About Us...
There is a quaint little shop called Sydney's Gifts down by Benton H. H. Lovett Park that you really
ought to visit some time....
ought to visit some time....
Sydney's gifts was formerly known as Story's Touch of Country. In 1997, Story's Touch of Country was the brainchild of
Christine Story. Mrs. Story started Story's Touch of Country in a small brick home where her husband, Danny's
grandparents lived. Chris and Danny built nice pine furniture pieces and sold gifts that had a primitive country flavor.
She also stocked her homemade pine shelves with some of the finest candles in Western Kentucky--Candles with good
strong, long-lasting fragances.
Handmade silk florals arranged by Chris was offered at Story's along with delivery of those arrangements, gifts, and
wreaths. She made sure everything was stocked and tidy. Customers were checked out graciously, and gifts were
displayed beautifully in cellophone. Along with maintaining tax/bookkeeping duties, and ordering merchandise from
catalogs behind the scenes, she handled the day-to-day operation of the shop virtually on her own for 7 years. For a
time, Debbie Russell offered print framing at the shop. Since Debbie also loved primitive decor, she and Chris enjoyed
running the shop together.
In February, 2004, Chris sold the shop to her next door neighbors on Main, Byford and Diane Temple. By then, Chris had
expanded the display area further into the main part of the house and
had developed a huge customer base, of friends and family. Chris was known for her jolly nature, creativity and great
service.
"So you can see that all the hard work was done by Chris. I stepped into the role of owner/manager pretty effortless,"
stated Diane. The physical appearance of the shop was then altered, by a new porch, fresh paint, and landscaping. More
lines of merchandising were added in order to offer a greater variety of gifts for birthdays, anniversaries, bridal/baby
showers, and inspirational gifts for funeral services. Primitive merchandise was still a large part of the inventory so that
the "Story's" customers would continue to enjoy shopping there.
In 2009, Sydney's Gifts expanded adding a full service florist along with the gift shop. Sydney's now employs five ladies;
Floral designers: Tina Stewart, and Kathy Treas; Customer Service: Marla Tubbs, and Chris Story, who decided to return
to work part-time, and Cathy Daugherty, Bookkeeping.
Christine Story. Mrs. Story started Story's Touch of Country in a small brick home where her husband, Danny's
grandparents lived. Chris and Danny built nice pine furniture pieces and sold gifts that had a primitive country flavor.
She also stocked her homemade pine shelves with some of the finest candles in Western Kentucky--Candles with good
strong, long-lasting fragances.
Handmade silk florals arranged by Chris was offered at Story's along with delivery of those arrangements, gifts, and
wreaths. She made sure everything was stocked and tidy. Customers were checked out graciously, and gifts were
displayed beautifully in cellophone. Along with maintaining tax/bookkeeping duties, and ordering merchandise from
catalogs behind the scenes, she handled the day-to-day operation of the shop virtually on her own for 7 years. For a
time, Debbie Russell offered print framing at the shop. Since Debbie also loved primitive decor, she and Chris enjoyed
running the shop together.
In February, 2004, Chris sold the shop to her next door neighbors on Main, Byford and Diane Temple. By then, Chris had
expanded the display area further into the main part of the house and
had developed a huge customer base, of friends and family. Chris was known for her jolly nature, creativity and great
service.
"So you can see that all the hard work was done by Chris. I stepped into the role of owner/manager pretty effortless,"
stated Diane. The physical appearance of the shop was then altered, by a new porch, fresh paint, and landscaping. More
lines of merchandising were added in order to offer a greater variety of gifts for birthdays, anniversaries, bridal/baby
showers, and inspirational gifts for funeral services. Primitive merchandise was still a large part of the inventory so that
the "Story's" customers would continue to enjoy shopping there.
In 2009, Sydney's Gifts expanded adding a full service florist along with the gift shop. Sydney's now employs five ladies;
Floral designers: Tina Stewart, and Kathy Treas; Customer Service: Marla Tubbs, and Chris Story, who decided to return
to work part-time, and Cathy Daugherty, Bookkeeping.
| History of Sydney's Gifts |
