Canadian Corporate Gifts Made Easy!

It's out!
Our 2009 Winter Season Holiday Brochure is out and being distributed far and wide. Featuring 22 unique Canadian Gift Baskets and Gift Ideas - the brochure offers gifts in 6 specific themes which means that there is truly something for every gift giving need and taste as well as a gift solution appropriate for every budget.

"The Cookie Monster" series has been an ongoing customer favourite for the past few years. The idea being that with 3 different sizes to choose from, a basket full of assorted specialty cookies is the perfect gift for that office, group or family that you want to send something to. Something for everyone and lots to share.

Similarly, "The Chocoholic" series offers 2 sizes to choose from overflowing with assorted chocolate-themed goodies.

"The Office Party" Series again focuses on a basket full of yummy things for a group to share. With 4 sizes available, this series offers a full selection of munchies including nuts, chips, popcorn, spreads, crackers, chocolate and fudge - something for everyone!

"The Entertainer Series" is a new take on the hostess or "just because" gift. With 6 different entertaining themed sizes, this gift could include a Brie or Goat's Cheese Baker with the appropriate condiments ... foods chosen specifically for Olive Lovers, Fans of hot foods and those that love to entertain. This is a great gift idea and they're beautifully packaged.

The unique "Canadiana Series" is the Piece de Resistance of The Great Canadian Gift Company's Winter Seasonal Holiday Brochure. With 4 specifically themed baskets to choose from - fans of Canada's treasures are sure to find the perfect gift from amongst these four gift baskets: "Marvellous Maple" (full of Maple Items), "Cold as Ice" (chock full of Icewine edibles), "Blueberry Hill" (featuring Blueberries - Eastern Canada's flavourful gift to the world) and "Inukshuk" (full of unique Inukshuk items).

The final gift choice featured in the brochure is "Elegant and Economical" with Chocolate Truffle filled Hurricane Lanterns and Chocolate Enrobed Cranberries in a Glass Dish being unique gifts at great price points.

Of course, there are thousands of Gift ideas on The Great Canadian Gift Company's website. The newly released 2009 Winter Seasonal Brochure helps to narrow down the choices and showcase some of the unique offerings available in both stores as well as on the online Shopping site.

Watch for your copy of the brochure or drop by either store the pick up a copy. You can also click here to link directly to the Winter Brochure offerings or search flyerland.ca to fully view an online pdf version of the brochure.

We're spoiled for choice as we head into the holiday gifting season!

SPECIAL:
Order 6 or more gifts featured in the 2009 Winter Holiday Season Brochure and pay in full before December 1st to receive a 10% discount on the entire order!

The Banana Guard - a Great Canadian Idea !

Now this is an amazingly useful product that you're going to want for yourself and will end up giving out as gifts! We've had a lot of inquiries in store and through the website about this unique Great Canadian product line.


The Banana Guard is a unique, patented plastic case that carries and protects your banana - to work, to school, for a snack - the neatest little thing! It snaps closed around your banana and you can take it anywhere!

Recently, the makers of the Banana Guard have also come out with the Froot Guard and the Froot Case - both great ways to carry your larger soft fruits (apples, peaches, pears, nectarines) and smaller fruits (kiwis, plums, grapes, cherries etc.).

With multiple small perforations to facilitate ventillation, the Banana Guard, Froot Case and Froot Guard prevent premature ripening while carrying and protecting your fruit behind a sturdy locking mechanism. All three convenient cases are made of BPA Free recyled plastic and are dishwasher safe.

Perfect for giving ... or to keep for youself!

NEW! - Christmas Sleigh Basket ready to go!

Delectable Sleigh Ride" is the newest large gift basket that we're introducing for the coming winter season. We're putting the final touches on this year's Seasonal Brochure and this gorgeous basket brimming with fantastic Canadian Food Finds is featured on the front page. We thought we'd give you a "sneak peak"! The brochure will be distributed to businesses in private mailings in November - it will also be available for download from our website. Feel free to call to request your own copy or preview the site for those new Christmas gift baskets.

"Delectable Sleigh Ride"is overflowing with unique Canadian Food Products including "Screech" BBQ Sauce from Newfoundland, Icewine Chocolates from Ontario, Smoked Salmon from British Columbia and Maple Fudge from Quebec. A Gorgeous Gift ! $349.99

Canadian Icewine Products !

Canada is famous for Icewine! Both the Provinces of British Columbia and Ontario excel at production of this special alcoholic beverage. Icewine is produced by picking grapes that are frozen on the vine, then pressing them before they thaw. Much of the water in the grapes is frozen so the resulting juice is concentrated and rich in flavor. Canada is the world's largest producer of Icewine.

The Great Canadian Gift Company fills orders from all over the world for Icewine products on a daily basis. Some of the most popular items are Icewine Chocolate Fudge, Icewine Cookies, Icewine Dark Chocolates (very popular!), Icewine Truffles, Icewine Candies, Icewine Glazed Smoked Salmon, Blueberry Icewine Preserve (Yum!) and Icewine Tea (we have 5 different kinds of Icewine Tea). Icewine products are unique, very special and of course, very Canadian which is why they make a "Great" gift.

Check out our featured Icewine products in our "Minus Eight" section and consider treating yourself!

Read more about Canadian Icewine at these links:
http://archives.cbc.ca/lifestyle/food/topics/1041-5828/
http://newworldwine.suite101.com/article.cfm/ice_wine_canada_s_world_class_wine
http://www.winesofcanada.com/icewine.html

The Candle Carver is an entertaining "must have"!

