Our Story

Guests,

Maybe you are as curious as I am and are interested in the answers to a few questions such as “Why Twin Sisters Gifts?” and “Are there REALLY twin sisters?” I’ll give you the quick rundown!

I am a twin whose twin sister, Kim, owns the amazing historical property Deland House on Main in Fairport, NY. I could go on and on about the property, but I’ll let you jump on their website and check it out—or you’ll be here all day instead of diving into the shopping portion of our site!

The roots of Twin Sisters Gifts really started to percolate back during COVID. My past life included many years spent in the restaurant industry, and for fifteen years I was fortunate to be involved with an organization called Firehouse Subs—home of the best subs on the planet—as well as their philanthropic arm, The Firehouse Public Safety Foundation, which has donated over 100 million dollars in life-saving equipment to first responders around the globe. Pretty awesome stuff!

As you can imagine or know first hand, work life during COVID was hectic, scary, and at times mind-numbing. But we made it through in pretty darn good shape (a story for another day!). During the time I was home and isolated, I started bidding on online auctions… and kept bidding. The result? Many pounds of costume and vintage jewelry packed into containers in my spare room. It was like Christmas opening bundles of jewelry with no idea what might be inside—sometimes real treasures, sometimes not, but always fun. I started selling at estate and garage sales and loved meeting people and hearing their stories.

Flash forward a few years—I made the decision to retire from the restaurant business and move back from Jacksonville, Florida, to Rochester, where I grew up, went to high school, and where my mom and two sisters (including my twin!) still live. In 2021, my sister purchased the old Green Lantern Inn in Fairport and has been running several entities within—like a wine bar, speakeasy, and private event space. In the basement was a charming little space that didn’t always sell well for events… but it had great bones and even better potential.

And just like that, Twin Sisters Gifts was born.

It started with the idea of doing something with all the jewelry I had collected, but quickly grew into something more—a place to showcase handmade items from local artisans, one-of-a-kind finds from around the world, and unique gifts you won’t see everywhere else.