New on the scene is Minny & Paul, a Twin Cities–based company that produces gift boxes featuring local goods from beauty products to snacks to plants. We sat down to learn more from Laura Waldman, the brains behind the biz.
Why did you feel there was a need for a local gift box company?
While working as the manager over at Kit and Ace, I was lucky enough to meet a ton of talented creatives in our community. Over time, I came to realize that there were so many unique, high-quality goods made right here in Minnesota that not everyone knew about. My vision is to make discovering and sharing local products easy and memorable through thoughtful gifting.
Why is going local so important to you and so appealing to customers?
We believe that awareness and engagement with the community is very important. We want to encourage connection to the product through understanding the makers’ stories and inspiration. Everything that arrives in your custom wooden gift box — which itself is from local company WAAM Industries — is from a local brand. It also includes an informational insert about the featured makers plus pro tips on how to best experience the goods.
Can you tell us more about the build-your-own-box pop-ups?
Our build-your-own-box pop-ups are in the early development stages. We want to create a unique shopping experience by allowing customers to pick and choose a few items based on price points and essentially build their own Minny & Paul boxes. More to come — stay tuned!
Will there be customizable boxes in the near future?
Absolutely. Aside from physical pop-ups where customers will be able to build their own boxes, we will have a curated online marketplace where customers can pick and choose what is going in their Minny & Paul box. Currently, we do offer customizable boxes for orders of 10 or more and have been working with bridal companies, corporate agencies and realtors to create custom gift boxes for their clients and team members.
