Revitalizing a Local Gem: My Role in the Northwoods Gift Shop's Digital Transformation

 

The Northwoods Gift Shop:

 Where Work and Creativity Met          

  

Kathy Livesey & William Miller

     The Northwoods Gift Shop in Gaines, Pennsylvania, was a little slice of magic. It started as Manhattan Station back in 1995 but eventually became what everyone knew as Northwoods Gift Shop, run by Kathy and Tom Livesey. This place was more than a store—it was warm, welcoming, and had that family vibe you don’t get in big box stores. It wasn’t just shopping either. They had an 18-hole mini-golf course and gem-mining stations, both indoors and outdoors. It was an experience, not just a business.

In 2017, I got the chance to join the team part-time. My job was in the all-in-one IT Department, which is a fancy way of saying, “If it had a button, a wire, or a screen, I probably had to fix it.” Printer jams, social media, website updates—you name it, I did it. It was overwhelming at times but also deeply satisfying.

When Things Changed, We Had to Adapt

This is a picture of the old Northwoods Gift Shop Website.

At one point, the shop transitioned from being open year-round to just seasonal. And, wow, that was a hit to our customer base. Kathy and I knew we had to get creative. I suggested we dive deeper into the digital side of things, focusing on the website to attract more customers. It wasn’t an instant fix, but we started brainstorming how we could improve business.

First, we evaluated the website’s hosting setup. Honestly, it was like trying to get an old laptop to run new games—there were limitations everywhere. After talking to our hosting company, we learned more about Content Management Systems (CMS) and started comparing platforms. WordPress? Too popular and a bigger target for hacks. Drupal? Overcomplicated with what we needed. Joomla? Bingo. It had great security and plenty of features to build something functional and creative.

Building the Website: A Bit of Tech, A Lot of Heart

A picture of the section with the "Get Directions" button.

    Once we landed on Joomla, we got to work designing a website that felt like the store—warm, inviting, and full of personality. It had to scream “mom-and-pop shop” in the best way. We combed through old marketing materials and past designs to capture the essence of Northwoods. My brain was firing on all cylinders because, let’s face it, I’m a perfectionist when it comes to this kind of stuff.

    One of the coolest features I built was a button for directions. It wasn’t anything flashy, just a simple HTML button that linked to Google Maps. When customers clicked it, they’d be taken to Google Maps online or the app (if they were on mobile) to get directions straight to the store. It wasn’t a map embedded in the website or anything fancy, but it worked beautifully, and sometimes, simplicity wins.

                    The Chatbot That Did More Than Chat                              

Here’s where things got really fun (and maybe a little stressful): the chatbot. We used Facebook’s embeddable chat for Pages and Chatfuel as the backbone. This lets us handle customer inquiries through Facebook Messaging. But, because I’m the kind of person who sees limitations as a challenge, I went a step further.

I wrote custom JavaScript to handle things Chat Fuel couldn’t, like when customers asked, “Are you open right now?” The bot would check the time, cross-reference it with our hours, and say “yes” or “no” while also giving the hours of operation. It was like a mini-miracle of automation. The chatbot also answered questions about inventory and helped vendors reach out with their product ideas.

Highlighting What Made the Shop Unique

This is a picture of the new Northwoods Gift Shop website.

The website wasn’t just functional; it was a love letter to the shop. We had pages dedicated to the mini-golf course, gem mining, and all the unique things that made Northwoods special. We even had a vendor system where suppliers could submit their info and products. We promised to respond within 48 hours, and it worked!

Looking Back

Working at Northwoods Gift Shop wasn’t just a job for me—it was this mix of solving puzzles, being creative, and helping a business I cared about thrive. Every fix, every idea, every line of code came from this place of wanting to make the store the best it could be.

If there’s one thing I learned from that experience, it’s that even small changes can make a big difference when you put your heart into them. The Northwoods Gift Shop will always hold a special place in my journey—not just as a job, but as a chapter where I got to mix passion with purpose.