All the Best Gift Shop Closing at End of Month

After more than 15 years in business, All the Best Gift Shop owner Mary Jo Koski announced earlier this week that the shop is closing its doors at the end of January.

The reaction was immediate, and powerful.

"I was so sad to get the e-mail this morning. You always had that 'unique' gift to give someone. Good luck with whatever adventures are ahead. Your store will be missed dearly," wrote one poster on All the Best Gift Shop's Facebook wall.

Koski's decision to close the shop ends a two-decade chapter in the small business owner's life. In 1991, Koski opened the business as a corporate gift store, establishing a regional clientele that included Blue Cross Blue Shield, Pillsbury and General Mills, among other companies.

After Koski leased a strip mall storefront in Eagan, the store began to evolve into a personalized gift shop catering to shoppers looking for creative merchandise. The store's unique vision and complimentary services—including free gift wrapping—helped establish the business and draw in a larger customer base, Koski said. The store is located at 4176 Pilot Knob Rd.

Many of All the Best's clientele, Koski said, were Northwest Airlines or Lockheed Martin employees. For that reason, The closure of the Northwest Airlines headquarters, and the shuttering of Lockheed Martin's facility—which will be complete by 2013—hit Koski's business hard.

Her business, she added, is also facing steeper competition from big box retailers, like T.J. Maxx, which are delving deeper into the gifts and accessories market.

Koski says she'll miss the daily contact with her customers and working with her six part-time employees.

"Because we have loyal customer base, many of them have become friends, and I know them by name," Koski said.

On Jan. 31, All the Best Gift Shop will shut its doors for the last time. But Koski says Eagan hasn't seen the last of her.

"What I can tell you is that me closing is not a result of me not loving what I do," Koski said. "Having said that, I would love to try to figure out…another way to bring the All the Best concept back, just in a different business model."

"We may be leaving this location and closing these doors, but as the saying goes 'When a door closes, a window opens," Koski wrote in a letter addressed to her customers.