Lezlie Oler (LLB’75) is the owner of In A Box Gifts, a giftware and clothing boutique that specializes in providing customers with a selection of beautiful, unique and fashionable items. In A Box Gifts has been a staple in the downtown Halifax shopping scene for sixteen years and has prevailed through the impact of COVID-19 on retailers as well as multiple downtown construction projects. A true passion project for Lezlie, you can feel the thoughtfulness and care she puts into selecting her pieces upon entering her store.

What inspired you to open In A Box Gifts?

I moved back to Halifax after many years in Toronto, where I had a very large management consulting company, and so I was quite used to running my own business. One of the things that I looked forward to in retirement was running a business, but in a less hectic area, and where I’d always had a passion. And that was for lovely things, interior design items and decorative items for the home and very nice clothing.

Your store features one-of-a-kind items, what’s your selection process?

The majority of our stock is from Europe, where we find items that don’t exist anywhere else in Halifax. We are careful about not duplicating the wheel. There’s no point in having something that somebody can buy around the corner. We want it to feature unique items, and that’s a phrase that people use a lot, but I think if one were to come into the store and look around, the common sentiment that I hear people say is, “Oh my gosh, I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

What is your favourite part of owning/operating In A Box Gifts?

Rita Karankevich is the store’s manager. And Lezlie Oler (LLB’75) is the store’s owner.

The freedom to make design choices that we like, the ability to put things in the store that I love. I have a store manager who is as dedicated to the concept of people living in beautiful environments and people wearing lovely clothes. It doesn’t cost anymore to buy something that’s beautiful than it does something for which you’re making do. And we get a lot of satisfaction from people coming in and saying, “Oh, my goodness, I never would have found this. I never would have chosen this for myself. But doesn’t it look great?”

What advice would you give to someone looking to start their own business?

Don’t expect that it’s all going to be easy, just because you love what you’re doing. You’ve got to find a niche where there is a need. And once you’ve found that niche, try to be the best you can be at finding the essence of that need by identifying quality items.

You are both an alum and Dal donor. Why is it important to you to give to Dal?

I think everybody has the right to follow their dreams and if that includes a university education, then I think it shouldn’t be a financial constraint that stands in people’s way. I think people should have an opportunity to attend university if they want to. It will make the world a better place if everybody has an equal chance to obtain a post-secondary education.

How did your degree from Dal prepare you for your career?

Perhaps not directly, but indirectly. Having a law degree gave me a certain sense of self-confidence. I don’t enter into any kind of agreements or into any situation without doing a little bit of thinking and analysis. Certainly, in my previous life with my consulting company, specializing in corporate governance, I felt adequately prepared to assist my clients with governance.  A law background is useful in all aspects of doing business.

What is a fond memory from your time at Dal?

I just felt very proud to be at the law school in the early 1970’s. To be a woman in law at that time at Dalhousie still felt very new, very challenging, very exciting and somewhat intimidating. Looking back now at the equality of the number of women in law classes, it makes me very proud to have been part of the initial push for women in that profession.

Lezlie welcomes all to drop by, shop and introduce themselves. She loves to meet fellow members of the Dal community. You can visit In A Box Gifts at 1468 Dresden Row, Halifax, NS. Or online at @inaboxgifts Instagram or at Facebook.com/inaboxgiftshalifax Facebook.

In A Box Gifts offers all Dal alumni 15% off all regular-priced merchandise. Show your Dalhousie University Alumni card (if registered before Feb 18, 2020) or your program enrolment email (if registered after Feb 20, 2020) at checkout and receive 15% off your purchase.

Interested in becoming a partner? We are continuously looking to expand the offers within the Dal Alumni Benefits Program. Whether you are an international, national, local or alumni-owned business we invite you to connect with our team today to explore what a new partnership could look like!