Santa’s Workshop
What started in the basement of a suburban Chicago home back in 1998 as an idea to create unique items personalized for the receiver has become the leader in personalized gifts. With two facilities, including the corporate headquarters in Burr Ridge spanning 100,000 square feet and the primary production and fulfillment center in Bolingbrook covering 365,000 square feet, PersonalizationMall.com is responsible for creating 80 million personalized gifts over the last 25 years.
During the holiday season, the company truly becomes a local Santa’s Workshop. In fact, this holiday season, PersonalizationMall.com will produce 40,000 ornaments a day. And things have certainly changed over the years. Back in the early days, if customers wanted custom photo products, they had to mail in their photos so they could be manually scanned and printed on their gifts. Today, the impressive technology – and operations – are entirely streamlined.
Peak months for PersonalizationMall.com are during November and December, when they handle 3 – 4 times more volume than other months, and the number of associates swells from 400 to 4,000. However, before the rollercoaster ride of the holidays, Anne Healy, Associate Publisher of Hinsdale Magazine Group, spoke with Dan Grebel, Vice President of Operations at PersonalizationMall.com, regarding the company’s success. Grebel, a lifelong resident of the Chicagoland area who has called Downers Grove home the last 21 years with his wife Carrie and three children, shared his personal take on this impressive company that has taken personalization to a new level.
Hinsdale Magazine Group: What does your role entail as Vice President of Operations at PersonalizationMall.com entail?
Dan Grebel: I am responsible for driving operational excellence across the brand’s manufacturing, fulfillment, and customer service functions. I focus on the entire order process, from when an order is placed to delivery and customer satisfaction. My daily goal is to produce and deliver inspiring gifts and personal keepsakes to help millions of customers share love and joy with their friends, family, and loved ones.
HMG: How did your career begin/evolve over the years?
DG: I’ve always had a strong work ethic, maybe even too much at times. At 14, I started cutting lawns and helping with handyman projects around my neighborhood. By 15, I began working for the owners of Personal Creations (PC), taking on odd jobs around their home and later working for their business, which was run out of their basement at that time. By the time I was 21, I had become the Production Manager, overseeing daily production and implementing new personalization processes, products, and services.
Then, in 1999, I decided to venture out on my own and started Gifts For You (GFY), focusing on personalized gifts for catalog retailers. My wife Carrie and I ran the business for ten years before selling it to someone who could take it to the next level. I stayed on for another eight years at GFY, helping to transition the business away from B2B and towards direct-to-consumer sales online, which became our primary focus.
Around the same time I started GFY, the former owner of Personal Creations launched PersonalizationMall.com. Both businesses were small then, and I needed additional work, so I found myself helping launch yet another personalized gift business from a basement. I worked with PersonalizationMall.com to add personalization processes, create products, ship orders, design new items, and assist with online marketing efforts. Both businesses operated out of the same rented space in Downers Grove for several years. But as we grew, PersonalizationMall.com needed more space, and I needed to focus entirely on GFY. I moved GFY to its own facility in Downers Grove. Each company continued to grow in its respective market. I returned to PersonalizationMall.com as VicePresident of Operations seven years ago, coming full circle.
HMG: What is the most rewarding aspect of PersonalizationMall.com?
DG: We help millions of people celebrate special moments and share joy with their families. I am most moved when I hear our employees share that sentiment. Our business helps people commemorate every stage of life, from birth to memorials and everything in between.
HMG: What is the most challenging aspect of your position?
DG: The most challenging aspect of my position comes during our peak periods, which are both demanding and exciting. While holidays like Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and Father’s Day keep us busy, nothing compares to the Christmas season when our facility turns into Santa’s Workshop. It’s a marathon that requires months of preparation and teamwork, and it’s our opportunity to showcase what we’re capable of. We can add new equipment, promote team members, test new products, and refine our processes. It’s a time when we push ourselves and achieve outstanding results.
HMG: PersonalizationMall.com guarantees delivery right up until the holidays. When do you officially “clock out” during the holiday season to celebrate with family and friends?
DG: I sometimes feel like a sports coach who is already back on the road preparing for the next season after winning the last game. I never really clock out because I believe there is always room for us to improve, and I’m not sure I’ll ever be completely satisfied. At the end of each season, I watch the last delivery truck leave the building, jot down my notes from the final hours, and then the following morning. I monitor delivery performance for our customers and their families. After that, typically on Christmas Eve, I take my three kids to the mall to buy gifts for their mom. We enjoy a day of shopping, complete with a lunch break, and then head home to wrap the gifts. For over 20 years, my family has hosted Christmas Day at our home in Downers Grove. As our family has grown, our celebration has evolved from an open house filled with young couples to a cherished day of celebration with my family and other loved ones.
