The feeling of receiving the perfect gift is wholly unmatched — perhaps only rivaled by the feeling of giving the perfect gift. In a world of e-commerce and crowded corporate retailers, a local establishment like Gretel’s Fine Gifts hopes to provide a warm, welcoming environment to find the right present.
Gretel’s Fine Gifts is, as one may expect, a gift store that has been open in West Lafayette for 20 years, owned by Gretel Kulupka.
“Life opens doors — I’ve gone through a lot of them — and this is the one I’ve been through most recently,” Kulupka said.
Gretel Kulupka, owner and namesake of Gretel’s Fine Gifts, explains why she is so passionate about her work.
One of those earlier doors Kulupka mentioned was her time working for Caterpillar as an electrician after receiving her electrical technology degree from Purdue. When the time came to have children, she thought it was best to step back and find a safer job.
“When my kids were born, I didn’t want to stick my hands in electrical panels anymore,” Kulupka said.
As her children got older, she said she began to drive a school bus for Rossville Schools. Not long after, she said she picked up a second job in between her bus routes at Bennett’s Greenhouse, where she soon became a manager.
It was around this time that Kulupka said she realized she had other aspirations.
“When I was a kid ... I liked to play store,” Kulupka said.
She set her sights on doing just that. Kulupka said she got her start in the very same shopping center she can be found in today, only in a much smaller space.
After six years there, she was given the opportunity to expand and move into her new location, where she’s been ever since. But, why gifts?
“At this time in the world, finding gifts that you can pick up and touch and feel and know the quality is hard to come by,” Kulupka said.
She said that this is why she tries to offer quality gifts at an inexpensive price. Candles from Swan Creek, Ravensburger puzzles and a specific brand of goat milk lotion from Montana are products Kulupka said she trusts and offers at her store.
Beautiful charcuterie boards display the craft and hard work that went into making them.
Atop one of the many shelves within the shop sits goat milk made locally by Jane Sellers, who Kulupka said is an Eli Lilly retiree and chemist. Along with that, she said she has fused glass and charcuterie boards that are locally made as well.
“I try hard to make meaningful connections with my products,” Kulupka said.
Kulupka and eight-year employee Janet Baumgardt said they believe that making meaningful connections with the customers is just as important as what they sell.
“Some of these people have become friends,” Kulupka said. “It’s not just a business deal. We talk (and) we have a personal interaction.”
Baumgardt said working at Gretel’s has helped her become a part of the community and meet people she wouldn’t have otherwise met. She believes stores like Gretel’s are hard to come by.
“It’s not your normal retail place — people choose to come here,” Baumgardt said.
Both Kulupka and Baumgardt said they agree that making the store look presentable is a goal as well. With so much confusion in the world, Kulupka hopes her shop can be a place of bliss.
“I would like (customers) to feel like they’ve stepped out of whatever tensions they’ve been feeling into a little oasis,” Kulupka said.
A wide arrange of unique hats on display.
Even Baumgardt said she feels a bit of that oasis herself as an employee, given the job involves doing a lot of what she already loves.
“I love to decorate. I like to make people smile,” Baumgardt said.
Both Baumgardt and Kulupka are happy the store continues to be a reliable shop for getting gifts, no matter the occasion. Baumgardt said Gretel’s Fine Gifts can be a place to find presents that look and feel put together, even presents bought at the last minute, because they are found at a place where there’s something for everybody.
One of those “somethings” is cards, which Baumgardt feels aren’t appreciated enough these days.
“A lot of younger people don’t see the importance of holding onto cards,” Baumgardt said. “It’s not until you get older that having somebody’s handwriting — until they’re gone — that you go ‘Oh, I should have kept that.’”
Overall, Kulupka said there is such a nice feeling getting to be the facilitator of the connection between the gift giver and receiver. With no plans to expand, she said she is very happy with where she is.
“There are so many uncertainties about how the future is going to unfold,” Kulupka said. “I just hope that whatever happens permits me to continue this, because I love what I do.”
