Shopping Showdown
They have one hour, $100 in cash and three
people to buy presents for: How do a mom,
an average joe and a pro tackle the task?
Time Out Chicago / Issue 143 : Nov 22–28, 2007
Holiday Gift Guide
By Web Behrens Photography by A. Jackson
Underneath those songs of holiday cheer, do we hear a collective groan? Riiight. All the shopping that goes hand-in-hand with the season makes a lot of us grumpier than the Grinch. And he only brightened up when he realized Christmas wasn’t just about all the stuff.
But the gauntlet is thrown: You’re already obligated to the family grab bag and the office Secret Santa. You’ve got a list of people to buy for, some of whom you don’t know very well. How to save money, time and sanity? We put three different folks to the test to glean some pointers.
Each gift-giver got the same restrictions: one hour, $100 and a list of three people to shop for (a high-school junior, a research assistant and a bride-to-be; see full profiles below). Then we sent our shoppers to three different places: one superstore, one neighborhood full of independent retailers and one website. Finally, we made the holidays come a bit early, so we could see whether our giftees were happy, or headed to the return line.
The giftees
Lauren Lauren DeSalvo, 16 Occupation High-school juniorResidence Hoffman EstatesHobbies/activities Swimming, water polo, watching romantic comedies.
Andrew Bishop, 27Occupation Field Museum research assistantResidence UptownHobbies/activities Bicycling, camping, collecting punk and jazz on vinyl.
Rachel Benoit, 33Occupation Production coordinator, freelance graphic designerResidence Logan SquareHobbies/activities Photography, planning winter wedding in Hawaii .
Shopper No. 1
Kathi Baginski at Target (2939 W Addison St, 773-604-7681) A suburban mother of two adult kids (including TOC features editor Laura Baginski) and now a grandmother, Kathi’s got years of gift-giving under her purse; we restricted her to the Land of the Red Bull’s-Eye. Kathi says she’s used to shopping for strangers—in past years, she’s bought Christmas gifts for entire families in need. The cardinal rule, she explains, is: “Buy people what they like, not what you want them to like.” To help accomplish that, do your homework; if you don’t know the recipient very well, “ask a store clerk who’s about the same age.” That strategy works for people a generation older than you, as well as younger: “These days, you see store clerks in their seventies.”
Kathi wants to get the bride something she won’t receive for her wedding, so she quickly chooses a Mossimo nylon jade-and-purple purse ($16.99), silver earrings ($5.99) and a headband ($5.99). “I’m not into buying clothes for people I don’t know. I only have a 50-50 success rate with my own daughter,” she says with a shrug. For the teen, Kathi’s first instinct is a digital-picture frame, but they’re too expensive. She quickly opts for a Leadsinger II iPod karaoke adapter ($39.99). “Kids all love karaoke,” she says. Two thirds done, and she’s only been pushing a cart for 18 minutes.
She considers Andrew, who likes to camp, the toughest to buy for. Shying away from camping gear (“you don’t know what he’s got already”), she looks for an insulated vest. From Target’s wide selection, she settles on the most “urban”—a slick black number with a silver interior ($30). The lady sure is efficient: She spends $99 in 40 minutes.
The verdictsAndrew “I don’t like it at all. It’s polyester, and it’s too urban-chic.”Lauren “An awesome gift. I would love to plug in my iPod and sing along to the songs I choose.”Rachel “The shapes and colors are a little too funky-chunky-’80s. I would probably regift these items.”
Shopper No. 2
Jake Malooley at Etsy.comOur Everyman, Time Out writer Jake, doesn’t like to shop—“I don’t fancy myself any kind of a gift-giver,” he admits—so he got the easiest gig: one hour to scour Etsy.com, an online marketplace for handmade goods. After 30 minutes of searching, Jake’s frustrated (in his low-key way). “The site’s not really very navigate-able, unless you know what you’re looking for,” he says. “There’s so much random shit on here.”
