The month of December can be a very chaotic and stressful time for buying gifts, managing family, and travelling. Instead of ordering Amazon packages that may not come in time for Christmas, or rushing to the Target thirty minutes away to find last-minute stocking stuffers, shopping locally can take away a lot of your shopping-induced stress. Charlottesville has a vast selection of local stores to buy gifts from this holiday season. Whether your loved ones appreciate music, books, or vintage clothes, Charlottesville has the store for you.
The Downtown Mall has a wide variety of local stores, most notably bookshops and record stores. New Dominion Bookstore, Blue Whale Books, and Second Act Books are all located on the mall, and sell a wide array of works. New Dominion sells the newest and most popular authors, including local Charlottesville writers such as Kathleen Grissom and Lea Marshall. Blue Whale and Second Acts feature a of lot lesser known and second hand novels. The record stores around Downtown also have a very similar dynamic to the book stores. Melody Supreme and Plan 9 Music have a wide selection of newer and more popular music, whereas Sidetracks specializes in older, lesser known records. Melody Supreme and Sidetracks are located on the mall, and Plan 9 Music is near Stonefield.
Many vintage and second hand stores are also located on the Downtown Mall. Low Vintage, Arsenic & Old Lace, and the newly-opened Old Flame Secondhand & Vintage are all great shops to visit this holiday season. These thrift stores feature a wide variety of vintage clothing items and domestic goods. Popular purchases are leather jackets, purses, and dishware. These stores are usually on the pricey side, with Old Flame being the cheapest out of the three. Across the street, the shop Darling sells a mixture of thrifted and new items. It is a very popular store with teenagers and college students because of its stock of jewelry, candles, and second-hand clothes of popular brands.
Along with Darling, there are a few other boutiques downtown that sell similar items. Tilla is a jewelry store across the street from Christian’s Pizza, a very popular local pizza place. They sell Turkish and Middle Eastern-inspired pieces, their most popular item being their glass fruit necklaces. Their prices range from 15 to 40 dollars usually, with the exception of their higher end jewelry.
Further up the mall, Bittersweet sells brand new, trendy women’s clothing. This boutique sells great items for those who are looking for gifts for people in their teens and twenties.
O’Suzannah is another popular store with young women. They sell a variety of candles, jewelry, cards, and perfumes. Although these items are very popular, they are only a small part of the store’s inventory. Tilda Rajagopalan, a junior at CHS, who works at O’Suzannah, says that, “Most customers are young couples shopping for their children.” The boutique has a large stock of cute baby clothes, toys, and books. “There are so many great things in the store, and there is really something for everyone, so I just advise people to come and take it all in,” Rajagopalan says.
For those looking for gifts for toddlers and teenagers, there are also a couple of toy stores near the mall. Hello Comics sells graphic novels, mangas, and posters of all kinds. Shenanigans is a children’s store that specializes in games, toys, and books. The End Games, located in Seminole Square Shopping Center, sells items more on the imaginative side, with D&D books, collectible cards, and role-playing sets. Its major demographic is teenagers who are interested in fantasy and role-playing games.
Play It Again Sports is also another store popular with teenagers. They have a big inventory of second-hand sports gear, ranging from baseball mitts to lacrosse helmets. If you need to buy a gift for someone in your life who plays a sport, Play It Again Sports is the place to go.
Charlottesville also has a great selection of local restaurants and coffee shops. Cville Coffee, Shenandoah Joe, and Mudhouse in particular are very popular coffee shops in town. Gift cards to these places would make excellent presents for the holiday season. Some very popular local bakeries include Marie Bette and Albermarle Baking Company. If you know someone in your life who loves doughnuts, then a trip to Carpe Donut or S’broccos would be a great gift idea.
Charlottesville also has a few unique stores for older audiences to buy gifts at as well. The Scrappy Elephant is a restorative art store. Its workers take donated supplies and recycle it into new art pieces that they then sell to the public. Their art is sustainable and sold at affordable prices.
Feast Market & Cafe sells a selection of wine, flowers, and upscale groceries. Their cheeses, sandwiches and soups in particular are very popular. Feast is a great place to get a box of chocolate or charcuterie board for the foodies in your life.
Charlottesville has a great selection of local shops to buy from this holiday season. Shopping locally is a great idea that supports the community, promotes sustainability, and takes a lot of stress out of holiday gift shopping. If you’re in need of a present for your loved one this season, make sure to check out some of these local Charlottesville shops!
