ABOUT US
Diane (Scribner) Stimpson grew up in Brewer and her husband Lee Stimpson grew up in Bangor. This area is HOME.
In early 2013, we found ourselves in the position of needing jobs. Not old enough to retire and too old to be considered as worthy candidates by many companies. We have both lost jobs in our careers, due to corporate buyouts or bad management practices that caused the companies to go bankrupt or close.
With our combined work experiences in Business ownership and management, Retail Sales, Information Technology, and Bookkeeping, we decided that we wanted to own another business and started our research to determine what type of business that the area needed. Family and friends had suggestions; and it became apparent that Brewer did not have a quality card and gift shop.
More research.
Lots of meetings and brainstorming sessions with business counselors, a card and gift shop owner in Waterville, vendors, bankers, our lawyers, and ourselves.
We wanted our shop to be unique.
The inspiration of Maine Made and Made in the USA cards and gifts started to develop.
Huckleberries Card and Gift acquired their space at the Brewer Shopping Center on November 1, 2013. The entire space needed paint and flooring. Already, the holiday season was slipping by. We worked hard, got the building improvements done, inventory and displays started rolling in, and we opened on Saturday, November 30 which was Small Business Saturday. The store looked a little empty in the beginning! However, our inventories have expanded immensely and we are very proud of all that we have accomplished.
The majority of our cards and gifts are made in Maine and the USA. Finding new products locally will always be our first priority.
In July 2016, we moved the shop to 81 Main St in Bucksport, Maine. It's not far from Brewer, 20-25 minutes. We've met so many wonderful customers here and look forward to becoming part of the Bucksport community.
Please visit us at Huckleberries Card and Gift. We’d love to meet you.
