My Memory Box, a company that offers an inventive way to capture treasured memories in a personal, framed display case, recently opened its first retail shop in San Diego and launched an e-commerce operation.
My Memory Box creates finished shadow boxes that hold any number of two- and three-dimensional objects arranged creatively and artistically, so that the finished product represents whatever occasion or memory that the customer chooses.
“The possibilities for Memory Boxes are limited only to your imaginations,” explained Hedie Blech, president and founder of My Memory Box.
She said boxes can be created to commemorate special occasions, such as anniversaries, weddings, vacations, graduations, holidays, bar mitzvahs and bat mitzvahs, christenings, or retirements. Sometimes they salute someone special, like a grandparent, a baby or a pet.
Blech was a corporate art adviser for 18 years in Austin, Texas. One of the last projects she completed was an historic hotel, The Driskill. As part of the hotel’s overall art scheme, she created deep-framed boxes that contained items that travelers at the hotel may have owned around the turn of the century.
After spending a year thinking about her new business venture in San Diego, Blech found there were very few people around the country specializing in Memory Boxes.
She created a business plan and consulted with the Small Business Development Center at Southwestern College. She submitted an application to the Small Business Administration and started contacting old clients and friends to let them know that she’s going into the Memory Box business.
Blech estimates she has invested between $160,000 and $175,000 in the business.
The parent company of My Memory Box is the Art Connection Inc., which has been in business since 1982 in Austin.
Each custom-made Memory Box includes several items, supplied by the customer, that represent whatever occasion, person, or collection the client has chosen. Mementos could include flowers, ribbons, badges, programs, notes, jewelry, photographs and other small items.
Memory Boxes can be purchased through e-mail orders by logging on to the company Web site at (www.mymemorybox.com) or by visiting the new retail outlet at 8690 Aero Drive, Suite 103 in Kearny Mesa.
