Gift shopping in North America
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A
Santa’s Quarters
This place keeps the Christmas spirit alive year-round, with ornaments, lights and every festive trinket imaginable. Now, you have to wonder about people who might be tempted to purchase Christmas ornaments on one of August’s most sultry days. And what about the zero-receipt days this shop surely endures for much of the year. So is it a front for something more sinister? Or is it simply a vanity concern for St Nick? And, if so, why is it New Orleans? Or is the fat man indulging a local filly he’s keeping on the side? Anyway, on with your shopping…
reviewed
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Center for the New Age
You can’t miss the New Age stores in Sedona – many of them have the word ‘crystal’ in their names. The oldest and best of them is the Center for the New Age, which is full of friendly, enlightened people and a good place to start dipping into metaphysical waters. It’s truly a one-stop esoteric supermarket with a huge selection of books, crystals, healing stones, angels and other paraphernalia, along with an extensive menu of services, including palmistry, reflexology and crystal healing, plus all those mentioned at the start of this box. It also offers vortex tours.
reviewed
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B
Uwajimaya
Dried squid? Check. Sheets of seaweed? Check. Dumpling steamers, teapots, chopsticks? Check, check, check. The enormous Asian grocery and supply store Uwajimaya, anchoring an eponymous shopping center, has everything needed to prepare Thai, Japanese, Chinese and just about any other type of Asian specialties. You’ll find fresh and frozen meat and fish, canned and dried produce, and intriguingly labeled treats of all kinds, as well as cooking tools, small appliances, spices, cookbooks, toiletries and gift items. It also has a deli and bakery, and a number of hole-in-the-wall restaurants edge the building.
reviewed
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C
As Seen on TV
The objects for sale here don’t exactly represent the zenith of American culture, but they make for a good laugh nonetheless; and it’s true, many items are sold on TV (or at least they were before the 1980s came screeching to a halt). You’ll find Tae-Bo videos (not DVDs), supercharged potato peelers, abdominal rockers, battery-operated scissors, snuggies (that most beloved of wearable blankets), electric hair clipper-brush combos and all manner of products endorsed by George Foreman. ASOT also sells poorly dubbed kung-fu movies to complete the walk down memory lane.
reviewed
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D
Little Otsu
Finally, organizational tools for the artistically inclined: a ‘Film Diary’ so you can keep track of your SF Film Festival favorites, Keri Smith’s free-form ‘Daily Non-Planner’ so you can make dates and capture ideas when so moved, and a Simon Evans airplane bookmark that ominously declares its destination as ‘TERMINAL EXCESSIVE SENSIBILITIES.’ Stationery with jellyfish printed in vegetable inks on 100% post-consumer recycled paper makes an eco-smart gift, and everyone deserves a wombat button.
reviewed
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E
Suey Chong Co
Retail the old-fashioned way, with superior gifts and collectible memorabilia stacked on wooden shelves and monitored by a watchful grandmother. All babies should come equipped with adorable slippers shaped like tigers, and onesies with a pudgy anime version of their Chinese Zodiac symbol (even the snake is cute). Peek into the old wooden counter to see enamel hair pins shaped like flying bats and three-inch silk shoes for 'golden lotuses'.
reviewed
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F
Wacko
There’s a present for every member of your dysfunctional circle at this eclectic, bursting-with-kitsch, garishly painted giftorium: dashboard Jesuses, tiki statues, soap-plant candles, and tomes on cult cinema. Staff loiter like bored British rockers but a fun Elvis section makes up for perceived indifference. For a low-culture immersion, wander back to the La Luz de Jesus gallery and its intriguing array of edgy, postpop art.
reviewed
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G
Paxton Gate
Salvador Dali probably would’ve shopped here for all his taxidermy and gardening needs. What with puppets made with animal skulls, a stuffed mouse dressed like the Pope, a vast selection of pruning shears and lollipops with actual worms in them, this place is beyond surreal. The new kids shop down the street is worthy of Lemony Snickett, with volcano-making kits, sea-monster mobiles and solar-powered dollhouses.
reviewed
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H
Studio
Maybe shopping is a substitute for Prozac after all – especially that silver necklace in the shape of a serotonin molecule. Spiff up your pad with locally made arts and crafts at bargain prices, such as Mike Farruggia’s altered street sign that cautions ‘Beware the Pompitous, ’ Chiami Sekine’s collages of birds tweeting instead of bloggers, and Monique Tse’s fat-free cupcakes made of blown glass.
reviewed
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Mxyplyzyk
There’s nothing usual about this totally fun home shop – including its odd name (pronounced mix-ee- pliz -ik). Here you’ll find life-sized owl lamps, LED mini-chandeliers, candy-striped sock monkeys, oversized animal books, fruit baskets made from chopsticks, cardboard animal heads, colorful nesting bowls for the kitchen, alphabet soaps and other intriguing objects.
reviewed
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Kohshi
Let’s be honest: San Francisco fog smells better when gently scented by Japanese incense. Here you’ll find fragrant sticks for every purpose, from long-burning sandalwood for meditation to cinnamon-tinged Gentle Smile to atone for laundry left too long, plus lovely gift ideas: gentle charcoal soap, cups that look like crumpled paper, and purple Daruma figurines for making wishes.
