Michael Miner and Kathryn Hapke-Miner are changing the idea of re-gifting from a social taboo to an environmentally friendly cause. To this Spokane couple, however, re-gifting is all about the wrapping, not whats inside the present.


Through their company, WrapSacks Inc., the couple designs and distributes reusable, brightly decorated cloth gift bags they have manufactured in Indonesia.


WrapSacks stand out from other gift bags because recipients are encouraged to pass them along to new recipients, in a small, but personal way that conserves natural resources and landfill space, Michael Miner says. Each bag has a unique code number that all of its recipients can use to follow the bags travels on a Web-based tracking systemand some have traveled many thousands of miles.


To do something good for the environment, you often have to give up something, but you dont have to sacrifice anything to have a better gift wrap, he says.


The cloth bags are hand-dyed in a process called batik, which involves drying the material in the sun to enhance the brightness of the dyes, Miner says. The patterns are as colorful as their names. One called Rainbow Fish has multi-colored fish outlines on a yellow background, and another called Luaulicious has green leaves and blossoms on a red, yellow, and purple background. Most patterns are generic, rather than seasonal, so the bags can be used to wrap gifts for a variety of occasions at any time of year.


No ribbons or bows are needed. Each comes with a color-coordinated drawstring, greatly simplifying the act of wrapping a gift, Miner says.


WrapSacks gift bags come in seven sizes, ranging from the mini size, which is about the size of a can of soda, to the large size, which is big enough to cover a shoebox.


Prices for WrapSacks range from $4 to $10.


There are paper gift bags that cost that much, Hapke-Miner says.


The voluntary WrapSacks electronic Track-A-Sack system is accessed by entering a bags code number on the www.wrapsacks.com Web site.


The first person to enter the code number for a bag is encouraged to give the bag a nickname and to provide its starting location, the gift recipients first name, and the destination of the gift. Instructions are printed on a label attached to each bag, so subsequent recipients can enter their information and also follow the bags journeys.


Participants also have the options of including information about the gift inside the bag and the occasion for the gift. The tracking system calculates the miles traveled.


A gift sack named Trendy has traveled 75,000 miles since beginning its journeys in Marysville, Ohio, on June 2, 2005, the WrapSacks Web site says. Trendy has been re-gifted at least nine times, and its most recently reported activity was in Utsunomiya, Japan. Items placed inside the bag have included cosmetic products for a Mothers Day gift and a journal given to a recipient who was moving to Japan. On several occasions, Trendy itself, rather than anything inside, was the gift.


Miner says a patent is pending on the Track-A-Sack system.


Because participation in the tracking system is voluntary, Miner estimates that only about 20 percent of the gift bags sold have been entered into the system.


WrapSacks was Hapke-Miners idea. She says she wanted to be part of the growing movement to exchange environmentally friendly gifts, but thought such gifts could be enhanced if they were presented in something other than throwaway gift wrap.


Miner says he was cool to the idea of a reusable cloth gift bag at first, because there are other makers of reusable gift bags, and he thought a new product would need something unique to establish a niche in the $5 billion annual gift-wrap market.


He warmed up to the concept, however, as he began working on Hapke-Miners suggestion to develop a tracking system that could show global connections between gift-bag recipients.


The couple had experience in textiles and manufacturing before founding WrapSacks.


They met in 1996 while working for Rono Innovations LLC, a manufacturer and wholesale distributor of running apparel in San Louis Obispo, Calif. They ended up owning that company, which was a tiny player in a highly competitive industry that includes giants like Nike and Adidas, Miner says. So, they decided to look for other opportunities for creativity.


We were just looking for a way to be in business without being like anybody else, he says.


They founded WrapSacks five years ago and moved to Spokanes South Hill almost two years ago, bringing the fledgling company with them.


Im from the Northwest, Miner, who grew up in Corvallis, Ore., says of the move here. I always wanted to get back here.


A growing venture


Miner declines to disclose WrapSacks annual revenues, but says the company, which employs only the couple, has grown into our main gig-and-a-half.


Word is getting out as more gift bags change hands, he says. Each little bag is its own sales rep.


Hapke-Miner adds, Our first warehouse was a closet. Now we have 1,000 square feet of warehouse space. You can fit a lot of gift bags in it.


Most of WrapSacks products are distributed wholesale, although Internet retail sales are growing quickly, he says.


Two months ago, our sales in dollars were about 95 percent wholesale, he says, adding that since then, Internet sales have grown to more than 20 percent of total volume.


WrapSacks products can be found locally at Huckleberrys Fresh Market outlets in Spokane-area Rosauers Supermarkets Inc. stores.


One of WrapSacks biggest accounts is Hasbro Inc., the big Rhode Island-based toymaker, which offers an option to gift wrap toys sold through that companys Web site, he says. WrapSacks also has wholesale accounts in Great Britain, Germany, and Norway.


He says the company is always on the lookout for more distributors and might especially target wine stores to sell its gift bag thats sized precisely for wine bottles.


It seems like it would be natural that many people who buy a bottle of wine for a gift would want to wrap it in something with added value, he says.


The company also sells shopping bag-sized tote bags that are intended for everyday use. A tote bag, which sells for about $14 each, zips into its own wallet-sized pouch and can be carried in a pocket or purse.


WrapSacks newest product is a cloth-bound greeting card which is designed to allow the recipient to replace the paper insert and reuse the cover. A portion of the proceeds from the $6 cards support victims of the May 26, 2006 earthquake that was centered in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.


Contact Mike McLean at (509) 344-1266 or via e-mail at mikem@spokanejournal.com.