BASK(ET)ING IN PAMPERING GIFTS.

Byline: ERIC LEACH Staff Writer

SIMI VALLEY -- Carol Reniger sells all kinds of stuff at her shop, including footballs, motorcycles, handcuffs and hair dryers -- all made of chocolate.

She even has chocolate remote controls for couch potatoes, all part of her stock for making gift baskets to suit just about any recipient.

``We have a little bit of a lot of different things. We always look for different items, things that aren't readily available in a grocery store. If I don't carry it, people can bring in their own items,'' she said, explaining some of her secrets to success during 15 years in the gift basket business.

In fact, Reniger and her Baskets `n' Bows shop, along with another local gift basket business in Moorpark called Gift Chicks, were named among the top 50 such businesses in the nation by Gift Basket Review magazine in its June issue.

Reniger and Gift Chicks' owner Lexa Finley will be honored in Boston in September in conjunction with the Jubilee Gift Basket Convention and the Boston Gift Show.

The selection of the top 50 was based on business success, including gross revenues, but the financial details were not disclosed.

Both Reniger and Finley started their businesses at home but eventually had to move to much larger commercial locations to handle the snowballing work.

``I started eight years ago in my bedroom, and got so busy my husband couldn't go to bed at night,'' said Finley, whose shop is now at 5301 N. Commerce Ave. in Moorpark.

Her reason for going into business in the first place was her interest in gift baskets she had received herself and the challenge of seeing what she could produce.

Both she and Reniger said the key to their success is customer service -- giving customers what they want and making sure they are satisfied. Both of them do work for corporations, including real estate companies and housing developers who give baskets to welcome people to their new homes.

Something unusual Finley created was a presentation of garden gifts inside coiled garden hoses, which served as the basket.

Then there are the customers who want to send romantic packages: ``We once had two men vying for the same woman,'' Finley said. The woman got a basket from one, and the other man came to Gift Chicks saying he wanted to one-up the other guy.

``A lot of husbands send bath-and-body pamper baskets to their wives when they screwed up and are in the doghouse,'' Finley said.

Reniger said some customers want to send X-rated baskets, but she discourages such business.

Although many people bring their own personalized gifts to be included, both Finley and Reniger try to keep on hand enough items to personalize the baskets themselves. If not, they go out on quick shopping trips.

``If someone calls and says my grandma rides horses and plays tennis, we can get something if we don't have it already,'' Finley said. ``My best talent is I'm a very good shopper.''

Reniger started working out of her home in 1991, and the business grew so much she opened a retail store in Simi Valley in 1996 and moved to a bigger location in 1999.

She said she was working seven days a week, 12 hours a day, and eventually decided to scale back to an industrial showroom at 4565 Industrial St. to do mainly corporate work, without so many walk-in clients.

Linda White, chief executive officer of the Boys and Girls Club of Simi Valley, said the club has purchased baskets from Reniger for years and used them to raise money for the club.

``Carol has always made excellent baskets for us,'' White said. ``Because she does such a good job, we're able to raise a lot of money with them at our auctions.''

A lot of people tell Reniger that her gift baskets are too pretty to open, but that can be a mistake, as in the case of the lady who left her fruit basket unopened in her mobile home until the pineapple exploded.

``I tell them you have to open it up,'' Reniger said. ``That's what it is for.''

Industry surveys done by Gift Basket Review show that the price of corporate gift baskets plunged from a high of $80.42 in 2003 to $58 in 2004, then rose again to $61.89 in 2005. For individual consumers, average prices climbed from $42 in 2003 to $46 in 2004 to a current national average of $48.41.

Of the gift basket store owners surveyed by the magazine, 87 percent are anticipating a good holiday season this year, with only 7 percent fearing a decline in orders. The top challenges to the industry are competition from large merchants and discounters and the cost of gasoline.

``The gas prices are a problem,'' Reniger said. ``Everything is passed on to us. The shipping costs more, delivery costs more.''

Many gift basket company owners say they are searching for more unique ideas to satisfy their customers, according to the magazine. The business owners also say they see a need to respond to the nation's aging consumers by including more healthy foods in their gourmet packages.

``I'm getting more requests for healthy foods, fruits and nuts,'' Finley said.

But Reniger said she finds it rare for people to ask for health food.

``The demand is for more decadent things,'' she said. ``I have found they would rather do the spa-and-candle-type stuff. If someone is on a diet, they would rather order a spa basket with soaps and lotions and candles, a pampering basket.''

eric.leach(at)dailynews.com

[phone]

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Carol Reniger makes gift baskets at her Baskets 'n' Bows shop in Simi Valley, which along with Gift Chicks in Moorpark was named among the top 50 gift basket businesses in the nation by Gift Basket Review magazine.

(2) All the fixings for martini mavens are among the items in one of Carol Reniger's gift baskets at her Baskets 'n' Bows shop.

Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News