The tale of three retailers whose stores brim with great gifts—and optimism

By Rod Lee, d.b.a. Magazine

Lest anyone think that the local holiday retailing season—a la the national one—will amount to a complete bust (if the projections of economic experts are correct), consider the optimism voiced over the past few weeks by Donna Cina of Dizzi Donna’s in West Boylston, Gary Vaillancourt of Vaillancourt Folk Art in Sutton and Rocco Froio of Rocco’s Gentlemen’s Clothing in Worcester.

Cina launched Dizzi Donna’s, a gift shop that is chock full of “my favorite things,” in late September. A little over two months into her first such commercial venture here in Central Massachusetts, Cina is seeing people beat a fairly steady path to her door. The reason? Merchandise of the most scintillating kind, winsomely arrayed in premises initially made famous by “Basket Case” (an institution on West Boylston Street that was operated by her niece, Lisa Tee): Godiva chocolates, Crabtree & Evelyn toiletries, Peggy Karr glass, Illume and Kobo candles, vintage and antique buttons, Pilgrim jewelry, Baggalini bags, Wallaroo hats, Not Your Daughter’s Jeans (which are flying out of the shop), all-organic yarn sweaters, Troll beads (“every bead has a story”) and a line of baby items that is “phenomenal—to name a few examples.

Cina has even managed to incorporate a men’s section featuring “cool things for the office” (wallets, paperweights, etc.) into the mix.

And, there’s a whole gourmet food section.

Gift baskets, which make for great corporate-sector gifts, are a cornerstone of her store, Cina said.

It’s no wonder, she says, that “the response to my store has been wonderful so far.”

Cina spent a year and a half traveling far and wide (from the Cape to Maine, to San Francisco and to other destinations) before opening Dizzi Donna’s (so named because she felt woozy after a shopping expedition on a hot summer day). She says, “I don’t allow that talk in here” when predictions of rough times for retailers are brought up. “I stay positive and friendly.”

Cina’s approach mirrors that of Gary and Judi Vaillancourt, whose folk-art store—now situated in the Manchaug Mills complex—recently marked a 25th anniversary. In celebration of that milestone, Vaillancourt Folk Art introduced its new “Et Cetera” line—innovative products designed to carry the Vaillancourt brand to new heights.

Typical of these gift pieces, which draw on Judi Vaillancourt’s creative genius, is a Knickerbocker Christmas-like painting Judi did that has been replicated on prints, jewelry boxes, coasters, coffee mugs, dinner plates and serving trays.

A gingerbread Halloween builds on the same theme of innovation that has been a hallmark of the Vaillancourt success story. As Gary Vaillancourt says, “Our strength is Judi’s designs.”

Not long ago, he said, Judi responded to the urge of, “I want a Nantucket Santa.” And so they added one, complete with a Nantucket Basket on its back. “We don’t have a dealer, we don’t have a store on Nantucket, but our Internet business, through our website, is huge” for this item, Vaillancourt said.

“How do you survive as a retailer?” he asks. “We are using Et Cetera to take our brand in several new directions.”

Initially dismissed as a possible tactical blunder by some observers, Vaillancourt Folk Art’s move from a spot right off Route 146 to a more out-of-the-way location has proven to be a masterstroke, Vaillancourt said. “The (former) model wasn’t working,” he said. For one thing, Vaillancourt’s painters “were upstairs.” Now they are on the main floor, right next to the display cases and shelves. They can be seen at work. The introduction of their son Luke to the business has freed Judi up to do what she does best: create, Gary Vaillancourt said.

Rocco Froio demonstrated similar chutzpah in relocating his men’s-attire store from a shaky block of lower Pleasant Street to Park Avenue, where he has been able to tap into the generally well-to-do West Side consumer crowd. Women are among his best customers, purchasing apparel for their men.

“A lot of women buy things their partner needs, as opposed to extras,” Froio said. Gift certificates are popular too, he said.

Froio projects an upbeat attitude. “I will be affected” by the current downturn, he says, “but I did not create a lot of overhead in holiday inventory. The ones who survive are those who know how to manage their business. You have to be conservative.”

