Welcome Wagon returns to delivering gift-filled baskets to new residents
Community-minded service introduces local businesses to potential customers
Welcome Wagon wants back on the trails in Windsor, Leamington and Kingsville.
The company — which partners with local businesses and communities to offer a free basket of coupons, small gifts and information to new residents — had been giving out baskets for decades in Windsor, but stopped doing so about five years ago. Some representatives had retired and the service couldn’t find people to co-ordinate with local businesses and drop off the baskets to welcome new residents. “We’ve now decided that because there’s so much movement here — there’s just phenomenal amount of movement in Windsor, Tecumseh and Lasalle, all the southwest area of Ontario — that it was time we got going again,” Pat Neuman, chairman and CEO of Welcome Wagon, based in Toronto, said Tuesday. “People are retiring here. This is a real mecca.”
New residents get a free basket containing small gifts and gift coupons from businesses, such as a free oil change from an automotive shop, or a free pound of sausage from a butcher shop. Neuman said the average basket given out in other towns is worth about $60, but it depends on the number of businesses involved.
For business owners, who sign a contract with Welcome Wagon, it’s a way to connect with potential new customers and encourage them to buy local, she said. The basket usually includes a letter from the local mayor, information on local community services and tourism and recreation guides. “I couldn’t tell you how many requests we have on a monthly basis from the Windsor area,” she said, adding they’ve had to turn down those requests.
Richard Hewitt, who grew up in Windsor, said his friends remember receiving the baskets. He’ll be the first Windsor representative in years. Three more people will be hired to fill part-time, commission-based
We’ve now decided that because there’s so much movement here ... it was time we got going again.
jobs. Welcome Wagon representatives should be greeting new residents in Leamington and Kingsville in a month and after about six weeks in Windsor, Neuman said. Welcome Wagon started in Tennessee and based its name on settlers who brought food to greet wagon trains.
In Canada, the service dates back to 1930, and has dropped from 1,300 representatives a decade ago to about 350 now across the country, she said. Neuman hopes to revive the service that relies on word-of-mouth referrals. Other than a representative in LaSalle, the next spots with Welcome Wagon are in Grand Bend and the Kitchener area.
Anyone interested in Welcome Wagon jobs or baskets can visit welcomewagon.ca.