His luck turns when he starts browsing with a serious strategy. Extrapolating one of Rachel’s hobbies, photography, into a keyword search, he soon finds a roomy tote adorned with a hand-screened image of a camera ($45). With the clock ticking away, he quickly buys a jar of “body frosting” and a jar of “body polish” ($8.50 each) for Lauren, the swim-team teen, reasoning she’ll need to moisturize if she’s dunking herself in chlorine all the time.
Hardly any time left, but Jake’s not worried. “What would be good for a vinyl-collecting fiend?” he ponders. He finds two gifts in his final five minutes: an Empty Bottle jazz-show poster ($25) and a record converted into a clock ($17). With no time left, Jake checks out, $4 over budget.
The verdicts Andrew “I’m notoriously difficult to shop for. I wouldn’t pick out either item for myself. The vinyl LP clock is too fabricated, but I would put the poster on my fridge.”Rachel “Cool. It’s a little large for my everyday bag, but very unique and suited to my tastes.”Lauren “Body cream is a great idea. Really fun scents, and practical.”
Shopper No. 3
Julie Watson in Lincoln SquareAfter more than a decade of experience in merchandising and marketing for big-time apparel corporations, Julie started her own business earlier this year (juliewatsonstyle.com) as a personal shopper. Professionally she focuses on women’s wardrobes, but Julie has a knack for all kinds of shopping, so we gave her the most ground to cover: any store along Lincoln Avenue between Lawrence and Wilson. She headed for the funky tchotchke store Eclecticity (4718 N Lincoln Ave, 773-275-3080) first, affirming its name by finding something for everyone on her list.
“You wouldn’t necessarily know how awesome this place is from the front of the store,” Julie says. “But part of the joy of shopping is the exploration.” In the back, there’s an entire selection of antique magazine ads and vintage photos. For bride Rachel, Julie finds a 1924 silverware ad from Ladies’ Home Journal ($13). Andrew gets a 1964 black-and-white snapshot of a cabin ($1.50), while Lauren gets a notepad with a picture of a woman in a vintage swimsuit ($7.50).
At Laurie’s Planet of Sound (4639 N Lincoln Ave, 773-271-3569), Julie immediately enlists the staff to find jazz or punk on vinyl for Andrew. Before long, she’s got two jazz albums (Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie, $5.99 each) and a Dead Kennedys T-shirt ($14), plus the ’80s teen flick Pretty in Pink on DVD ($10.99) for Lauren. (“I was a 16-year-old girl once, and that’s a classic. And I’m not gonna lie: I did have quite a crush on Andrew McCarthy.”) Inspired by finding Bitch magazine at Laurie’s, she snags a year’s subscription card ($15) for Rachel, reasoning the mag is a badass counterpoint to the ’20s silverware ad.
Next, Julie hits the Book Cellar (4736 N Lincoln Ave, 773-293-2665), hoping to score a swimming-related book for Lauren. No luck. With time running out, dissatisfied Julie spends the last of her budget on Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood ($13.95) instead. The novel’s not new, she frets, but she hopes it will be fresh to a 16-year-old.
“The thing about thoughtful gift-giving is: You shouldn’t do it rushed,” Julie says. “If you don’t have a well thought-out shopping strategy, you often just end up with stuff, especially at Christmastime.”
Her favorite personalized ideas that don’t cost much include making a mix-CD; tracking down a recipe for a person’s favorite dish from a beloved restaurant; or buying a book and then taking the recipient to meet the author at a local bookstore. “Thoughtful doesn’t mean expensive,” says Watson, who spent $88 on her spree. “There’s a lot of things that aren’t expensive, but they’re really cool.”
The verdicts Rachel “I love this shopper! I would definitely frame the silverware ad for my kitchen or dining room. And a subscription to Bitch, my favorite magazine? Love it.”Andrew “The Miles Davis album is a nice pick. And the Dizzy Gillespie album: Holy shit! The T-shirt, I’d wear now and then. This shopper definitely did the best job.”Lauren “Cute, girlyish gifts. I would enjoy them.”
Copyright © 2008 juliewatsonstyle. All rights reserved.