Custom suits and custom shirts are a forte of Rocco’s, Froio said. “Once you have one, it’s a long-lasting appreciation of the gift,” which is going to serve its wearer well for a number of years, he said.

By Nancy Sheehan TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

As a kid, Tom Bergeron had a dream, and, no, it wasn’t “I want to be an Emmy-award-winning television host when I grow up.”

“My fantasy was to work at WBZ Radio because I would listen to Larry Glick and Dave Maynard and Carl DeSuze and people like that,” said Bergeron, who grew up in Haverhill. “To get to work with them was really the big goal in my mind.”

Then, TV happened — sort of by accident.

“When I was doing radio in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in the early ’80s, some people who worked in Boston television called and said, ‘We’re doing some TV shows we think you might be good for. Would you like to come down and audition?’”

So he headed down to Beantown and got the job. Actually we should say jobs. Versatility became the likable host’s hallmark. After 20 years that have encompassed lots of live local shows, 10 years of “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” and six seasons of being the official live-TV greeter for about 20 million viewers a night on “Dancing with the Stars,” Bergeron is now a bicoastal bigwig, albeit a humble one who hasn’t forgotten his New England roots.

He will appear at the Vaillancourt Folk Art Studio at Manchaug Mills tomorrow for an event to benefit the Starlight Children’s Foundation. We spoke with Bergeron by telephone recently. He was on his way to JFK airport in New York, shuttling between his home in Connecticut and his other one in California, where he spends about half the year shooting “Dancing with the Stars” and taping “America’s Funniest Home Videos.” (Don’t worry. He was a passenger and so could chat unencumbered by the threat of crashing.)

Bergeron said he is looking forward to reconnecting with longtime friends Gary and Judi Vaillancourt, owners of the studio. “It will be good to go back and see old friends,” he said. “In the midst of all this sort of craziness that’s happening it’s a real treat.” Bergeron has for many years been a supporter of the Starlight Foundation, which helps seriously ill children and their families cope through entertainment, education and family activities. Each year, the art studio offers a new “Starlight Santa,” the sale of which benefits the foundation.

Working in Boston TV benefited Bergeron, who said that is where he learned how to make hosting look easy. His first job for WBZ-TV was called “Super Kids,” a weekend show aimed at 6- to 11-year-olds patterned after the then-popular Evening Magazine format. He did that a couple of years, copped an Emmy and then was offered a grown-up news show called “4 Today.” The offer included a little side gig: that of tuxedoed lottery host. He wasn’t sure at first he wanted to be the one calling out the winning numbers, but in the end he was game. “So I had fun with it,” he said. “I called the tuxedo the mega-tux and I just made as much light of it as you can about people risking their food money for millions of dollars.”

He continued with “4 Today” spots throughout the news day and added “People Are Talking,” all of which proved a good training ground for his as-yet unforeseen nationwide-live-TV future.

“The ’4 Today’ stuff that I did throughout the day and the ‘People Are Talking’ show that I did for six years at ‘BZ that ran the gamut from serious to silly and everything in between, and also all the radio work and improv theater and things like that that I did. All of it is sort of in the big stew pot in terms of building the muscles that you need to kind of be very present and focused when you’re on the air.”

It all resulted in a remarkable sense of ease in making conversation and reeling off witty remarks undaunted by the fact that millions are looking on. That would be an enormous challenge for most people.

“But doing live TV for me is something I’ve done for years so it’s a very comfortable thing for me now. I’ve said it and it’s really true: sometimes the most relaxing part of my day when we’re shooting ‘Dancing with the Stars’ is when I walk on that set live in front of 20 million people. It’s like wearing bedroom slippers. I love it.”

He says he loves the people he works with as well. “I give a hard time to the judges on the show but we’re all good friends actually,” he said. “So I walk out there trusting that there are going to be opportunities (for good quips) on the air.”

Are the now-famous judges, Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba, pretty much like they seem on TV?

