The other day I went to Gifts and Things to help my daughter buy a present for her Granny. Gifts and Things is a shop that sells all kinds of gift items for men and women, with a wide price range. I’d say that it specialises in decorative items, but it’s also got a good range of cards and the shop next door, which is part of it, caters for children’s gifts. I’ve always found it to be a place worth visiting, where the staff are helpful, but on my last visit, they went above and beyond the call of duty.

Once we’d been in the shop for about five minutes, a lady came over to offer help. (Brownie point no 1 – helping when needed.) My daughter, who is particular about gift choices, said what she was looking for and the lady suggested a few items and then left us to browse some more.  (Brownie point no. 2 – staying in the background after offering help). Finally, my daughter chose the item she wanted. (Brownie point no 3 – no one hovered over us making sure she didn’t break anything; they left that to us instead – and she didn’t.)

But the real gift came when we got to the counter, when the lady asked if we would like it gift wrapped. She waited while my daughter selected a sheet of paper, then wrapped it competently, doing a far better job than any of us would have done. Then she added a wide ribbon around the package. We thought she’d finished, but she hadn’t. She then put the finishing touches on with some fine ribbon which she teased till it curled beautifully. It must have taken her more than 10 minutes and the only extra charge was for the sheet of wrapping paper.

When we thanked her, she simply said: “I like making people’s presents special.” How’s that for great service!

Gifts and Things is located in the Sheraton Centre, Christ Church.