Our story begins in the summer of 1985. We met while working for a Chicago-based retailer that sold women's clothing, and that was the beginning of our lifelong friendship. Over the next 20 years, we worked together on and off for 3 other retail companies with responsibilities in human resources, management, buying, overseeing store renovations, and negotiating leases, all while growing our families.
In 2004, we were presented with an opportunity to switch gears and join the wholesale side of the business. Full of excitement at starting something new, we didn’t hesitate and within a month Great Lakes Gifts & Apparel was formed. We took on our very first wholesale vendor but with only 3 active accounts in our territory we had our work cut out for us. Within 2 years, we partnered with a few additional manufacturers and started traveling the territory and attending trade shows in an effort to build the business.
The first 5 years proved to be difficult, to say the least, as we were faced with many challenges. We were determined to succeed and spent the next 15 years growing both our customer base and our line list. Partnering with exceptional customers and vendors and striving to strengthen those relationships has been an integral part of our success. We currently represent 15 manufacturers, and are proud to say that 21 years later, we are still partners with the very first vendor that hired us.
We were friends first and business partners second. The strength of that friendship is the foundation of our success and our loyalty is one of the building blocks. Along with the treasured friendships we have formed over the past 2 decades, we are so grateful for our customers, vendors, employees, and everybody we work with. Our commitment to you is what drives us every day. We are beyond thankful because we know we couldn’t have done any of this without all of you and each other. Even though we’ve been at this for awhile, we feel our journey is just beginning and we look forward to continued growth and success for Great Lakes Gifts & Apparel.
Sherry Baskin & Krista Carey