Shaynees Gifts

Shaynie Schwartz just seems to have a knack for selling gifts. “I got my start working in retail in the giftware industry, and I just loved seeing customers happy,” she says.

When the store she was working at closed, her husband nudged her to open one of her own. Shaynee’s Gift Selections started in Lawrence Plaza and soon became a hot spot for the best gifts around. “I worked crazy hours and my customers got to know me and would come back for more,” Shaynie recalls. But the space was big, and sometimes, shopping for the right gift got confusing.

More and more clients started coming from the north so in 1998, Shaynie's daughter, Niki,  opened a sister store at Clarke and Hilda in Thornhill. Then, in 2010, Shaynie's husband nudged her again. “We both felt that it was time to relocate the Toronto store to a smaller space that would house more upscale designer items,” she explains. Today, that flagship location can be found at Bathurst and Sultana Avenue.