gift basket business has a group of ideas that are bound to please the Yuletide shopper and the receiver. Baskets, etc., recently started by Mrs.

Norma Thomson, offers four different Christmas gift baskets filled with various products. The products, even the wicker baskets they come in, are "high quality,'' she said. Baskets, etc. is a division of Bermuda-based service company Mailboxes Unlimited Ltd. and Mrs. Thomson is a principal owner of Mailboxes. In selecting what would go into the baskets, she said: "I thought of what I would like to receive.'' The contents selected for the various basket types include fresh fruit, home-made baked goods, half-bottles of Veuve Cliquot champagne, champagne glasses, Louis Jadot or Pouilly Fuisse wines, imported cheeses, coffee, macadamia nuts, crackers and Crabtree and Evelyn products as well as other items. All the goods are bought locally. "We have been giving out Christmas baskets to our Mailboxes clients and I thought it could make it as a business,'' said Mrs. Thomson. And the idea would work well with the responsibilities of being a full-time mother of two young boys, she added. "Some people are hard to buy for and this gift can help relieve that stress,'' she said. Baskets, etc. offers gifts ranging in price from $60 Baskets, wreaths for sale operations of this new business which commenced operations in early November, she said. Through a Mailboxes' database, Mrs. Thomson was able to mail out flyers to over 900 top executives in Bermuda. Initially, the business is targeting corporate clients but not exclusively. She was also able to market the business to Mailboxes customers who pick up their mail at any of the company's three locations. Add walk-in traffic -- customers looking to use any of the various other Mailboxes services like photocopying or affiliated dry cleaning company services -- and the marketing side of the new business has a great head start, she said. "Starting this business without mailboxes would have been almost impossible,'' said Mrs. Thomson, who was not only instrumental in the success of Mailboxes, but working at the business for five years, she was responsible for the marketing of that company. As future holidays approach, like Valentine's Day, Mother's Day and Father's Day, Secretary's Day, Baskets, etc. will shift its focus appropriately, she said.

Mrs. Thomson also offers hand-made Christmas wreaths ranging in price from $20 to $65 through the new venture. The wreaths can be made to coordinate with colour schemes of home or office. PHOTO BASKETS ETC. -- The new business, Baskets, etc., affiliated with Mailboxes Unlimited Ltd., is selling Christmas shoppers four different baskets. Pictured is Mrs. Norma Thomson, an owner of Mailboxes, who recently started the new venture.