallery, told BR that a few days ago they had received an order that exceeded EUR 34,000, consisting of a limited edition blazer, a leather trip bag and a jacket. The most extravagant gift over this period was a full outfit given by a generous gentleman to his wife. The selection included everything from clothes and shoes to perfume, a bag and a scarf, all for EUR 2,200.

For businesswomen, writing equipment might be a useful and welcome present at this time of the year. Swiss-based company Caran d’Ache’s Perla collection contains a pen and a necklace with an Akoya pearl pendant (from EUR 380). Outside this period, the Varius and Ecridor collections are most popular with the firm’s customers when it comes to presents for women. “Recently a young lady surprised us when she declined a Perla collection box and instead chose an Ivanhoe pen, which is made of stainless steel and finely woven,” said Alexandru Gheorghe, business developer at Caran d’Ache.

Pour les dames gourmandes, Le Manoir Gastronomy and Gifts offered some extravagant delights, such as L’Univers de la Comtesse, a gift consisting of a stylish chest containing delicious gastronomic specialties such as duck foie gras and goose foie gras, Bayonne ham rolls with duck liver and Espellette pepper, tuna, salmon and Saint Jacques rillettes, various terrine, onion chutney and fig chutney, assorted jams, Kirsch cherries and other fruits in alcohol specialties, sweet bread with candied fruit, Agen prunes stuffed with vanilla and Armagnac brandy cream, assorted chocolate pralines and so on.

The package also contains Deutz Brut Classic Champagne, Michel Redde Cuvee Majorum AOC Pouilly Fume (one of the best wines of Pouilly Fume, Loire Valley), a bottle of Chablis Premier Cru AOC Joseph Drouhin and famous red wine from Chateauneuf du Pape, Chateau the Beaucastel, Perrin family-owned. The gourmand package costs EUR 1,000. “For March 1-8, most of our customers were individuals, who preferred to come to our stores for gift shopping,” said Ioana Bosca, commercial director of Le Manoir Gastronomy and Gifts.