Last year, Linette and I, together with a lot of wonderful volunteers, waged a little guerilla Shop Ypsi for the Holidays campaign. As you may recall, it was built around a small brochure that listed the various locally-owned businesses in Ypsi, and gave a few examples as to the kinds of unique gifts you could find in this quirky little town that we so love. The idea, of course, as our friends Murph and Amanda so eloquently expressed in their supporting Ann Arbor News editorial was to keep more of our holiday shopping dollars here in town, and away from the big box retailers. (And hopefully attract a few folks from Ann Arbor and the surrounding towns in the process.)
As you might recall, that campaign started with an invitation here on the site for people to leave their local gift ideas… Well, I’d like to pose the same question to you here again.
So, what would make a good local gift?
A pair of Maggie’s Organic socks from the Food Co-Op?
A Mug Club membership from the Corner Brewery?
A pi
21 Comments
I want urban chicken eggs!!!
The kind that make more urban chickens!!!
I want the old 1970’s Starship Troopers boardgame I saw in Apple Annies (or is it Silver Spoon… crap).
A drink card entitling the owner to one free beer at each downtown establishment.
Art supplies for the budding tagger from Art Attack and Cogdon’s Ace.
A loaf of fresh baked bread from the Co-Op bakery every week/month for a year.
A charitable gift in your name for the Corner Health Center or Growing Hope.
Gift certifcates for dog walking/cat care/vacation visits from Deanna and Lisa of Walking the Dog. One of Ypsi’s most underrated businesses!
A gift membership to Ann Arbor’s ultimate frisbee league (a2ultimate.org) They have leagues that integrate people who have never played before with old masters, and not only is it fun, but you get in shape meeting lots of cool, new people.
A really fun gift I received once was $20 in singles and my friend came with me to hold my bags as we bought all of the best treasures we could find at the Kiwanis thrift shop down on First, near the blind pig. We still play the crazy board games we found there and have a laugh. so manic.
A 30-day MM gift certificate for Ypsi prostitutes.
It will be more difficult this year with Quinn’s, Gordon’s and, I suppose for some of us, that terrifying little stuffed bear store gone. I plan to shop the hell out of the Rocket. Another good idea is a membership with Good Scents, a local cut flower CSA. They have a site here:
http://www.goodscentsgardens.com/
The music store might also have lessons.
I vote for Paw’s proposed drink card. Awesome.
If the recipients are *also* local, how about gift cards to all those Ypsi chicken restaurants I’ve been reading about?
Also, if I’m not mistaken, gang, Mark and Linette make and sell interesting things, too.
Good luck trying to work out a mutually beneficial local marketting scheme with mark involving his severed unicorn heads, hahaha!
Well, yeah: I *was hoping SUHs wouldn’t have to come into play.
i love the idea of the bread of the week/month from the co-op… and think it would be an awesome thing for other businesses to sell, too… like a coffee a week @ bombadill’s, a soup a week at beezy’s, a cheesecake/month from the new cheescake place…
here’s one i’d appreciate getting– a little “save energy stocking stuffer” kit from ace’s– some compact flourescent light bulbs, rechargeable batteries, insulation strips for doors, window-plastic, etc…
does clover computers in depot town have gift certificates for computer repair services? who wouldn’t like to have that on hand already for the inevitably stressful time when a computer breaks…
Do drug dealers sell gift certificates? How about giving the gift that keeps on giving?
I love Lisa and Deanna from Walking the Dog! I don’t live in Ypsi any more, but they did a great job walking my dog Cody (of “Hosanna” at the Heritage Fest Parade fame).
I’d love to get (and give) Four Square raised garden beds from Growing Hope — Maybe with a couple big red recycling tubs full of compost!
Those coffeepot robot-head lamps from the Shadow Art Fair were pretty swell.
I like the local posts best, mark.
An entire week of nonpolitical posts about Ypsi and Ypsi people would be a great gift.
@Lisele: I think Growing Hope also offers a “package” of seeds/seedlings to fill your raised-bed garden with. Seedlings won’t work as a December gift, but seeds could make a stocking stuffer.
I would like a gift certificate to the Ugly Mug.
A home energy audit from the Clean Energy Coalition – 124 Pearl Street, Suite 402.
http://www.cec-mi.org/PROGRAMS/MichiganEnergyense/tabid/4805/Default.aspx
A “Friend of the Library Membership” or books off the “Friends” bookstore shelves.
A Growing Hope Calendar
Devil Ducks from the Rocket
That flat out hugemungous geode that I have been watching at the World of Rocks or a piece of a meteorite or that Trilobite Fossil
Wine making kit from U-Brew on Washtenaw
Flex Ticket pack for the Midwest Sliders at Oestriek -semi-pro baseball in Ypsianti -I’M THERE!!
A pass to one of the Guided Historic Walking Tours that the Riverside Neighborhood Association is offering
A gift certificate for a spa day at 11 West Salon
Muffins from Terry Bakery
One of Lesley’s Purses from What is that Gallery or one of David’s mugs or t-shirts
An “Ypsilicious” t-shirt from Heikk’s on Michigan (with a matching pair Ypsipantis)
A whole cheesecake from the Old World Bakery
Cookies from Queen of Hearts
Gift certificate for anything at Cafe Luwac, Ugly Mug or Bombadills
A night at the Parish House or Queens Inn – just spoil me
Passes to the Ypsilanti Firehouse Museum or the Auto Museum.
Those earrings I’ve had my eyes on at Studio Glamor Fashions
Certificate for a Spinning Class or Yoga at Ypsi Studio – BETTER YET! – a massage
Girt certificate for Tai Chi with Greg at the Riverside Arts – maybe ticketsw for aprodution by PTD
Any of those local hand crafted lotions at Simply deVine
One of those candle things at Glemps
That piece of pink Swiss polka-dot Fenton glass in the window at Look in the Attic
OMG! – that antique mirror at Materials Unlimited- the one as clear as a brook
I’m thinking ink or piercing at Liquid Swordz
This is my short list. Shopping local is not hard.