Carefully straightening the bow on a cellophane- wrapped gift basket, Carmela Daniele takes a look around her store’s showroom and offers one of many reasons why she thinks shoppers should focus on buying local goods this holiday season.

“Well,” she says matter-of-factly, “it’s all right here.”

Daniele, president and founder of A Gift Basket by Carmela, a Springfield staple for more than a decade and one of many area businesses with a national reach, spoke for many business owners and employees in the region when she encouraged area shoppers to keep their dollars local, and listed the reasons why it makes good sense to do so.

“The whole community is watching their money,” she said. “That makes quality more important than ever. When you buy locally, you can see, feel, and touch exactly what it is you’re buying, and there is a one-on-one relationship between me and my clients.”

Further, buying local doesn’t mean limiting your options, or even paying higher prices in most cases. Daniele’s wide array of gift baskets and floral arrangements — which include everything from a popcorn, candy, and soda basket for a night in, to a full Italian dinner basket to feed an entire Carmela Daniele, owner of A Gift Basket by Carmela family – are created right on East Columbus Avenue in downtown Springfield, but are shipped all over the world.

They are also sold on many online gift basket services, usually at a higher rate than Daniele charges her own customers (usually between $35 and $100).

“And if there’s a problem, there is an immediate response from me,” added Daniele. “That, more than anything else, is worth coming to us instead of doing a search online and going with the first name that pops up. You do that, you might even be buying one of my baskets for 40% more.”

Similarly, Richard and Terry Krupczak, owners of Echo Hill Orchards in Monson, are quick to point out the cost savings of purchasing the products available through their business, as well as the direct impact buying from small local businesses can have on the region.

The Krupczaks doubled the size of their business just a few years ago, constructing a sprawling gift store that sells their own hand-poured candles (which sell under the name Colton Hollow Candles, for $9.99 to $18.99), as well as their own line of unique wines, all using locally grown ingredients and priced at $7 to $14.99.

“The sales of the candles and wine are really helping to sustain us,” said Richard Krupczak, noting that Echo Hill Orchards also maintains a number of seasonal offerings, including apple harvests and picking, hay rides during the month of October, and cider production. “And by buying our products instead of getting them at a big store, you’re also helping to support local farms and agriculture in general.”

What’s in Store?

Indeed, across Western Mass., businesses of all sizes are offering a wide array of holiday gift options for both local and national audiences, and regardless of the product, if it’s made or sold in the region, it benefits the area’s economy at all levels. Many are unique, successful operations like Carmela’s and Echo Hill, and many are Western Mass. institutions, like Herrell’s Ice Cream in Northampton, which sells its famous hot fudge by the jar ($6) or the case ($48) in four flavors: orange, peppermint, almond, and its original fudge concoction.

Others are up and coming ventures, including Nuts 4 Nuts, owned and operated by Joanne Attardi of Agawam, who bakes her own special nut recipe and offers bags, tins, and boxes of the treats for $7.50 to $21, or Kaleidoscope Pottery, one of many arts-related businesses in Easthampton in one of the former mill buildings. It creates and sells Leafware, designed by using imprints of leaves, plants, and flowers that grow – quite literally – in owner Evelyn Snyder’s backyard.

Others are restaurants and service-oriented businesses with myriad gift ideas in mind for locals looking to escape the big box mentality.

Now gearing up for the holidays, for instance, is The Federal Restaurant and Catering in Agawam, which hopes to augment its holiday business with an array of holiday platters, priced from $40 to $85. They include not only a Tuscan-style platter for the recipient, but an overflowing of cookies, cheese and fruit, crudités, shrimp, or a massive antipasto.

(Western) Mass Production

Not to be overlooked, however, are the many major national companies with Western Mass. ties or roots. Numerous internationally recognized companies employ hundreds of Western Mass. residents, and unveil new products made right here at home every holiday season.

A quick trip online or to a local retail store could result in some great new gift buys for 2005; even Smith and Wesson, based in Springfield, has entered a new product geared toward a wider audience this year: its new line of wood pellet smokers, designed to give poultry, meat, or fish a unique smoked taste. They retail for $699 to $2,500.

Spalding, also based in Springfield, introduced its newest creation just this month, the Neverflat basketball, designed to remain inflated for a full year on its own. The new basketballs retail for $39.99.

