{"id":9358,"date":"2014-11-28T00:07:57","date_gmt":"2014-11-28T08:07:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=9358"},"modified":"2014-11-27T20:33:32","modified_gmt":"2014-11-28T04:33:32","slug":"unique-fun-and-giving-gifts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2014\/11\/28\/unique-fun-and-giving-gifts\/","title":{"rendered":"Unique, fun and giving gifts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lisa Pozin\u2019s co-op features changing vendors, constant quality, available at the store and online.\u00a0(image from\u00a0givinggifts.ca<\/a>)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Owning a small retail business may seem unconnected to making our planet a better place, but each purchase made in Lisa Pozin\u2019s gift shop makes a positive difference in someone\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

Pozin started the company Giving Gifts about four years ago online. \u201cI have been working at Temple Sholom as a program director since I was at university,\u201d she said in an interview with the Jewish Independent<\/em>. \u201cI dreamt about having my own store before but I\u2019m not a risk taker. I had a job, then I had three kids in three years. When I was on maternity leave with my youngest one, I decided it was time. Renting a retail space is expensive, and I wasn\u2019t sure it would work, so I started online.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Lisa Pozin owns Giving Gifts & Co. at 4570 Main St. (photo by Olga Livshin)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Although her university degree in criminology and anthropology never prepared her for entrepreneurship, her job at Temple Sholom gave her practical business experience. \u201cI got involved with the Temple\u2019s gift shop. I liked it, liked finding artists and producers of interesting items. It appeared I have a good eye for what other people would want to buy.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Temple Sholom, of course, the items for sale have to have a Jewish connection (sholomjudaica.ca<\/a>), but for her own shop, Pozin concentrated instead on selling only fair trade and eco-friendly gifts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always been a conscientious shopper myself. I think it\u2019s part of being Jewish \u2013 trying to make a difference. I wanted to contribute to changing the world through shopping. There is this movement \u2018Buy to Change\u2019; I wanted to be part of it, wanted people to find special products in my shop, products which help the world. I sell things that help someone make a better life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Each product line has meaning. \u201cWe have necklaces called Giving Keys,\u201d Pozin offered as an example. \u201cThey are keys with a word engraved on them, \u2018strength\u2019 or \u2018courage.\u2019 They\u2019re meant to be passed on. When you get this key, you must give it away at some point to a person who needs the message on the key. The necklaces are made by formerly homeless people in L.A.\u201d<\/p>\n

Giving Gifts carries scarves made in Ethiopia by women transitioning out of the sex trade. It sells a series from Barefoot Books, a small children\u2019s book company run by two mothers.<\/p>\n

Each of Pozin\u2019s vendors contributes to charities and, through them, so does Pozin. Ten percent of every sale made in the store is donated to various charities. \u201cMostly, they are children\u2019s charities,\u201d said Pozin. \u201cA couple years ago, I started a donation campaign and we built a school in Kenya.\u201d<\/p>\n

When she finally opened a physical shop about a year and a half ago \u2013 Giving Gifts & Co. at 4570 Main St. \u2013 Pozin set it up as a co-op. \u201cIt\u2019s a new concept in retail,\u201d she said. \u201cGiving Gifts is a permanent vendor at the store. The other vendors change. Each vendor rents a space from me for a certain amount of time \u2013 one day a week or some such \u2013 and sells his products and everything else in the store. This way, I don\u2019t have to be in the store all the time and I help local artisans, jewelry and clothes makers, to sell their things. One of my vendors is a florist. Another is a perfumer. We have a wonderful community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pozin offers shoppers both variety and convenience. She maintains an online presence (givinggifts.ca) and her services include shipping. \u201cWe ship almost every day. People shop online for gifts from small towns all over B.C. Even in Vancouver, they sometimes don\u2019t have time to come to the store during working hours, so we ship to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The shop manages to sustain itself. Pozin spends two days there and the rest of the week she still works at the synagogue.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love my work as a program director at Temple Sholom,\u201d she said. \u201cI work with families and teens. I run a seniors yoga class. It\u2019s wonderful to work there, but I love my store, too. I\u2019m excited when people buy from me. Together, we make a difference. We support good values and benefit the planet. There are more and more stores like that coming up everywhere. I hope the store will be successful at some point soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

In less than two years, Giving Gifts & Co. has acquired an excellent reputation. Earlier this year, it was a nominee in City of Vancouver\u2019s first annual Awards of Excellence, which were presented in June, and it also made it into the latest edition of the Lonely Planet tourist guide.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom Bakelite antiques to artisan chocolate bars and handmade kids wear, it\u2019s well worth a browse if you\u2019re in the neighborhood,\u201d reads the guide entry. \u201cThe vendors are changed every few months to keep things lively, so there\u2019s almost always something tempting to buy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Olga Livshin<\/strong> is a Vancouver freelance writer. She can be reached at olgagodim@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Lisa Pozin\u2019s co-op features changing vendors, constant quality, available at the store and online.\u00a0(image from\u00a0givinggifts.ca) Owning a small retail business may seem unconnected to making our planet a better place, but each purchase made in Lisa Pozin\u2019s gift shop makes a positive difference in someone\u2019s life. Pozin started the company Giving Gifts about four years […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9335,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[2518,2591,1325],"class_list":["post-9358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","tag-gifts","tag-lisa-pozin","tag-temple-sholom"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9358\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}