The holiday season is upon us, and the folks at Batch Nashville are eager to share their collections of locally-made crafts, delicious treats, health and beauty products, and home goods for you and everyone on your gift list. They started planning for the holidays in the spring, exploring options from among their 200 middle Tennessee purveyors to include in their gift boxes for customers to share with their friends, clients, and employees.
Sam Davidson, a co-founder along with Stephen Moseley and Rob Williams, said that working with local vendors requires a lot of lead time because they produce their goods in small batches. But they know that all the work they’ve done up to this point will be well worth it as their customers appreciate sharing the authentic touch of Nashville their gift boxes convey.
Batch started out four years ago as an online subscription service providing collections of about four Nashville-based items per month. Sam said it was a great gig while it lasted—they worked about one day per month!
Batch has grown considerably since then, and Sam and his team are grateful for that. The holiday season is by far their busiest time. They have quickly become a reliable partner for about 250 local businesses that use Batch for all of their gift giving.
Customers embraced the concept of small-batch, local products that represent the best of Nashville, whether through their subscription service or the purchase of gifts for specific occasions. But they also liked the idea of a storefront where they could drop in and test different items from among the Batch’s local purveyors, and then pick and choose what they like the most.
So the team opened their store in the Nashville Farmer’s Market in November, 2014. The storefront is thriving as both tourists and locals come by to try their different products and check out items in the store not yet featured online. Go by and see all that they have to offer!
Batch Nashville joined the LGBT Chamber of Commerce about a year ago when Nancy VanReece joined their team as VP of Business Development. Nancy is well-known to Nashville LGBT Chamber of Commerce members for her active participation in the Chamber over the years, as well as her role as Nashville Metro Council Member. In fact, Nancy is an inaugural member of the Chamber’s predecessor, the National Association of Professional Persons.
Sam attended a Chamber Power Lunch in the spring when Nancy was nominated for Excellence in Business Award. He was impressed to see amount of momentum this chamber has. And he appreciated that the Chamber is very active not only in promoting Nashville businesses, but in working toward legislative changes that have a positive impact on the LGBT community.
Nancy echoed those observations, saying she loves to see how our Chamber has grown over the years. And she added that she appreciates “the professional way in which the Chamber’s leadership team has been able to wrap their arms around lessons learned from different community chambers, providing quality content that benefits our members.”
Nancy pointed out that membership involves more than just handing out business cards to other members in hopes of making business connections. She added, “Nashville is Nashville because of our collaborative spirit.”
Sam seconded that sentiment, encouraging anyone reading this to become active in the Chamber. “It’s not enough to just pay your dues and appear on a list.” Recently, Batch hosted a Chamber “Brewing up Business” on November 16th at their storefront, and donated a gift box for the Taste silent auction.
And now the team at Batch is back to the business of providing an array of gifts for their customers, while also promoting the local economy. Nancy said she is passionate about selling Nashville to the world in a way that’s authentic and helpful.
She pointed out that each box sold is actually supporting several small vendors that might not otherwise have the exposure that their partnership with Batch provides them. Their products are shared as gifts at corporate sales meetings, conventions, and hotels for potential customers coming from outside of Nashville.
Nancy said her ultimate goal is that anyone that visits Nashville leaves with something hand made by someone in Nashville. And Batch Nashville is working hard to make that goal a reality.
To explore their options of Nashville-based gifts to share with those on your list, visit their website or call 615-913-3912. Or come by and see them at their storefront at the Nashville Farmer’s Market.