Yankee Candle, which maintains its flagship store in South Deerfield, has also introduced a number of new products for its busiest season, including new offerings for the home as well as new candles, fragrances, and accessories. Items designed especially for gift giving are also available, such as a suede tote filled with French vanilla-scented candles ($60), or a Year of Fragrance, through which a new candle is shipped to the recipient each month for $200.

Berkshire Blanket, based in Ware but providing blankets and throws made from synthetic and natural materials to major retailers around the world, has a number of blankets available for purchase via its Web site, www.berkshireblanket.com, such as its newest line, Serasoft blankets and comforters retailing for $15 to $70. A number of unique fleece items are also available, many as discounted prices, in the Berkshire Blanket factory outlet store on East Main St., Ware.

Hasbro (which operates its Milton Bradley manufacturing branch in East Longmeadow) has introduced several new items to the toy and game market, including several still made locally. For young children, Milton Bradley has introduced the electronic, hand-held version of Battleship (a far cry from the game many adults grew up with, $13.99), and for the young at heart, memorabilia collector, or movie buff, there are limited edition puzzle sets commemorating the timeless six-film Star Wars series, which concluded with its final episode earlier this year, for $35.99.

Meanwhile, Top Flite, owned by Callaway Golf but operating in Chicopee, is at the height of a new marketing and branding initiative, focused on introducing its full golf ball product line to a wider audience.

Those products include Strata, long and soft, Complete, and XL golf balls, ranging from $13 to $35, all of which can be found in major sporting goods stores and online, and can be personalized for just a little extra.

The Visitor’s Gift Guide

One of the fastest growing segments of the region’s economy is its tourism sector, which offers not only exciting and educational places to visit, but also a number of holiday gift ideas.

The Eric Carle Museum of Picture

Book Art, for example, has more than just fine works of art to view on its walls; the museum also offers limited edition, signed lithographs of the same prints housed at the museum, for purchase at prices ranging from about $115 to $265. Meanwhile, the Titanic Historical Society of Indian Orchard offers historical and nautical items for purchase through its gift shop. The avid Titanic historian (or fan of the epic film) might appreciate a replica of the clock that hung in the ship’s Grand Staircase, the Honour and Glory Crowning Time clock, priced at $200.

Many purchases will also benefit local attractions; the Adopt-an-Animal program at the Forest Park Zoo offers the recipient a photo of their animal, an adoption certificate, free zoo passes and zoo train rides, and places their name on a zoo plaque for $25 to $100, all of which goes to benefit the zoo as well as specific animals.

The Springfield Museums are an ideal stop for all things Dr. Seuss, including the Seuss license plate for $40, $28 of which goes to support maintenance of the Dr. Seuss National Memorial in Springfield. The museums also offer an extensive list of enrichment classes, however, for giftgivers looking for something out of the ordinary. Ranging in price from $15 to $200 depending on the topic and length of the class, these educational sessions for all ages include everything from art and cooking classes to field trips around New England or workshops on dinosaurs, reading Tarot cards, or creating one’s own purses and other accessories.

Tickets to a show make great stocking stuffers, and the Springfield Symphony and City Stage are readying for their 2006 performances. More reasonably priced than Boston, Hartford, or Broadway shows, these local gems offer seats for as little as $10, and promise high-caliber shows including Verdi’s Requiem (at the symphony) and the Pink Floyd Experience at City Stage.

Similarly, other service-oriented and activity-based gifts are available through Western Mass.-based businesses across the region. Massages and spa services are always an appreciated choice, through companies such as Event Massage of Hampden. Personal chef services can save much-needed time in the life of your busiest associates, and are provided by local businesses including The Magic Spoon, based in Monson, and Abbondanza!, based in Holyoke.

For the more adventurous people on your list, Zoar Outdoor in Charlemont offers rafting, canoeing, kayaking, and rock climbing trips for groups and individuals ranging in price from $25 to $80 per person (prices may vary), or Pioneer Valley Balloons and Northampton Aeronautics will send them up, up and away for a scenic hot air balloon ride or flight across the region for prices beginning at $225.

That’s a Wrap

It’s also important to note, Daniele will tell you, that Western Mass. businesses are always growing and changing. As she expands her inventory and searches for a partner to occupy the second floor of her historic building in Springfield, Daniele is mulling new ideas for next season, all concocted to offer great products to her all of her customers, but especially her favorites: her Western Mass. neighbors.

“We have a lot of things going on,” she said. “There’s always something new here, from the biggest baskets to those lastminute gifts ... and we’re just one phone call away.”

And that’s a local call.