The Candle Carver is one of those really useful home gadgets that you bring out again and again and again as there is a use for it in every season. It's a specially designed handle that allows you to drill/hollow out a hole in any hard fruit or vegetable for the purpose of placing a tea light in it! Very Cool! Use it on all manner of fall gourds, pumpkins and squash - bring it out again in the winter for hard fruit and on and on. The uniquely designed hole can also be used for making useful individual dipping bowls for personal fondue.

This week, we're seeing a lot more interest in the Candle Carver - Cobi Ladner, Former Editor of Canadian House and Home has been discussing it (and mentioning us) in her blog; CobiStyle and now you're all scrambling to get one !

The Candle Carver is easy to use, is a great price and will make a fantastic gift for that entertaining foodie that you know that has everything ... !
Check it out!

Babies can compost too !

We LOVE this new "onesie" we just got in the store! LOVE it!!!

A picture is worth a thousand words and we don't need to explain anything about this fabulous new baby item except to say that it is fabulous, made of soft organic cotton and comes in several sizes. A great gift for any baby and ecologically concious new parents that you know ...

For those in your life that love wine ...

The incredible Vinoglobe has been receiving rave reviews from Wine Lovers and enthusiasts the world over. We're pleased to be stocking the Vinoglobe - a decanter and wine server all in one! The Vinoglobe comes in a gift box with a bonus wine information booklet, ready for giving - at $15.99, we think it's a great gift!

Delux Animal Knitwits Pilot Hats

More photos of our popular Delux Knitwits Animal Hats.
Check them all out on our website!

Delux Knitwits Hats - SOOOO Popular!

This blog has been dormant for about 6 months but the sales of our Delux Knitwear Animal Hats and Mittens have continued to astound us! The Collingwood store sells out weekly and we've just managed to get a separate weekly delivery to supply our Ancaster location - unbelievable!

Don't assume that these hats and mittens are for kids! While it's true, they look adorable on kids, most of our purchasers are in their 20s/30s and 40s - these hats are FUN (!) and this winter they're going to help our customers look fashionable, feel good AND to stay warm!

Delux Knitwear Pilot Hats come in all kinds of animals - here at The Great Canadian Gift Company, we're focusing on carrying the "Canadian" Animals (Moose, Beaver, Raccoon, Owl, Black Bear, Polar Bear, Spirit Bear, Bunny). If however, you are looking for another specific Delux Knitwear Pilot Hat please feel free to contact us, depending on your timelines we may be able to get it in for you. We also always carry the ever popular "Sock Monkey" in three different wool colours.

deLux Animal Hats & Mittens

A menagerie of Canadian Wildlife in stock!!!
We've been meaning to blog about the popularity of this product for the last week but we've been too busy filling orders! It's unbelievable how everyone wants a set of these adorable Animal Hats and Mittens from deLux Knitwear - we're getting email and phone inquiries hourly and the orders just keep coming in!

We had a customer in our Ancaster store yesterday looking to purchase another hat after she had purchased one from our Collingwood Store while there with her soccer team on a training exercise in Blue Mountain. Turns out that almost everyone on the team bought some kind of animal hat and then they joked about being their own "herd" as they trooped around the Blue Mountain Village during their stay! Cindy was dropping in to purchase another hat because her daughter promptly confiscated hers once she returned home with it!

We're ordering this product in every week now - check out the adorable photos on our website and think about who you know that might look good in one!

Send us your story about being out and about in your own "herd" - we'd love to hear about it!

"Winter Blahs Blowout" Sale in Ancaster!

We're hoping to ease the February Chill in the air with an impromptu sale in our Ancaster location! Starting today (Friday February 20) until Saturday March 7, 2009 - The Great Canadian Gift Company will be offering 20% off of every product in the Ancaster Store!

The truth is that we're really excited about our many new Great Canadian Product finds for Spring and as they start to arrive in our Ancaster Retail/Warehouse location, we're a bit panicked about having enough room for everything! SOOOOOO - this is a no holds barred sale, every product is 20% off - this includes Gourmet Food Items, Personal Care Spa Items, Baby Gifts, Clothing, Chocolates, Themed Gift Baskets, Webkinz and all our other Great Canadian gift ideas.

Sale prices are for in-person shopping in the Ancaster location only. Tell your friends!

What to put in a Canadian Gift for Barack Obama?

We were pleased to be able to answer that question this week! With President Obama visiting Canada this week for his meeting in Ottawa, Jimmy from Y103.9 FM Radio in London called our offices and talked to Glen about it. The main question being: "What would you include in a Gift Basket for Barack Obama if you were asked to present him with a Canadian Gift?" They had lots of on-air fun with this question and discussed several different options including Moose Droppings (Chocolate Covered Almonds) just for fun and more seriously, the gift of a glass block Inukshuk.

We do really well with Inukshuks - they make excellent Personal and Corporate gifts - the Inukshuk was a traditional wayfinding tool for the Inuit but it also symbolizes "working together" and a "common direction". With the Inukshuk being a very recognizable symbol of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, we think that one of our in stock items would make a fabulous gift for President Obama.

Check out our Inukshuk Offerings here!

We've started blogging about "Great Canadian Things" !

Throughout the last four years of building our business, setting up two retail stores and building a successful online business - we've been connecting with our fans and customers in many ways ... now we're at the next stop, we've decided to develop a blog! This means that we'll be posting "breaking news" right here whenever it happens. Look here to find our announcements of new and exciting products or discussion about unique uses and the popularity of certain Great Canadian products. We're also looking forward to reading your comments about your experience with our stores, staff, products and ideas.