| Lisa
Gal never imagined she would be hired to deliver a script to Drew
Barrymore, until the day the call came in a few weeks ago.
“One time, a studio scriptwriter wanted to get Drew a script, so he
hired me to make her a basket in the theme of the movie he wanted
her to star in,” said Gal, the founder of Hollywood Baskets in
Burbank.
The scriptwriter had sent Gal a copy of the script, so she arranged
a basket with the script in the middle surrounded by other goods
that the writer hoped would entice Barrymore. Among those items were
Tampax and other feminine-themed products — since the screenplay was
for a movie called “Period.”
Gal never found out whether Barrymore read the script, but she still
treasured the experience.
Gal, a Burbank resident, has
spent 15 years building connections with clients and local
businesses to a point where she can ship her gourmet gift baskets
nationwide at competitive prices.
Known to several stars and studio clients through word of mouth, Gal
and the two other people on her staff have been ordered to make 100
gift baskets of caviar for a V.I.P. pre-Oscar party Feb. 18.
“While the details are confidential, we’re told it’s going to be at
an exclusive Beverly Hills estate, and there’s an exclusive
celebrity guest list,” Gal said.
The client list Gal started building dates back to her time as a
production assistant at the now-defunct commercial company
Shadowrock Productions, when she started doing Hollywood Baskets as
a side business in 1994.
“One time as a [production assistant], I noticed some very sparse
baskets that my bosses paid $50 each for, and I offered to do a
better job,” Gal said. “So I made three baskets they needed for
clients, and they loved them the next day. There were so many
advertising people around, so that’s who I started making gift
baskets for.”
Alex Darian, an executive assistant at Walt Disney Studios, is glad
to have a local business like Gal’s handy when her bosses or clients
want to make a good impression with gifts.
“One thing that’s really cool is if we forget to send gifts to
people last-minute, then she’ll give us a photo of the basket we
ordered from her so we know what was sent,” Darian said. “Her prices
are reasonable, too, and they’re done the same day. If I had to buy
all her stuff myself, I couldn’t beat the prices she charges for the
high-end things she uses.”
Orders Gal often gets from Disney involve dressing up merchandise,
which is given to corporate clients or donated to charity auctions.
“Presentation is everything, and she does a phenomenal job,” Darian
said.
Relying on the help of local businesses and frugal shopping at
places like the Toluca Lake farmer’s market has been instrumental to
Gal’s ability to keep inventory handy for when a big order pops up.
Another way she keeps it local is her policy of free delivery
service in Burbank.
“When I started doing baskets full time in 2000, I needed to get a
business loan to stock up on spa products, baby stuff and also some
upscale products,” Gal said. “What I found is one small business
can’t do everything on its own. That’s how we gain a lot of
customers. We have this little network that we try to work on and
expand.”
By relying on certain vendors for filling her orders on a regular
basis, Gal receives lower-than-normal prices from people like Merima
Surabi, who manages Flowers by Alen in Burbank.
“If people call and mention baskets, I give them her number and
refer them to her website,” Surabi said. “Sometimes when she gets
orders for flowers, she calls me and I make an arrangement for her.
Because we work together like this, I give her a good price.”
While Gal ran her business out of a warehouse space for a few years,
the writers strike of 2007 and the drooping economy hit businesses
like hers hard, and she is currently filling orders out of her
renovated garage.
“January is always slow, but we’re expecting the business will pick
up for Valentine’s Day and we’ll hire other part-time staff,” Gal
said. “I hope to return to the warehouse space soon since times like
Christmas get really busy. This holiday season, we hired 15 people
to ship about 5,000 baskets.”
|