HMG: Where does PersonalizationMall.com call home?
DG: As I mentioned, PersonalizationMall.com started in 1998 in Chicago, right in the founder’s basement. By 2009, we moved into a new space in Burr Ridge to keep up with demand. In 2019, we expanded again with a larger manufacturing and distribution facility in Bolingbrook that is 365,000 square feet. When we became part of the 1-800-Flowers family in 2020, we saw even more growth, including the addition of Things Remembered to our personalized gifting platform in 2023.
HMG: Your company has industry-leading personalization capabilities; how does a “blank item” become personalized and quality assurance in place?
DG: When a customer chooses an item, they can see a preview of exactly what their personalized gift will look like before they place the order. Our customers love the ability to see the final visualization of their customized gift before they buy it. It really helps take the guesswork out of gift-giving.
Behind the scenes, our technology streamlines the entire operation – from processing the order to quality checks and shipping – all within just 1-2 days. Once the order is in, it goes straight into production. Our team in the warehouse picks the blank item, and the design is either printed in our Art Room or sent directly to the relevant personalization department, depending on the product. Our team uses that same preview our customers see to ensure everything looks right from a quality assurance perspective. From there, the item is packaged, sorted, and shipped out. We deliver both on speed and customer satisfaction.
HMG: There is a wide selection of unique items to personalize. How do you hich items to carry?
DG: Our in-house merchandising and creative teams are always on the lookout for the “next big gift” – whether traveling to gift and trade shows worldwide or analyzing upcoming themes and colors that will resonate with our customers. They closely monitor current events, social media trends, and customer searches to uncover popular ideas. We design over a thousand exclusive items every year, including a special line of hand-painted resin ornaments for the holidays.
Also, we are, by design, a very nimble organization. Our team can quickly pivot to create fresh graphics for all kinds of items, from mugs and blankets to doormats and pillows. We have also introduced ornaments shaped like sloths, unicorns, and gnomes, which have been huge hits. Western-style ornaments and NFL-licensed Kansas City Chiefs ornaments are on trend this year, too.
HMG: What are the most popular personalized items during the holiday season?
DG: Personalized ornaments are always a big hit. We create around 40,000 ornaments a day during the holiday season. And while ornaments, like our Snowman Repeating Name Personalized Ornament (which is personalized with up to 35 different names), are the top choice, we offer a wide range of unique gifts that customers love to personalize, like the iconic silver baby bootie ornament from Things Remembered that resonates with customers seeking a meaningful, timeless gift. This year, we’re also introducing exclusive products with Elf on the Shelf, Polar Express, and Elf. We’re also excited to collaborate with Vera Bradley for exclusive personalized products across PersonalizationMall.com and Things Remembered.
HMG: What are some of the company’s other critical timeframes besides the holidays?
DG: Throughout the year, we personalized about 8 million items. Aside from the holiday season, the most significant occasions for PersonalizationMall.com include Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Father’s Day, Easter, Halloween, and graduation. While these are our top occasions, we also create seasonal designs for birthdays, tailgating with our NFL and NCAA licensed offerings, Back-to-School, weddings, and St. Patrick’s Day. We also offer the “Design Your Own” program that allows customers to use their creativity to customize items with their own graphics, fonts, and photos for any occasion or season. It’s an excellent way for customers to create unique keepsakes tailored to their special moments.
HMG: For the gift-givers out there, what are some gift-giving trends for 2024?
DG: As we look to the 2024 holiday season, we’re seeing a trend toward gifts that encourage people to unplug and connect with others, which aligns perfectly with our vision to inspire people to give more, connect more, and build better relationships.
Consumers are gravitating toward outdoor activities, leading to a rise in the popularity of our golf-related gifts and our new pickleball collection. Travel bags and accessories are also trending as top gift choices. Shoppers are also embracing board games and photo puzzles as they plan staycations or family nights
at home.
PersonalizationMall.com by the Numbers
• Fourteen million custom ornaments have been produced throughout the company’s history.
• The company stocks over 2,000 blank items, from ornaments and stockings to frames and blankets, translating into more than 40,000 personalized products.
• Gifts are purchased, personalized, and shipped within 1-2 days.
• Items can be purchased through mid-day on December 23rd and still be delivered before the holidays.
• The range of gifts available to customize ranges from $10 – $300.
• The order volume for Cyber Monday at PersonalizationMall.com can be as much as ten times that of a summer day, and during November and December, it can handle 3 to 4 times more orders than other months.
• In 2023, more than 800,000 ornaments, 300,000 stockings, and 2 million square feet of wrapping paper were created.
• Twenty-five personalization methods are available, such as laser engraving, embroidery, UV printing, sublimation, and sandblasting.
• The company serves over 20 million customers.
