We recently connected with Gina Riccobono and have shared our conversation below.

Gina, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Finding those key vendors can often be make or break for a brand. Can you talk to us about how you found your key vendors?

I’ve lived and worked in New Mexico for about 20 years and have met a lot of amazing people along the way who also call this place home. New Mexico is a vibrant, but oft-forgotten state, and while the population of the state may be small, we make up for it with a wide array of extremely talented artisans, makers, and entrepreneurs.

In the first part of my career, I worked with a lot of farmers. When you’re researching farms and working with farmers, you learn what happens to the raw product and byproducts and how they’re utilized by other industries–it’s an unfolding landscape of products and uses. Through this work, I had the pleasure of meeting a number of people and small businesses making a name for themselves in the state. This ultimately helped me create a vast network of vendors that really highlighted New Mexico’s budding maker economy.

New Mexico sometimes feels like a small place where everyone knows everyone else–it’s all interconnected. In that sense, establishing a network of trusted vendors was easy. However, setting expectations with the vendors can be a bit more challenging. One of the best practices I’ve employed is setting clear expectations about my sales process and what I need from vendors in order to purchase from them. I like to be honest with new vendors and am pretty transparent about how I think their products will perform in the shop. The transparency has been an overall net positive and keeps everyone’s expectations in check while also providing opportunities to better prepare a product for market. It’s really exciting for me and the vendors when their products do well the first time in the market.

Gina, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Gina Riccobono and I am the owner of Flyby Provisions. I’ve worked in the food industry for much of my life and before the COVID-19 Pandemic I was doing a lot of catering. I wanted to find a way to incorporate what I love about food with a curated gift shop that incorporates the local community. One of our goals is to partner with people and businesses to deliver locally-rooted, authentically generous gifts. The business is an extension of the relationships (some dating back over a decade) that I’ve built with talented artisans, sustainable producers, and small businesses.

When COVID-19 effectively shuttered my previous business (workplace snacks and provisions), I was forced to pivot. During the height of the Pandemic I noticed lots of businesses searching for ways to make their newly work-from-home employees feel connected to company and office culture and it occurred to me that custom, curated gift boxes would be a great way for companies to reconnect with their employees while simultaneously promoting locally-sourced products. From this idea, Flyby Provisions was born.

While we are known as a gift shop, Flyby Provisions goes beyond that by providing corporate gifting solutions for any and all business needs. Whether it’s for holidays, new hires, promotions, or employee appreciation, Flyby has options to suit every occasion. We believe that gifting should be an act of appreciation, going beyond generic swag. Our aim is to offer products that people would personally want to buy. Just provide us with a budget, and we’ll take care of the rest. We curate custom gift boxes tailored to each individual client, handling all aspects from ordering and printing to design, shipping, and delivery.

Ultimately, our mission is to curate and deliver locally rooted, authentically generous gifts that uplift individuals and communities. With this in mind, one of the things we’re most proud of is our pop-up market series. Since opening, it’s been one of our goals to use our physical retail space to support and promote other small businesses and emerging vendors. These markets allow new vendors to test and grow their product offerings–learning what works and what doesn’t in a market setting. We are committed to building relationships with talented artisans, sustainable producers, and hard-working small businesses on the cusp of big things. By showcasing their unique products and sharing their stories, we aim to create a positive impact on local economies and foster a sense of connection

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Flyby Provisions was actually born via a pivot. Prior to starting Flyby Provisions, I was working with various Albuquerque businesses to supply locally-sourced workplace snacks and provisions. This business model was built on the assumption of people working in offices and communal spaces. Once the Pandemic hit and most offices shuttered, I had to think of a way to adjust my strategy to the new normal. It was clear that businesses were looking for ways to keep their newly “work-from-home” employees happy and engaged during what was otherwise a stressful and bewildering time. This prompted me to adapt by switching from workplace provisioning to workplace gifting. By working with business owners to supply gift boxes to newly-remote employees, employers were able to boost morale, reconnect with their staff, and reassure them from afar. In addition, most of the products within the boxes are locally sourced from other small-scale, women and native-owned, BIPOC, and LGBTQ+ purveyors.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I think one of the ways we’ve really solidified our reputation is through community engagement. One of the primary tenets of Flyby Provisions is to serve as a space for local and state-wide vendors to promote and sell their products. The majority of the products sold in the store and promoted to corporate clients are from vendors within New Mexico. To expand on this tenet, Flyby partnered with a neighboring business within the first two months of opening to host pop-up markets in our parking lot. These markets allow us to offer additional spaces and opportunities for new and emerging vendors to sell their wares and build up their market experience. Now in our second year of business, we’re expanding our pop-up markets, offering a predictable schedule of vending opportunities throughout the year as well as coordinating in-store events for a selection of vendors.

In addition to serving as a space for emerging vendors, we’ve also partnered with Lapis Room–a local art gallery–and serve as an annex space to promote some of their wonderful artists. Plus, we recently started working with the City of Albuquerque to coordinate community events like a block party and vintage movie night.

Slowly but surely, we’re getting our name out there and becoming a staple in the downtown Albuquerque community. Looking ahead, we’re excited about future opportunities to collaborate with our neighbors and further engage with the community.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://flybyprovisions.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flybyprovisions
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FlybyProvisions/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/flyby-provisions/?viewAsMember=true
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/flyby-provisions-albuquerque
• Other: https://www.threads.net/@flybyprovisions