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Portland Press Herald

By BOB KEYES Staff Writer

David Whitney embodies Christmas.

He married a woman named Holly and owns a company that makes Christmas wreaths.

Based in Machias, Whitney Wreath ships tens of thousands of balsam wreaths all over America, thanks in large part to the exposure the company receives on the QVC shopping network on cable TV.

Whitney, 39, grew up in Machias and now lives nearby in Marshfield. He began the company in 1988 when he was a University of Maine student.

Whitney Wreath employs more than 750 people seasonally and sends up to 13,000 packages daily from Down East Maine.

We caught up with Whitney during one of his rare breaks last week to talk about his business and his love of Christmas.

Q: How did you get into the wreath business?

A: When I was very young, maybe 6 or 7, my teenage cousin was wrestling with me one Thanksgiving. As he cupped his hand over my face, I could smell what I now know to be the smell of balsam on his hands. I asked him what that smell was.

He said, "Tips."

"What are tips?" I asked.

He said, "They are fir branches that I sell to Flo's Wreaths."

"You get money for that?"

"Yup," he said.

Remembering that money buys candy, I went home, grabbed a plastic baggie, climbed a spruce tree and filled the baggie with spruce needles to go sell to Flo. Flo chuckled and didn't want to buy my spruce needles, but showed me what she did want.

I started tipping for real around the age of 12 in 1978. At age 17, I realized that I could make more money with my tips if I learned to make wreaths with them.

So with my buddy, Steve, we would tip during the day and make wreaths at night. On the weekends, we would go to Bangor and sell the decorated wreaths at the entrance of the Bangor Mall. I didn't know the term back then, but this was the beginning of my quest to add value to my product.

In 1998 while in college, I decided to start my wreath company, which I named Whitney Originals. The concept was to continue to add value to my product by marketing directly to customers and mailing the wreath to their homes. We would then decorate the wreath nicely, package it and ship it via UPS.

Q: Talk about the reward of being involved in a business that is tied to people's enjoyment of the holidays.

A: It's heartwarming to think that our wreaths are on the front door of a person's house where visiting guests will stop and smell the balsam fragrance. The smell of balsam just puts people in the Christmas spirit.

I don't actually get in the Christmas spirit until we decorate our own house.

Q: Let's talk numbers. How has your company grown over the years?

A: In 1988, we started with myself and five or six high school kids I knew. We now employ approximately 750 people seasonally in our four shipping facilities, located in Machias, Alexander, Eastport and Presque Isle. We also own a company in Nova Scotia, which employs about 50 wreath makers and buys tips from 40 tippers.

We start shipping products around Nov. 18 and ship up to Dec. 21. On any given day, we generally ship around 13,000 individually addressed packages. On our biggest day ever, we shipped approximately 18,000 packages.

We achieved 20 percent growth from last year to this year.

Q: Where do your customers live? Is there a state that buys more wreaths than another?

A: Our customer predominantly lives in the 48 contiguous states. The states with the greatest concentration of our customers include California, Texas, Illinois, New York and Pennsylvania.

My wife's hometown of Allentown, Pa., is perhaps the most concentrated for our direct retail. Her family, particularly her father, has been spreading the good word (about) Whitney for years, and it has paid off.

Q: What makes a Whitney wreath unique?

A: A Whitney wreath is unique because it is made and decorated by the hands of many people who have the same goal in mind: to deliver a beautiful product they are proud to say is a Whitney wreath. The high caliber of hard-working people at Whitney's really have pride in what they do.

Also unique is our ability to continue to deliver large quantities of thick, handmade, double-sided wreaths. As demand has grown for balsam wreaths, some of our competitors have begun selling single-sided wreaths. These wreaths have a metal frame exposed on the back of the wreath, which can scratch a door or window. Besides, a single-sided wreath is, well, just half a wreath.

Q: You use only balsam in your wreaths. Is that the industry standard?

A: Balsam is the industry standard. We sometimes highlight balsam wreaths with pine, cedar and western juniper for appearance. Balsam is always the main ingredient because of its fragrance. People just love the smell, and demand for balsam is growing as each year goes by.

Q: When do you make the wreaths and how do you keep them fresh?

A: We start making wreaths usually around Nov. 7 each year. When it gets cold enough, the balsam tree goes dormant. In dormancy, the needles hold onto that branch for dear life. Usually by the end of October to early November this has happened.

Once we start producing wreaths, we store them in a cool, dry, well-ventilated place, which is out of direct sunlight. On demand, we then decorate the wreath, insert it into a plastic bag - which is open at the top to keep the product from sweating - and insert it into its shipping carton.

I recommend to people to order their wreath to be shipped in December. The wreath is fresher and the tips were harvested when it is colder. At our house, we usually don't hang our wreath or put up our tree until the middle of December.

Q: What is your family's Christmas tradition? What will Christmas Day be like?

A: My wife and I usually split our time between my family in Maine and Holly's family in Allentown. This year, Holly's family is coming to our house in Marshfield because Holly is very pregnant with twin boys.

Obviously, we are anxious and very excited about the prospect of two baby brothers for Michon, who is 27 months old. She is very intrigued with the Christmas tree lights and loves to eat snibbles, like Chex party mix, which is a holiday tradition for our family.

We will eat lobster at my parents' house on Christmas Eve with my wife's family and my sister's family, who also live in Pennsylvania. On Christmas Day we will do stockings in the morning at our house and have a family gathering in late morning for brunch. I hope the afternoon will be for lounging, but we will see.

Q: How much relief do you feel when Christmas morning arrives and your orders are filled and the product shipped out?

A: Words really can't express that feeling of relief. Each year when we ship the last package, my manager always calls to tell me he found the wreath he was looking for - the last one. Everyone cheers.

At the same time, it's always a letdown. Wreath season is hard work and sometimes stressful, but it is also truly fun, and I miss the season when it is finished.

Q: What do you do the rest of the year?

A: We've been farming blueberries now for four generations. My father, Dale, and I farm with our team almost 400 acres of wild blueberry land and purchase to resell blueberries from another 100 acres.

I also own and operate Whitney's Tool Shed, a tool, equipment and party rental store located in Machias. All of our core employees work all three businesses. It used to be that winter was slow. Not anymore. The Christmas wreath business has become a year-round occupation for us.

Q: Talk about your other products, besides wreaths.

A: We make swags, centerpieces, candy canes, tabletop trees, garlands, sprays and wreaths of almost any size. We produce bows of all shapes, colors and sizes, up to the "big bow" inspired by the Lexus Commercials.

Q: How long have you been involved with QVC and how important is QVC to the success of your company?

A: I first knocked on QVC's door in 1993. They immediately wanted to do business with our dried flower arrangement line, which we no longer offer.

QVC pictured and wrote us up on their show-and-tell page of the 2005 annual report, where they tout some of the big brands and popular products in their mix.

I guess I could sum it up like this: We put them in our annual report, too. Whitney's loves QVC.