Owning a shop on Gloucester, Virginia’s historic Main Street near the beautiful Chesapeake Bay is pretty special. It’s near colonial Williamsburg and in the same county where President George Washington’s great grandfather received a land patent in 1650, and near where Thomas Jefferson wrote the rough draft of the Declaration of Independence at Rosewell Plantation.
But for LuAnn Nagel, her decision to buy Angelwing Stationers five years ago came after working part time at the store and loving it. Her charming shop carries the finest invitations and monogrammed stationery, as well as beautiful paper products, greeting cards, unique gifts and original art and crafts consigned by local artists, including watercolors by her 86-year-old father. See photos here on Facebook.
As a minister’s wife, LuAnn’s experience with weddings over the years really helps the many brides she serves. Angelwing offers in-house custom printing of invitations for weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, showers, birth announcements and even personalized notecards. These can often be done overnight for urgent requests.
Inspiring Thoughtful People
LuAnn explains, “Our motto is ‘inspiring thoughtful people to communicate’. We love to help people find ways to do that. Thoughtful people have not changed. They’re still thoughtful and send thank you notes, encourage friends and acknowledge accomplishments. Using personalized stationery and monogrammed notes are thoughtful ways to thank people for kindnesses shown to them after an illness or death in the family.
“Graduation announcements, birth announcements, invitations to christenings, wedding rehearsal dinners and engagement parties are fun ways to set the tone for celebrating the important times of our lives.”
Perhaps because society has gotten so impersonal, LuAnn has seen monogramming grow in popularity. “People love to see their initials or their name on notepads, stationery, calling cards and return addresses. Monogrammed and personalized items are a thoughtful gift. It shows you took the time to do something special – not just pick something off the rack.”
A Gift Wrapping Service That Sells
LuAnn knows how to bring people into her shop with attractive window displays. The daffodil-inspired display as the top uses the same Lime Dot gift wrap and tissue mixed with our Sunrise Yellow gift bags. But the best feature is the angel mannequin with a Lemon Yellow tulle tutu which ties into her store name. She even mixed in some cute tulle poms.
Angelwing also uses brown paper kraft shopping bags. LuAnn says, “With colorful tissue and a bow, kraft bags are easily transformed with the seasons.” For wrapping custom printed invitations they use clear cello bags tied with raffia ribbon. Because many of their customers are animal lovers, they also enjoy paw print takeout boxes, cello bags and tissue paper.
“Daffodil Capital of the World”
Another exciting fact about Gloucester County is that it’s nicknamed the “Daffodil Capital of the World” because early settlers brought daffodils from England. The city will host its 27th Annual Daffodil Festival, parade and flower show on April 6-7. This will bring many tourists into the shop since the parade goes right down Main Street.
We hope that if you are ever in this beautiful part of the country, you will stop by to visit LuAnn and support another great example of local, independent retailers doing business exactly right.
For the latest news on the stationery market, check out Stationery Trends Magazine.
