MAKING IT IN O.C. : Gift Manufacturer in Buena Park Has a Presence

Randy McHenry, 56, purchased Buena Park-based Artistic Gifts Inc. in 1984 after a career in the brokerage industry. “I was looking for a change, and this looked like a tremendous little company,” said McHenry, who had managed Merrill Lynch brokerage offices in Orange and Los Angeles counties.

Artistic Gifts designs and manufactures stained-glass plaques for sale through drugstores, supermarkets and gift shops nationwide. Sales increased to $4 million last year, McHenry said. Artistic Gifts’ 50 employees manufacture the plaques from scratch, using plain glass and wood, McHenry said.

“We have some wonderfully talented people working here,” he said. “I think I could double the size of the business if I could get more equity.”

The company also sells its product through a factory-outlet store at its plant on Aragon Circle.