Holiday '09: Holiday shopping in Ann Arbor area doesn't have to leave large carbon footprint

Doug Price, photography dealer at West Side Book Shop in downtown Ann Arbor, with framed pictures by turn-of-the-century photographer Edward S. Curtis, known for his images of Native Americans and the Wild West. Prints run from$250 to $17,000.

Janet Miller for AnnArbor.com

Instead of buying presents made of plastic or other petrochemicals half way around the globe, shoppers can spend their holiday dollars close to home on gifts looking for a second life. Or they can give the gift of time, creating homemade presents and memories at the same time.

Some ways:

An Army of Savings
Like Big Box and shopping malls, the Salvation Army store on S. State Street kicks off the holidays the day after Thanksgiving with a sale and specials. All clothing will be half-off and they will run specials in departments such as linens throughout the day, said Audrey Nowakowski, assistant manager. 

Some savvy shoppers make a beeline for clothing that has the original tags attached. They can get away without having to fess up that it came second-hand, Nowakowski said. Others don’t care.

Many look for household gifts, from coffee makers to canisters. Others shop for personal items, such as perfumes and lotions. Many look for books as gifts.

“We have all the bestsellers they have at Borders,” Nowakowski said. Toys - Spiderman action figures for boys and Barbies and Dora the Explorer for girls - are also popular during the holidays. 

All pay a fraction of the original price. A set of eight crystal wine glasses sells for $10 to $15, and a name brand DVD player goes for $20.

While holiday shopping at the Salvation Army is green, it’s the savings and variety that draw most of the holiday shoppers. “We have unique things not found in the mall,” Nowakowski said.

Picture This
Green shoppers don’t have to be frugal shoppers. West Side Book Shop in downtown Ann Arbor sells used, rare and out-of-print books along with rare photographs, including photogravure prints by Curtis showing Native American and the Wild West from the turn of the century that start at $250, said Doug Price, photography dealer at the store. There’s one couple - both literature teachers - who come in each Christmas to buy each other copies of the classics, he said. 

Shoppers with book collectors on their list are in literary heaven. A first edition copy of “Nicholas Nickleby” by Charles Dickens runs $650, while a mint condition first edition of “Cold Mountain” by Charles Frazier costs $200. They can also find used books that aren’t collectors’ editions. “You can spend $100 and get three or four books at Borders or spend the same $100 here and get five or six great books,” Price said. 

Just for collectors
Holiday shoppers with collectors on their gift lists come through the doors of Antelope Antiques and Coins on East Liberty Street looking for old postcards, milk bottles, pottery and Steuben glass, said owner Amy Lagler.

Vintage and estate jewelry, barrel banks and patterned glass also top gift lists. “People come here looking for something for the dad or uncle of brother who collects Boy Scout stuff -  hatchets, badges and books,” Lagler said. “Others want old pocket watches or coins.”

Holiday shopping usually starts Thanksgiving week. “Because of our location (between campus and downtown), we get a lot of students and young people looking for things for their parents. Maybe jewelry for their female relatives or a slide rule for their father,” Lagler said. “They can find something here that’s unusual that they can’t find on the Internet.”

Treasured gifts
Shoppers come to Treasure Mart, an Ann Arbor institution for nearly 50 years, looking for unusual gifts, said owner Elaine Johns. “They don’t want to go to Home Goods or Kohls, where you see the same stuff everywhere,” she said. Husbands come looking for gold jewelry for their wives. Others come looking for something elegant, such as Haviland Crystal.

The gift of time
Jeanne Mackey, a founding member of the new Transition Ann Arbor chapter, part of an international movement to address energy use and global warming, said the holidays are a perfect time to give a gift of time or talent, from making a favorite dish to knitting a sweater to giving a massage.

Last year for the holidays, her family made a memory jar, where each person wrote down a number of favorite memories and took turns pulling and reading them from the jar. For her nearly 90-year-old mother, she made a memory book. “I try to focus on experiences rather than on things,” she said. “We need to get more creative with what it means to give.”