“Yeah, I think they are,” he said. “Len sometimes isn’t quite as cranky as he lets on. He’s got more of a twinkle in his eye. Bruno isn’t quite as nutty as he lets on, and Carrie Ann is much sweeter than she lets on sometimes …”

We had to ask about devilishly handsome pro dancer heartthrob Maksim Chmerkovskiy. He seems a tad full of himself at times. Is he?

“I said about Maks on one show, because I’m very fond of him, that he has a brash exterior and a marshmallow center,” Bergeron said. “He’s a sweetheart. I think that some of that bravado is because he’s not exactly an unattractive guy — and I say that as a card-carrying heterosexual — but he is also in the world of ballroom, which, prior to this experience of being on a massive television show, was his life. He’s a star in that world and then suddenly he was exposed to the spotlight of a major TV show. Part of what appeared to be brash ego was a bit of a defensive crouch, initially, I think. He’s gotten a lot more comfortable with it. If you spent any time with him at all you would be absolutely charmed.” (Where do we sign up?)

The future for Bergeron holds more of Maks and the rest of the “Dancing” cast as well as his new book, “I’m Hosting as Fast as I Can,” due out in April from HarperCollins. There also will be some beneficial changes on a personal level. Bergeron and his wife, Lois, have two daughters, one in college and one a high school senior in Connecticut. The idea of an upcoming empty nest has a slightly different connotation for the Bergerons.

“The last 10 years, working in Hollywood and also living in Connecticut, we’ve experienced something like the empty nest already with each other,” he said. “So next year, Lois will be able to come out and spend more time with me in California once we’ve parked both our kids in college.”

So, is he happy?

“I’m pretty happy with what’s on my plate right now,” he said. “Next year we’re looking at the 20th year of ‘America’s Funniest Home Videos,’ which will be my 10th (year on the show) … And ‘Dancing with the Stars’ will be having its eighth and ninth seasons next year and the book will be coming out so there’s a lot going on and I’m having a ball. I really am. I’m having a wonderful time.”

Sutton, MA. Massachusetts native and “Dancing with the Stars” co-host Tom Bergeron will be at the Vaillancourt Folk Art Studio at the Manchaug Mills at 1 Main Street, Sutton, MA on Saturday, December 13 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for an event to benefit the Starlight Children’s Foundation.

Each Christmas season Vaillancourt Folk Art introduces a “Starlight Santa” especially created to celebrate their partnership with the Starlight Children’s Foundation. This year a special “dancing snow woman” has also been designed to highlight Tom Bergeron’s visit. “We are very pleased that Tom is able to join us this year and we couldn’t resist creating a special “dancer” just for him,” Gary Vaillancourt, company president, explained.

“Tom will join Judi Vaillancourt, the designer of our chalkware santas and other popular holiday decorations, to sign customers’ purchases of our santas or ornaments at our store,” Vaillancourt added. “As part of what has become our tradition, we will donate a portion of those proceeds to the Starlight Children’s Foundation that serves seriously ill children and their families.”

Vaillancourt Folk Art has proudly partnered with Starlight since 1990 and in previous years has donated a “Fun Center” to a local pediatric unit. Fun Center’s include video and electronic entertainment that helps to make a child’s stay in the hospital more comfortable. According to foundation personnel, the Vaillancourt’s annual donation has brightened the lives of thousands of children and their families through outpatient family activities and inpatient entertainment programs for hospitalized children.

“The Vaillancourt Folk Art’s Starlight Santa is a wonderful gift that brightens the season as well as contributes to making a difference for seriously ill children and their families throughout the year,” Jonelle Prill-Tate, Starlight’s Community Development Officer said. “We are very grateful to the Vaillancourt family and Starlight Santa collectors. Over the years they have made many dreams come true and provided tremendous support for children throughout New England.”

Sutton, MA. Vaillancourt Folk Art in Sutton has created a rich visual holiday experience with a 1950’s style window display that entices customers to come in and to feel good about Christmas.

