Green Gates Gifts, with locations in Gloucester Point and Hampton, won the Retail Alliance Retailer of the Year for 2011 award during a ceremony April 15 at the Chamberlin Hotel in Hampton. The business also received the Gloucester/Yorktown Retailer of the Year award.

Lee Ann Kirkley, owner of the businesses, said she owes much of the success of Green Gates to its two managers, Arlene Templeman, in the Gloucester store, and Kirkley’s son, Joseph Dusewicz, in the Hampton store.

She said her two managers have given "110 percent," keeping the stores colorful, clean and arranged in an appealing manner.

The Retail Alliance Retailer of the Year event was created in 2008 and is designed to recognize and celebrate those merchants who advance the field for everyone. This year, the Retail Alliance received 182 nominations, from as far west as Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia.
Kirkley said each merchant completed a questionnaire detailing business practices, growth, ch...