Box It Up
Customers Can Create Personalized Gift Boxes at Something Splendid
Writer / Renee Larr
Photographer / Ash Wittmer
A love of gift giving and celebration of lifes milestone events brought sisters Erynn and Elyse Petruzzi, and their best friend Allison Pirtle, together to create a unique, custom-curated gift-box business called Something Splendid. The three women say they were on a mission to make it easy to spread cheer.
We were all spending time together one night discussing how much we love gift giving and celebrating each other, Erynn says. We thought it would be so cool if we could create a company based on the things we love, so we decided to curate unique gift boxes.
The co-owners carefully select products from companies they believe in. The includes well-known national brands, Indiana-favorite retailers and handmade, one-of-a-kind pieces. Shoppers can choose pre-made boxes or create their own.
We pride ourselves in finding companies with certain values, Elyse says. We love to support women-owned businesses, small-business retailers, minority-owned and unique companies you cant find on large retail sites like Amazon. We want to partner with organizations that have some value attached to them.
Giving back is also a mission of the group. The trio designed a program called Gift and Give Back. Each month they choose an organization close to their hearts, and a portion of their sales goes to that organization. They say Gift and Give Back is inspired by all of our loved ones fighting a battle, as well as the needs of our community.
Breast cancer is something our family is personally affected by, so we have partnered with local cancer organizations, Erynn says. We try to align with celebratory months like Pride Month. We also try to stay local with these partnerships.
In 2019 the business began as an e-commerce site, with the friends working out of Elyses spare bedroom. They experienced so much quick success that they recently opened their first retail space in Westfield. Customers can peruse the store and not only buy the concierge-style gift boxes, but also single items.
Its humbling to think back to having crinkle paper all over my spare bedroom to now having a retail space and a warehouse, Elyse says. This started as a side gig for all of us, and now we all work full time for Something Splendid. We always dreamed of this day but honestly cannot believe were here.
Pirtle says the three worked incredibly hard to support other businesses during the darker days of the COVID-19 shutdowns. They say they take an all-hands-on-deck approach regarding working in the store, fulfilling online orders, creating content and marketing the brand.
The reason we opened the store is that we have loved getting to know our customers and their wants or needs, Erynn says.
Weve loved getting to know people nationwide via email and phone calls on our site. Now were excited and looking forward to building a community here, meeting people face to face and helping curate custom gifts.
Something Splendid is located at 217 Mill Street in Westfield. For more information, visit somethingsplendidco.com.
