Todd's Gifts

If ever there were exactly the right time for exactly the right store, this is it. Located at the upmarket Promenade in Bonita Springs, Teak Experience speaks to the current craze for comfortable, luxurious and technically efficient outdoor living spaces.

This emporium offers one-stop shopping for your big, multipurpose outdoor room. It starts with a whole new concept for the outdoor kitchen-composed of modular units that you put together with Teak Experience experts such as Christine Thomas. She's the sales manager for the family-owned business. Dad and mom, Richard and Marie Thomas of Chicago, founded the company and are in the process of spending more time in Southwest Florida.

The Teak Experience outdoor kitchen is a freestanding unit that can be customized with a variety of stone and brick finishes and colors. You confer with the in-store designer and work out how you want the unit to look and function. Then you place your order, which is drop--shipped in 10 days. When the modular pieces arrive, your custom kitchen is assembled and installed by Teak Experience. From beginning to end, the process takes a little over a month. An average price is about $14,000 and includes all appliances and a fireplace. Since the kitchen is finished on the back and front, the installation does not have to hug an interior wall; it can "float" anywhere in an outside space.

"Homeowners appreciate the flexibility of the units and the fact that you do not need a building contractor to handle the whole process," says Christine. "A few weeks ago, a man came in just to casually look at our furniture. He asked a few questions about the outdoor kitchen display we have here in the store. He got more and more interested and his eyes nearly popped when I told him the bottom-line price for what he would want in an outdoor kitchen setup. Suddenly, he excused himself, whipped out his cell phone and called his contractor. He told him to stop everything on the outdoor kitchen. He'd just decided to go in a different direction. He's pretty much our typical customer."

You can select all your furniture for the patio, pool deck and porch in this shop-everything from a teak floor (interlocking 12-by-12-inch squares) to a cheese dome, lazy Susan, wine racks, rolling gourmet carts, teak place mats, tables, chairs, loungers, planter boxes and storage units. All of it is stunning.

The Thomas family has invested in four lines of furniture. The Danish Trip Trap collection is technically sophisticated and characterized by clean, sharp lines. Very artistic and suitable for a modern home. Alexander Rose (a British line) and Lane Venture would suit a traditional or transitional setting while the line of Les Jardins would complement a Mediterranean style of architecture and décor. If you walk through the store, you'll notice the subtle differences among the collections. Gradually you'll gravitate toward the one you know is right for you.

Surely a standout is the English-Colonial style steamer chair that is a replica of the ones chosen by the designers of Titanic. It sells for $770 and is super-sophisticated. You gaze at that handsome recliner with its sculptural brass fittings and you can just picture Noel Coward on his oceanfront lawn leaning back and waving his shiny black cigarette holder at the butler bringing him a martini. Lounge chairs at Teak Experience range from $500 to $1,000. Tables start at $200, and chairs begin at $150 and top out at about $600 each. The store has access to an appealing variety of weather-resistant cushions for chairs, benches and loungers, and Christine Thomas can work with decorators to special order custom fabrics, too.

Alexander Rose makes one of the most popular items in the store. It's a handsome, round teak table with a grill (gas or electric) in the center. The price is $2,000. It looks as great as it functions;and if you're in a small space, this could be the answer to fashionable outdoor eating.

All the teak in the Thomases' store is mature and double aged, meaning it's at least 50 years old. Most of the wood comes from Burma, Thailand and Indonesia. The furniture and accessories will last a lifetime as they delicately change patina from rich brown to a subtler hue over the years. Go see for yourself how gorgeously glamorous this casual furniture can be. Browsing is almost as much fun as buying at Teak Experience.

Three years ago, Karen Todd was working in her husband's office (James sells business machines) when the retail space next door became available. James mentioned to his wife that since she'd always wanted to have a go at running a gift shop, this might be the time and place. "I envisioned a lovely, feminine space with a sweet name like The Birdcage," she remembers. "Then my husband insisted on Todd's Gifts to play off his business name, J.M. Todd, Inc. I thought prospective customers would drive by, see the name and immediately think sporting goods or tools." But from the day it opened, no one ever has. Todd's Gifts is all Karen and all adorable.

The boutique proclaims, but not brashly, the genteel charms of lovely things artfully arranged in a decidedly feminine ambience. The shop is designed to be the anti-mall experience, a destination (with easy parking) for women who want an unhurried and unharried approach to selecting a wedding present, a little hostess gift, a christening or birthday remembrance, or if they just want something new and pretty to refresh a room. The inventory has been thoughtfully edited by Karen and her daughter-in-law Tiffany for maximum eye appeal and a very appealing price range.

In the realm of pampering products, I want to recommend the lotions and scented hand creams by Camille Beckman. The little travel-size white pots (festooned with a tiny silk flower bud on the lid) are only $1.25 a container. I can certainly imagine them as table favors at a celebratory luncheon. Then there's the lavender heat wrap by Sonoma. It sells for $32 and comes in velvet or flannel. The roll-type wrap is filled with scented lavender. You place the wrap in the microwave oven for 60 seconds, then drape the cuddly purple cylinder around some achy part of your body and mellow out with the benefits of moist aromatic heat. What a feeling and what a lovely soothing scent. Sonoma also makes purple spa boots that work the same way for $32. This is a creative and practical gift for someone who leads a stressful life.

Todd's Gifts is organized like a rambling cottage with polished wooden floors, white lace curtains and soothing background music. You wander from room to room discovering small and large treasures, everything from cards, books and wrapping paper to lampshades covered in delicate flower petals, tea sets, candlesticks, stuffed animals, hand-blown glass objets d'art from St. Petersburg, Russia, jewelry and beautifully beaded table cloths that sell for $59. The matching place mats in gold are over-the-moon glamorous.

Every nook and cranny holds themed vignettes. There's a section for baskets and picnics (the store does a big business in custom gift baskets), another for welcoming a new baby, celebrating special occasions or just enlivening a tired room.

In the shop's wedding area, one of the most popular items is a keepsake plate for $27. The 12-inch plate (offered in a variety of colors and romantic floral patterns) comes with a note from S.A. Hermann-Courtney that is tastefully matted and ready for framing. It reads: "This plate is meant to be broken by either of you, when you are angry at the other. But, there is only this one plate and there are two of you. So, if you always respect and are kind to each other...this plate could hold the cake for your golden wedding anniversary." Karen has observed that once a person chooses this plate as a gift, the buyer almost always returns to purchase another. Karen and Tiffany offer complimentary gift-wrapping and they make their own fluffy bows.

If you visit Todd's Gifts toward the end of this month, you'll find Karen and Tiffany unpacking holiday ornaments and decorating trees and wreaths with Old World brand ornaments. "For the first two years, I really debated with myself about rushing the Christmas season," says Todd, who purchases her holiday inventory in early July at various national shows held in Atlanta, Dallas and New York. "But my customers began asking about ornaments and decorations last October, so I decided to go ahead and unpack the stuff early. Halloween is not a big attraction for my customers, so we've gone right to the holiday season. My ladies want it.

"The Old World ornaments are highly collectible and many of my clients come in early to buy them for their own trees and to mail to friends and relatives as gifts. I know I could sell them in August if I put them out. They're that popular."

The ornaments range in price from $3.50 to about $20. And, of course, Karen Todd's treasures are so lavishly gorgeous, they provide immediate inspiration to anyone coming through the door.