I need suggestions for a gift for a coworker who’s retiring. Budget is up to $200. She’s been with the company for over 30 years and has been a manager for nearly all of them. I’ve worked with her for 3 years, but half of that has been remote, so I don’t know her well. I do know she appreciates nice things and seems to travel where she wants and buy what she wants. Gift cards to local restaurants won’t work because they sold their primary home and will be moving OOS to their home on the beach. One of the other managers mentioned she likes silk scarves but didn’t know if that would be suitable or where to get one. I don’t like the idea of a plaque (another suggestion) because I don’t believe she’d hang it in her home. Everyone here is so creative I thought you’d have some suggestions.
Is there anything they might enjoy near their home on the beach?
I had a good friend/coworker retire and move from her home. I had a pen and ink drawing with watercolor wash made as a retirement gift. Small size, and framed…as a memento of the home in which she raised her family.
If you know where she’s moving to, can you look at reviews online and try to find a gift certificate for a nice restaurant there?
We done similar before for Christmas/birthday gifts and most places are quite willing to send them out via mail.
I love Thumper’s idea! I would certainly be deeply moved.
A nice small tabletop clock with a small plaque on the back with company name and dates employed.
I feel that for your relationship - which seems not too personal - that the watercolor - a great idea for someone you know pretty well - is…too personal? That’s just me.
Someone earlier mentioned a nice vase as an idea for someone - something light and not heavy looking - something you could picture a big bunch of summer wildflowers, or sunflowers or something at the beach.
I don’t know if I love this idea but I’m odd about gifts…at work we have given really nice whine chimes for a gift - maybe appropriate for a beach house?
Overall I think it’s hard to buy for someone you don’t know well and that is a good chunk of $.
Are you gifting this from yourself, or are you the gift selector for the group?
I worked at an architecturally unique building; we would gift a departing employee a decent sized framed photo of this building and we would all sign the mat.
I have such a clock…id gladly give it to anyone here who wants it. The plaque fell off so could easily be replaced with one with your name. Mine is a nice quality clock…but honestly, I didn’t and don’t need it.
These are all great ideas. Thank you so much.
I’m choosing for the group. The watercolor is a great idea except I suspect that what she considers her family home is the one the beach and I’ve never seen it.
A restaurant gift card she can use near where they’re moving is a great idea. She loves traveling and experiences more than things, so if I can find a nice place that would be great.
Maybe I could get a restaurant gift card and a nice vase or chimes for the beach house. Something to do and something to keep as a remembrance would be perfect. She loves flowers so a vase might be useful. But at her age maybe she has as many of those as she wants? The sound of chimes is really nice and I do know a place in our state that actually makes them, so I’ll check their website to see what’s available.
Retirement to the beach sounds like a good time to take up a hobby, and no time for adding clutter!
Consider a gardening seaside shovel & pail gift basket and fill it with:
gardening gloves, a nice brimmed straw hat, a kneeling pad, a couple of insulated cups (for iced drinks after gardening!) a few starter herb seeds and…
and…
https://www.amazon.com/Beachcombers-Companion-Illustrated-Collecting-Identifying/dp/145216116X
I love the idea of a framed photo that everyone signs instead of a card. Our building is unique and the garden is beautiful. She wouldn’t keep a card but I think she’d keep the photo.
@thumper1 . That’s interesting because I got such a clock 25 years ago and I love it. Still works and is on my mantel. It was in honor of many years of volunteer service.
I love these. I’m for sure adding them to my birthday list for my niece who just bought a house on the beach. I might order a beachcomber’s companion for me. I love the beach.
Love the idea of chimes! There are companies where you can personalize the chimes. You could put your company’s name or logo on them.
Gift certificate to Framebridge to frame something new for her home
I may be out of the ordinary and I am thankful for my job and employer but I don’t want any item embossed with work name or logo. I would never display an idea like that.
Maybe she would! I just think you have to really look at the person you’re buying for and try to determine where they might fall.
Since she is moving, a $200 Target gift card may be appreciated as it is a practical gift that is likely to be used soon. To personalize the gift of a gift card present it in a card signed by all other employees / employers enclosed in an envelope.
We’ve collected $ and given cash gifts to many of our retiring co-workers. The thought/personalization/energy always seemed to go into the retirement event itself (depending on the person). One person liked a dinner with speeches at a cozy restaurant, another wanted a glam-type affair with music, etc. Most of the time there was some sort of picture-matte, album, or other thing to personalize with a note from each attendee if they wanted.
That being said, my mom who retired really loved a clock exactly as described by dentmom4 above…
Edit to add: what I know I’d really love when I leave my job is a small framed picture of all my co-workers so I can remember them. Really nothing else at all.
We gave a retiring co-worker a gift certificate to the theater company so she could enjoy a show. If there is a theater group near OP’s friend’s new location, dinner and a show might be fun.
My mother loves wind chimes and especially likes them from places she’s visited. She has some (second set! because sometimes that wind gets crazy) from San Juan Capistrano mission with the bells and swallows. she has some from the pier in San Clemente, and some my niece and husband made out of blown glass and driftwood. There are some pretty cool chimes available.
We’ve done a couple of group retirement gifts in recent years and unless the individual has a specific hobby we’ve gone with something like a coffee cup embossed with our company (university) name plus a gift card to something generic like Amazon. The retirees have told us that they like having the physical object to put coffee/pencils in and also the flexibility (and lack of having something else to move) of the gift card.
One tactic my office used was having each person contribute $1 for each year they’ve known the person, so the new guy ended up paying $2 (“really? are you sure?”) while those who’d worked with the retiree for 20 years contributed more.