Gift Shop Opens New Binford Location
Writer / Jane VanOsdol
Photographer / Amy Payne
If you’re looking for a gift that’s uniquely Indiana, there’s no better place to find it than at A Taste of Indiana. This retail and online store has been making Indiana proud for more than 33 years with its gift baskets and boxes filled entirely with Indiana items. The store recently moved to its new location at 5016 E. 62nd Street off Binford.
Mark Kolbus is a co-owner and purchased the business from his parents Mike and Eleanor Kolbus, who still work there as well. The company is really a family and friend affair, as friends help fill and ship the baskets during busy seasons.
Customizable Gift Baskets and Boxes
A Taste of Indiana offers customizable gift baskets and boxes that will please even the pickiest of people. Kolbus buys from more than 175 artisans, crafters and companies (about 90 percent are from Indiana) and stock between 200-300 different products including food, novelties, sports-themed items, books, alcohol, toys, beauty, housewares, corporate gifts, holiday-themed gifts, wedding gifts and so on. Customers can handpick all the items themselves at the retail location, or place their orders online choosing from the catalog. Items can also be purchased in the store individually without having to purchase a gift basket.
Employee Amy Woodward enjoys working with customers one-on-one to build the perfect gift basket.
“Customers love that they can come in and sample the items before they buy and customize their baskets,” she says. “They then choose between having the gift baskets shipped or delivered, or they can also pick them up at our retail store and take care of the delivery themselves.”
A Taste of Indiana ships both nationally and internationally, including military bases worldwide.
“We are service-oriented and take care of our customers as much as possible,” Kolbus says. “We’ll let them know if a particular item won’t ship well.”
Who Buys Our Baskets?
Almost everybody.
“A lot of customers have been with us for many, many years,” Kolbus says. “Ten to 15 years in some cases.”
Corporations, sports venues, conventions, businesses and people buy from them every day. They work very hard to accommodate every budget and size of order. No order is too big or too small. Whether you want to purchase one basket for your brother or 1,000 baskets for convention attendees, they can accommodate you.
“You name it, we’ve done it,” Kolbus says.
They work with budgets from $15 to $500 per box/basket.
Kolbus also makes it convenient for companies that want to include their logo on the gift card and company swag items inside the gift box. For example, a business may send a gift box to its employees for the holidays and, along with the items they choose from at A Taste of Indiana, they’ll also include a company coffee mug.
Always Looking for Vendors
A Taste of Indiana is always looking for new vendors to work with.
“We either find them or they find us,” Kolbus says.
Vendors need to have either an Indiana business or create products that are Indiana themed. He loves the variety of people he gets to meet in the business. One vendor, Soup of Success, is a job and life skills training program for women in Elkhart, Indiana. Their hand-packed soups and other food items are popular sellers, with the added benefit of helping women who are making positive life changes.
If you’re an Indiana artisan or business with a product that would work well in a gift basket, call Kolbus at 317-252-5850 or email him at sales@atasteofIndiana.com. To purchase a gift box or basket, you can either order online at atasteofindiana.com or visit their retail location at 5016 E. 62nd Street, Indianapolis.