reviewed
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K
Under One Roof
All the fabulous gift ideas under this roof are donated by local designers and businesses, so AIDS service organizations get 100% of the proceeds from your indispensable elephant tape dispenser, etched San Francisco skyline martini glasses and adorable Jonathan Adler vase. Those sweet sales clerks are volunteers, so show them some love for raising – get this – $11 million to date.
reviewed
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L
Wolfsonian-Fiu Gift Shop
The small gift shop housed in this wonderful quirky museum has one of the most unique collections of eclectic items around. You’ll find sleek business-card holders, oddly shaped water pitchers and glassware, technofied bags and notebooks, art and design books, cool wallets and basically any kind of iconic design, or at least great imitations of such, you could ever desire.
reviewed
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M
Far East Flea Market
The shopping equivalent of crack, this bottomless store is dangerously cheap and certain to make you giddy and delusional. Of course you can get that sale samurai sword through airport security! There’s no such thing as too many bath toys, paper lanterns and bobble-headed Edgar Allen Poe action figures! Step away from the dollar Golden Gate snow globes while there’s still time…
reviewed
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N
Just Tantau
Everything a gift store should be – fun, happy to see you, and stocked with one-of-a-kind gifts. Worth a closer look: handmade ornaments, naughty checkbook covers, Venice canal prints, and playful fine jewelry. The bracelets made from old-fashioned typewriter keys are a kick. Guys can gain points with a ‘just-because-I-wanted-to’ perfect gift for that special gal.
reviewed
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O
Chinatown Kite Shop
Be the star of Crissy Field and wow any kids in your life with a fierce 6ft-long flying shark, a flying panda bear that looks understandably stunned, or ‘Pink Floyd, ’ the goofy pink flamingo (shouldn’t that be a pig, really?). Pick up a papier-mâché two-person lion dance costume, and invite a date to bust some ferocious moves with you next lunar new year.
reviewed
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Paper Doll
Stationery rules the house at Paper Doll, and many a Wicker Park thriftster has ordered her wedding cards from the mod assortment on hand. Then, a few years later, she orders her baby announcements from the shop. Kitschy gifts round out the inventory, and eventually that same woman returns to buy The Three Martini Play Date book.
reviewed
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Q
Lush
A cleaner world awaits inside sweet-smelling Lush. A purveyor of handmade, all-natural soaps, Lush brings high art to the common bath experience. Top selections include honey- and toffee-scented lump soap, rosebud-filled bath bombs (which fizz in the tub) and bergamot-and-lemon bubble bars (for the bubble-bath experience).
reviewed
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R
Global Exchange Fair Trade Craft Center
Consumerism with a heart of gold: wild splurges on splashy Rwandan laptop bags, fair-trade chocolate, sweatshop-free sneakers from Pakistan and crates of smiling, organic-Egyptian-cotton carrots seem somehow noble, since the proceeds go right back to the community cooperatives that made them via nonprofit Global Exchange.
reviewed
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S
Oprah Store
Located next to Oprah’s studio, the shop is filled with her favorite things. Pick up a passion journal, a ‘live your own dreams’ coffee cup or a pair of Manolo Blahnik pumps – just like Oprah wears! Handicrafts from Africa also brighten the shelves. Celeb photos line the walls, along with mounted TVs re-running O’s shows.
reviewed
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T
Sword & Pen
Military memorabilia nerds, rejoice. There are armies of miniature soldiers here marching past Confederate kitsch, WWII posters, recruitment buttons from every conflict of the 20th century (apparently) and anything else that could fulfill a little kid, or grown travel writer’s, most lurid toy-soldier fantasies.
reviewed
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U
Ten Thousand Villages
A store with a conscience, Ten Thousand Villages imports handicrafts from all across the globe, and is one of the founding members of the International Fair Trade Association. You’ll find high-quality pottery, home furnishings and textiles here, plus children’s books, jewelry, coffee and chocolate.
reviewed
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Human Rights Campaign Action Center & Store
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) keeps the Civil Rights movement charging gaily forward, lobbying for GLBT causes and candidates and protecting hard-won freedoms. Stop by to see what’s next on the agenda, or pick up signature condoms and a limited-edition designer HRC tee. Great spot to get the latest on Prop 8.
reviewed
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Skeletons in the Closet
This ghoulish gift shop, operated by the LA County Coroner's Office, is located two floors above the morgue. Best sellers include personalized toe-tags, body-outline beach towels, even travel garment body bags.' Proceeds benefit the Youthful Drunk Driving Visitation Program, an alternative sentencing program.
reviewed
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Simon of New Orleans
Local artist Simon Hardeveld has made a name for himself by painting groovy signs that are hung like artwork in restaurants all over New Orleans; you’ll probably recognize the distinctive stars, dots and sparkles. Out back, a tabletop box contains hand-painted Zulu coconuts – collectors’ items in these parts.
reviewed
