5 Fun and Practical Gifts for Store Owners

Not to be paranoid, but every business owner needs a high-quality paper shredder. Retailers deal with an abundance of paperwork and with identity theft increasingly on the rise, this gift tops the list of the most practical gift item.

When shopping for paper shredders, consider one that goes beyond paper. Models like this eight-sheet shredder from AmazonBasics can also destroy discs and credit cards. A shredder is a simple and small piece of equipment that can prove very helpful to today's store owner.

Right behind a shredder in practical use is the fireproof safe. Cash, documents, backup files, and other important items will stay safe and sound in one of these durable pieces. And, because of the high cost of a quality safe, chances are that your store owner has not purchased one yet.

Don't let the small size of this safe fool you. This small SentrySafe can actually fit a fair amount of things inside. It is large enough for hefty document binders and has an interior locking drawer that can hold the day's petty cash. Also, the inside of the door features various pockets and other stow-away places to hang important keys and flash drives.

The list of business books explaining how to start a business is almost endless. However, the number of good guides for opening and operating a retail store is much smaller.

Give the gift of a dream come true and help the entrepreneur in your life get their new business off to a good start. These are some of the top picks for books any retailer starting their own shop wants to read.

Cute and entertaining gift items speak to every store merchant who is overworked and underpaid, which is pretty much all of them. It's guaranteed to get a laugh from your hard-working shopkeeper who won't be able to resist wearing a T-shirt next time they have to run to the store for an "emergency."

This fun and simple design can be printed on pretty much anything from coffee mugs to T-shirts to mouse pads to stickers.

Because working with the public is never easy, operating a retail business can be very stressful. If you want to toss a little humor into a manager's stressful day try giving a humorous cartoon calendar, which doubles as a practical gift.

Despite the proliferation of smartphones that sport e-calendars, day-by-day paper desk calendars are still a great addition to an office. Be sure to put some thought into choosing the right kind of humor, which can include cute and cuddly, satirical, political, high-brow or low-brow. If you know the person's taste, there are many options to choose from on this list, so you're bound to find the perfect fit.