February 14, 2024 — The gift you gave your Valentine this year may well have passed by River Street and entered the U.S. through the Port of Savannah. For the Georgia Ports Authority, Valentine’s Day generates a jump in trade well beyond chocolates.
Here are two examples of Georgia-based companies with unique offerings for Valentine’s Day consumers:
One company positioning itself in the Valentine’s Day trade is Relish Gifts, headquartered in Rome, Georgia, selling tableware.
A couple of years ago Relish Gifts converted their imports from the U.S. West Coast to Savannah. Now they use the Port of Savannah exclusively.
“As a company in North Georgia, we have found it more efficient for us to use the Port of Savannah to grow our business,” said Susan Peterson, CEO of Relish Gifts, adding “it has actually lowered our costs to use Savannah.” Peterson also notes “I can always pick up the phone and get help from Georgia Ports whenever we need it.”
Relish Gifts was importing from China via a number of U.S. states before deciding to shift their manufacturing from China to Guatemala. Their trade through the Port of Savannah has grown significantly in recent years.
The company is 100% Georgian female-owned with all three partners boasting a combined 80 years of experience in the home and gift industry.
Mud Pie is another female-founded company, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, and well-suited for Valentine’s Day trade. They sell to over 12,000 specialty retailers nationwide and directly to consumers.
Marcia Miller started the company in 1988 with 10 home items, and has since expanded to design, manufacture and distribute thousands of new products each season across three divisions: Home, Kids and Women.
The Valentine’s Day section alone on their website features over 100 items. Mud Pie has increasingly been using the Port of Savannah to ship products in recent years thanks to the port’s focus on fluidity and capacity.
Miller’s family all hold key leadership positions within the company, which employs more than 200 people in the Atlanta area.
Georgia Ports is proud to support small businesses achieve their ambitions by constantly investing and building port infrastructure and connectivity to world markets.
Georgia’s ports and inland terminals support more than 561,000 jobs throughout the state annually, contributing $33 billion in income, $140 billion in revenue and $3.8 billion in state and local taxes to Georgia’s economy. GPA anticipates investing $4.2 billion in the next ten years as part of its port master plan to expand cargo handling capabilities to support future supply chain requirements. As part of GPA’s community engagement efforts, $6 million will be donated to communities located near the Port of Savannah to support a multi-year, local workforce housing initiative. CNBC ranked Georgia #1 in the U.S. for infrastructure in America’s Top States for Business in 2023. Area Development – a site selection news outlet for the U.S., has ranked Georgia as the Top State to Do Business for ten consecutive years. For more information, visit gaports.com or contact Edward Fulford at [email protected] at 912-964-3806.