A glittering dining room table ornately set and ready for guests and Christmas trees covered with ornaments convey the feel of bygone department stores and their large glass windows. Decades ago, workers known as “window dressers” spent long hours carefully placing items in store fronts to attract customers with the visual delight and excitement of the holiday. Today, Vaillancourt Folk Art’s carefully constructed and expertly lit display conjures that same big city feel but it is nestled in the massive granite walls of the circa 1826 mill building in the village of Manchaug

“We want people to feel good about this holiday,” company president Gary Vaillancourt said, “and we wanted to create the feeling that you would get when you walked past one of those stores. No matter what your circumstance, the windows drew you in and made you part of the promise of Christmas. We know everyone is worried about the economy today, but at the same time we need to hold on to our traditions, too.”

Vaillancourt Folk Art specializes in highly stylized chalkware figures that are cast on site in their studio. Confectionary and chocolate molds are used to produce figures depicting Old World Santas while modern molds tend to capture whimsical concepts like Santa driving a car instead of a sleigh. Designs are then carefully hand painted onto each piece. Over the years they have become highly desirable among collectors.

The retail and studio space at Manchaug Mills also includes a museum that chronicles the company from its early days 25 years ago to the present. For those interested in the history of Santa Claus, designer Judi Vaillancourt has assembled the different figures from European nations – Germany, Italy, Poland and others – so visitors can see how Father Christmas has evolved over the years to become the modern day American figure most familiar to millions of children.

“We have taken great care to make sure our customers come in to our store and studio and experience Christmas,” Vaillancourt said. “We are proud to be a Massachusetts manufacturer and to offer our customers decorative holiday items that are made in America. We are here to help them start their own traditions and to experience Christmas the way it used to be.”

Sutton, MA. Designers at Vaillancourt Folk Art in Sutton are helping area corporations create unique and exciting holiday gifts that are coveted by their recipients and that leave smiles on the faces of those who give them away as well.

Finding the perfect gift to convey “Happy Holidays” to a company’s important customers and friends can be an arduous process. Hours spent searching catalogs for just the right gift that also fits the budget and getting approvals moved through the corporate hierarchy often leaves staff with headaches. At the end of the day, the gift still looks and feels less than special.

Several area companies have found a way to change that experience and they find that the process can be an enjoyable one, too.

Executives at IBA Inc. in Millbury, MA were among the first to see the potential of replacing a typical catalog generated corporate gift with one that would send a unique message to their distributors across the country. The dairy farm supply company partnered with Vaillancourt nearly a dozen years ago and started out with the signature Santa figures. Later they chose a snowman and now they are open to more creative options. “This year we decided on a tree with a calf underneath it,” Judi Taft, administrative assistant to IBA’s president said. “But every year we have a star on the figure and nothing with our name on it. For us it is a gift to our distributors and they tell us how much they look forward to what they are going to receive each year. Today we have collectors in 48 states.

The Legacy Publishing Group of Clinton, MA takes a slightly different approach. The gift company with over 100 designs and 25 products works with over two dozen artists from around the country to create their licensed products. To acknowledge those talents at the holidays, Legacy works with Vaillancourt to choose a figure that is then hand painted and finished especially for them. This year the Legacy santa has the company’s logo on the back of his coat. “We wanted to give something special to the artists we work with,” Mary Pat Heelan, the company’s marketing director explained. “It has grown into a really big deal with our artists who look forward to receiving their ‘Legacy Santa’ – handmade and numbered — each year.”

Both Taft and Heelan agreed that Vaillancourt’s make choosing and delivering their corporate gifts an enjoyable process. Collaboration with designer Judi Vaillancourt starts early but both say they are always thrilled with the outcome. “I look forward to this every year,” Heelan said. “It’s easy and joyful from start to finish. All we have to do is address the card because all the pieces are hand finished and packaged for us.”

“I like the personalization of the process and the collaboration we work through,” Taft added. “We have built a wonderful relationship over the years, but it’s also become important to us to support another local business and that’s what also makes working with the Vaillancourts special to us.”

The potential of this product line has prompted designers Judi and Luke Vaillancourt to create the “Vaillancourt Design Group” within the family owned company. They also work with banks and credit unions, asset management companies and colleges to create one-of-a-kind gifts for the holidays or for special events. “We are happy to work with companies to design a special creation that reflects their corporate values and working with us also lets them proudly say that their gift is made in America, too,” Gary Vaillancourt, the company’s president added.