Business phone system for gift, novelty and souvenir stores in Illinois

Gift, novelty and souvenir stores in Illinois by the numbers

County Business Patterns counts 564 establishments in Illinois classified as Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores (NAICS 453220) for 2023. They employed 4,053 people in mid-March and reported $93.4 million in annual payroll. That is the 8th highest count among the 51 states and DC with published figures. Gift, novelty and souvenir stores make up 0.17% of the 322,415 business establishments in the state.

Per 100,000 residents (2024 estimate) Illinois has 4.4 gift, novelty and souvenir stores, 20.1% below the national rate of 5.6. The average establishment has 7.2 employees against 6.8 nationally. Payroll per employee is $23,052, 9.7% below the U.S. figure of $25,533.

Gift, novelty and souvenir stores by metro area in Illinois

Census published gift shop counts for 18 metro or micropolitan areas that include part of Illinois. The largest is Chicago, IL-IN, with 389 establishments (a multi-state area; its count covers every state it spans). Single-state metro and micropolitan areas account for 21% of the statewide total; the rest are outside any published area or in areas Census suppressed.

Team sizes at gift, novelty and souvenir stores in Illinois

52.4% of Illinois's gift, novelty and souvenir stores with employees had fewer than five people in March 2023, compared with 55.8% nationally. 72.4% had fewer than ten. That is the size of team where a missed call usually means nobody was free, not that nobody was on staff.

Why the phone matters for gift, novelty and souvenir stores in Illinois

Gift shops take calls about stock, holds and gift wrapping, with seasonal peaks. Quick answers help capture holiday sales.

A few of the calls that come in to gift, novelty and souvenir stores in Illinois:

• A customer calls about shipping a gift.
• A customer calls about holiday hours.
• The store calls a customer about an order.

After-hours calls

After-hours calls are mostly hours questions.

Callata voicemail is transcribed and triaged for urgency, and business-hours routing decides where calls go once you close.

Phone system pricing for a 7-person gift shop

Gift, novelty and souvenir stores in Illinois average 7.2 employees, so the comparison uses a 7-person team. Per-seat business phone plans bill every one of those people. At month-to-month list prices checked September 28, 2026, 7 users on RingCentral RingEX Core cost $210.00 a month and 7 on Ooma Office Pro cost $174.65. On Callata the same 7 people cost $139.00 a month, less than either per-seat plan.

The annual difference against RingCentral's monthly list price comes to $852. Some vendors discount annual contracts; the table shows month-to-month prices.

Area codes in Illinois

Illinois has 17 geographic area codes in service according to NANPA. You can choose local numbers in the area codes your customers know, subject to carrier inventory, or port your current number for free.

How Callata works for gift, novelty and souvenir stores in Illinois

For $99 a month, Callata puts a team of up to 5 on one plan ($20 for each person after that): up to 3 local numbers, unlimited inbound calls, a pooled allowance of 1,500 outbound US and Canada minutes per user, browser and cell calling, voicemail transcription with urgency triage, recorded calls with AI summaries and business-hours routing, with E911 on every number.

If you already have a number in Illinois, porting it to Callata is free. Texting from a local number requires a one-time carrier registration (10DLC, $49), and the numbers available in any area code depend on carrier inventory when you choose them.

Optional AI agents (receptionist, sales, support or scheduler) can answer calls after hours or when nobody picks up, take messages, text, email and transfer to your team. They are billed from prepaid AI minutes at $0.25 per minute, identify themselves as AI, and may only place outbound calls to people who consented, between 8am and 9pm.