A toy stories just in time for Christmas shopping

Andres Gomez remembers going to a restaurant in San Marcos. He brought along a gift basket he had made for a friend he was dining with.

The basket was impressive. It was wrapped in shiny cellophane, topped with a colorful bow and was packed with goodies. A number of fellow diners stopped by his table and asked where he got the basket. “Did you get it around here?” they asked.

Andres and his friend Scott Hardie, a local homebuilder, looked at one another and saw an opportunity.

Teddy Baskets was born.

Andres had a slight advantage. He ran a shop that assembled gift baskets in his native Costa Rica. You might call him a gift basket expert.

So Andres and Scott opened Teddy Baskets at Plaza del Sol, 12111 Ranch Road 12, Suite 117 in Wimberley a few months ago. It has been attracting a growing clientele ever since. Orders have been coming in from all over the country.

The store gets its name from the dozens of teddy bears that sit patiently on the shelves, waiting to be placed into a gift basket. But the options go well beyond teddy bears.

Shoppers welcome

There are toys, spa products, food items, barbecue supplies and greeting cards. Customers are welcome to come in and shop for individual gift items, says Andres, not everything has to be in a basket.

But the baskets are the big draw. Andres figures about half of his customers actually come into the store, pick out what they want and have a basket crafted. The other half order through teddybaskets.com where they can select a theme basket — such as the coffee or tea collection or the gourmet basket — or they can make their own custom basket from the hundreds of products available online.

Customers can also bring in their own items and Andres will fashion them into an artistic presentation.

Shipping is free on orders of more than $35. If it’s a local order, Andres will close up shop for a few minutes and deliver it personally.

The price range is whatever you want it to be. Generally, gift baskets or gift bags start around $25 and can go up to hundreds of dollars. “We had a lady who came in and just kept adding things,” recalls Andres. “That one was more than $300.”

“We’re very conscious of price,” says Andres. “You tell us what you want to spend, what your budget is, and we’ll make it work.”

The most popular baskets are the gourmet — with coffee, cheese, candy, and crackers — and the spa basket — with soap, candles and bath products. “We can put together any basket,” Andres says. Sitting on the table at the entrance of Teddy Baskets was an Italian basket waiting for pickup that featured pasta, sauce and cheeses, and was topped with a bow of red, white and green, the colors of the Italian flag.

No alcohol yet

Teddy Baskets does not have a permit to sell wine or other alcoholic beverages, but if a customer brings in a bottle of wine he can add it to a basket. Call it BYOB. “I hope in a of couple months I will get a permit (for alcohol),” Andres says.

He says his favorite baskets feature teddy bears. The store stocks everything from a huge bear that stands 44 inches tall to all kinds of small, cuddly animals.

Andres also has the ability to etch names and logos into wood and will soon be getting a machine that will allow him to make personalized coffee mugs.

Teddy Baskets is looking for products such as soaps, candles and coffee that are made locally. “We can promote local products,” he says. “I love that.”

Like most new, small-business owners Andres puts in long hours. Teddy Baskets is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. If there’s an emergency order he’ll be in the store on Sunday as well.

“I have one customer,” he laughs, “where it always seems to be an emergency on a Sunday.”

For more information: www.teddybaskets.com or call 512-722-3066.