Babcock Gifts celebrates its 50th birthday in 2024. The bridal registry and gift shop opened in 1972 as a partnership that included interior design. In 1974, with the exit of one partner, the store focused on antiques, gifts, and bridal registry. Over the next 42 years, there would be growth into two stores before downsizing to one. In 2016, ownership changed and the store moved one block down, where it continues to be a destination for bridal registry and gift-giving. With the constant doom and gloom of the death of brick-and-mortar stores, how has Babcock Gifts remained a Memphis mainstay? Many reasons.
Babcock Gifts has sustained by adapting to changes in the marketplace while tailoring product selections to our customers. We, of course, do all the things independents must do: provide excellent customer service, complimentary gift wrap, and local delivery for brides. Our store hours have shifted to accommodate our customers’ changing lifestyles, and we offer after-hours appointments for those who need more personalized assistance. We’re open six days a week and Sundays in December to accommodate holiday shoppers. Our website includes our bridal registry for those who prefer online shopping.
Babcock Gifts stocks traditional tabletop, home décor, and gifts with a splash of modern. Popular lines include Herend, Beatriz Ball, Casafina, Match, and Vietri. Our merchandise is kept fresh by traveling to Atlanta twice a year for major markets and a short trip for holiday goods in March. Periodically, we visit other markets (New York Tabletop, NY Now, Dallas, Las Vegas, and American Handcrafted in Philadelphia) for a change and to see brands in a different setting. About 25% of our store’s inventory is handmade, including lines from Alex Marshall Studios, Terrafirma Ceramics, and Simon Pearce as well as pottery with roots in the mid-South, like McCarty’s, Etta B, and Potsalot. We showcase potters from across the country (Holman Pottery, Allison Evans, Dock 6, and Steve Tubbs) which makes us a destination for handmade pottery. Our baby collections are strong too, including items for showers and religious celebrations. Favorites among our customers are keepsakes by Herend and Salisbury Pewter.
Wedding registry has been a strong part of our business over the years. Registrants have the option of creating a registry online through The Bridge or by coming to the store to work with a consultant. Although 95% of registrants choose to visit the store at some point prior to their wedding, the online option accommodates couples with roots in Memphis but who now live outside the area. Our wedding registry staff adapted through the pandemic, even hosting a virtual wedding shower for one registrant.
With the sale of the store in 2016, the store relocated to a customized space, a location which provided an updated storefront with more open displays, more natural light, and the option to shift fixtures with the seasons. The more open floor plan, coupled with regularly changing displays, offers passers-by a glimpse of the treasures inside and entices them to come in and browse. Our typical customer is traditional in taste, but wants to be up-to-date on trends in tabletop and décor. Our flexible displays allow traditional goods to be displayed with current trends to demonstrate to customers how to update what they already have.
This Memphis mainstay has survived 50 years as an independent tabletop retailer by continually adapting to the times whilst remaining the go-to resource its clientele expects and demands.
Babcock Gifts has remained relevant in the marketplace by listening to customers and monitoring the local market for missing categories that blend with existing assortments. A good example has been our recent addition of bath accessories. Customers and decorators were searching for on-trend quality bath items that worked with traditional and updated décor. The addition of Pigeon and Poodle, as well as bath products from existing lines (Artifacts, Casafina, and Vietri, and wastebaskets from Jan Sevadjian Designs) has created an assortment that meets customers’ needs. In looking for other product opportunities, our research in wedding registry showed that the typical Babcock registrant had an additional registry elsewhere that included cookware, knives, and other kitchen products. The demise of national stores specializing in cooking and kitchenwares created a void in the local market for these products. So we added Staub, Demeyere, Henkel, and Zwilling, which gave customers the opportunity to purchase these brands with us.
Babcock Gifts has remained a destination in the Memphis gift market by adapting to changes and recognizing opportunities for new product categories. The addition of an online platform was important in remaining relevant in wedding registry, but also helped this Memphis institution survive the quiet days of the pandemic. Most importantly, Babcock Gifts has survived because of exemplary customer service, an ever-changing product assortment, and the convenience and courtesy we offer customers.
................................ Marion Samuel joined Babcock Gifts in 1989 as temporary holiday help while waiting to enter a graduate program. Over the years, she continued to work part-time in various capacities including wedding registry, receiving, and inventory. Since 2004 she has been a buyer for the store.