glee gifts

glee foxy now open!

As of 11 am today glee in Foxboro is open!  Stop by to charge your phone, and peruse the shop!

Thanks Irene, , , , , ,

Due to the storm, glee gifts in our Foxboro location has lost power.  Officials say the power will not be restored for 5 to 6 days!  Unbelievable! 

Worry not, my gleeful customer's; glee gifts in Mansfield IS open, with new merchandise arriving daily. Store hours are:

Mon - Thurs  10 to 7

Fri - Sat 10 to 8

Sunday 12 to 5.

Our best selling little gift last week was A piece of cake,,,,a giftable stationery set featuring eight notepads in the shape of a generous piece of cake, with a gem-topped pen.

 

Why Give a Gift? Part Two

Gift giving has long been a favorite subject for studies on human behavior with psychologists, anthropologists, economists and marketers all weighing in. They have found that giving gifts is a surprisingly complex and important part of human interaction, helping to define relationships and strengthen bonds with family and friends. Indeed, psychologists say it is often the giver, rather than the recipient, who reaps the biggest psychological gains from a gift. Frustrated by crowds, traffic and commercialism, people can be tempted during the Christmas season to opt out of gift giving altogether. A 2005 survey showed that four out of five Americans think the holidays are too materialistic, according to the Center for a New American Dream, which promotes responsible consumption.

But while it’s reasonable to cut back on spending during the holidays, psychologists say that banning the gift exchange with loved ones is not the best solution. People who refuse to accept or exchange gifts during the holidays, these experts say, may be missing out on an important connection with family and friends.

“That doesn’t do a service to the relationship,” said Ellen J. Langer, a Harvard psychology a professor. “If I don’t let you give me a gift, then I’m not encouraging you to think about me and think about things I like. I am preventing you from experiencing the joy of engaging in all those activities. You do people a disservice by not giving them the gift of giving.”

Some researchers believe evolutionary forces may have favored gift giving. Men who were the most generous may have had the most reproductive success with women. (Notably, the use of food in exchange for sexual access and grooming has been documented in our closest ape relative, the chimpanzee.) Women who were skilled at giving — be it extra food or a well-fitted pelt — helped sustain the family provider as well as her children.

Margaret Rucker, a consumer psychologist at the University of California, Davis, says men are typically more price-conscious and practical when it comes to the gifts they give and get, while women tend to be more concerned about giving and receiving gifts with emotional significance.

Gender differences in gift giving seem to emerge early in life. Researchers at Loyola University Chicago studied 3- and 4-year-olds at a day-care center, all of whom had attended the same birthday party. The girls typically went shopping with their mothers and helped select and wrap the gift. Boys, meanwhile, were often unaware of what the gift was. “They’d say, ‘I took a nap while my mom went shopping for it,’” said Mary Ann McGrath, the associate dean of the graduate school of business at Loyola.

Gift giving is often the most obvious way a partner can show interest, strengthen a bond or even signal that a relationship should end. One colleague of Dr. Rucker’s noted that she knew her marriage was over when her husband handed her a gift in a brown grocery bag.

People who stop giving gifts lose out on important social cues, researchers say. “Who is on your gift list is telling you who is important in your life,” Dr. McGrath said. “It says who is more important and who is less important.”

But the biggest effect of gift giving may be on ourselves. Giving to others reinforces our feelings for them and makes us feel effective and caring, Dr. Langer said.

Test your gift-giving Etiguette:

Take a Quiz!

Sources  TARA PARKER-POPE

Published: December 11, 2007

History of Gift Giving--Part One

Since I own a gift store, I have become intrigued on why I own a gift store.  It's hard work, finding the right products, pricing, merchandising and staying "gleeful" even on a down day.  So I have become curious about my own personal reasons for owning a gift store, over all other types of businesses I could own. I begin by doing research on the history of gift giving, and here's what I learned:

Since the dawn of time people have been giving gifts. People in early civilizations gave gifts to their tribal leaders and each other to show loyalty and love. They used bark and wood from the trees, and reeds to fashion unique objects as gifts. Gift giving has always been reciprocal, except for the heads of state in various cultures. People received gifts to procure favors and to demonstrate allegiance,and if you think about it, this practice is still in place today. 

Gift giving might have helped early humans survive, and in this way became an ingrained part of our psychology as we have become more civilized. Early women who were the most giving with their resources, be it food, animal pelts, or whatever, had a better chance of sustaining their young and helping their family thrive. Men who weren’t afraid to share their resources were better at attracting a partner and passing on their genes. For early humans, gift giving might have had this hidden self-interested aspect, which led to it becoming a widespread human trait.

Current research keeps pointing to gift giving as a very important way to strengthen social bonds and to improve psychological well-being. It turns out that the old saying “It’s better to give than to receive,” is right, at least on a psychological level. Gift giving lets the giver get into the recipient’s head for a little while, and see what is important to them. It’s crucial for validating social bonds and the importance of certain relationships.

Gift giving is probably playing an important role in your social life, even if you don’t know it; psychologists liken the act of making a gift list and buying presents to arraying the people and relationships in your life by order of importance. Giving gifts makes you evaluate those bonds, and decide which are worth strengthening and which are not.  Funny, during the holidays I see many people with lists!  

Are you a "lister"?  Who's always at the top of your list?  Are they the most important person in your life, or the hardest person to buy a present for? 

Stay tuned for Part Two: The Art of Buying a Gift

Source:

A Gift that Gives Right Back? The Giving Itself. (2007) Tara Parker-Pope. The New York Times.

 

Super duper sale in Foxboro Store - Aug. 9th thru Aug. 14th!

20% to 50% SALE

Includes most merchandise!!  We are making room for fall and holiday that is arriving daily!  This is the sale of all sales!!!!   Shop this Saturday and Sunday for extra tax FREE savings! So much is on sale:

 

Lindsay Phillips snaps, straps and shoe closeout:

Select wine glasses----BUY ONE GET ONE FREE!!!!!

Select Retired BEADS!!!!  20% off!!!

There's much more merchandise to see....sale in Foxboro only, the entire back half of the store on sale!!

(restrictions apply)