About Us...
Christine Milner and Sarah Milner-Hiser have known each other for longer than have most business partners - for Sarah's whole life, in fact, for they are a mother-daughter team. Naturally, then, they both share a French-Canadian heritage, and it is from their "native" language that they get the business' name: "savoir", meaning "knowing how to" and "donner", which is the verb "to give." Christine's lifelong ability to choose the "perfect" gift for the special people in her life is a trait that Sarah has inherited. Their shared intuition and vision, and their belief in the importance of marking accasion, is what has brought them to make careers out of gift-giving! Where so many approach giving with a sense of obligation, lack of time, but genuine desire to please, this pair welcomes the challenge of searching until they find just the right items to fill every container. It is with this mind-set that they approach each gift they create, so that what your recipient is gifted with matches their interests, their likes, and their dreams. For those looking for a pre-made gift, the Savoir Donner team spends a great deal of time stretching their creative muscles and designing unique baskets with catchy titles for seasonal gifts and everyday occasion. There are aspects of both types of baskets that Christine and Sarah enjoy, which make it a job they truly love doing.
Before launching the shop in Sturbridge, Christine and Sarah collaborated for several years making gift baskets for the "Basket Booth" raffle table they chair at the annual St. Anne-St. Patrick Parish Apple Bazaar. So many who attend this popular fall event comment on the quality and elegance of these baskets, and have often urged them to begin a business of their own. Savoir Donner has come about precisely because of these positive and encouraging suggestions.
About the Shop...
In the historic house at The Shops at 484 Main, you will find The Sunburst, an excellent breakfast and lunch café which has been in business at this location for a quarter-century, the memory-book-makers' niche at the Sturbridge Scrapping Corner; and, since May 2008, the little Gift Basket shop with the patios looking onto Route 20 - Savoir Donner. Although in need of renovation with sympathy for the antiquity of the building, when Christine and Sarah saw the space that February, they knew right away it was the perfect place to set up shop! Sarah's interior design background focuses on period design, and wanting to stay within the time period of the house and, from a practical point of view, maximize the light to give the feel of a bright, open shop in such a small spot, she drew on the influence of the increasingly popular Swedish Gustavian style. Dove-white walls, white-and-gray painted antique furniture (some pieces for sale), a Mora-style clock and bleached, pickled floors provide a blank canvas against which to display the baskets, and lend an elegant, but relaxed, feel to the shop. Savoir Donner provides interior design services in addition to the designing of gift baskets - Sarah is available during shop hours, and also by appointment Monday-Wednesday.
