SoHo, NoHo and DUMBO NYC Holiday Shopping Guide

December 17, 2012

We all have our go-to gift buying spots, those stores where we can pretty much always find something for even the trickiest people on our list. You enter with no idea what to get; you leave with something you know it will be liked and appreciated. There are dozens of possible candidates for NYC’s Best Gift Shops so here, for your consideration, are our current top three NYC gift shops located in the rhythmically-pleasing neighborhoods of NoHo, SoHo, and DUMBO.  

This more recent offshoot of the Williamsburg mainstay specializes in playful, semi-subversive home furnishings, decor, children’s items, and tableware. Yes, there are some super high-end items found while shopping in Noho NYC, like a beautiful $16,000 cabinet made from scrap wood. There’s also plenty of terrific finds, for all sorts of folks, in the ‘under-$50’ category as well. Love the Animal Butt Magnets, the I LOVE NY ceramic ‘bodega’ coffee cups, and the brass bracelets from Fort Standard. The Future Perfect is on Great Jones Street between Bowery and Lafayette and is open on weekdays from 10:00 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturdays from noon to 7:00, Sundays from noon to 6:00. to find out more visit The Future Perfect online.

Shopping in SoHo NYC is known to be packed with chain stores, fashion-designer flagships, and precious boutiques, the wonderful Kiosk is like a breath of fresh creative air. Here proprietors Alisa Grifo and her husband Marco ter Haar Romeny sell an eclectic collection of everyday items pencils, clips, combs, candy, toys, games, diversions, decor, brooms, trivets, and so on. They are the absolute best of their kind, hand-picked from the couple’s travels to various countries and regions around the world and we’ve had lots of gift-finding success here over the years. Kiosk’s current focus is on The Netherlands, though the store’s ‘permanent collection’ features items from just about everywhere. Kiosk is located on Spring Street between Broadway and Mercer, up one flight of dim, heavily-graffitied stairs, and is open Monday through Saturday from 12:00 noon to 7:00 p.m. Visit their website, Kioskkiosk for more information.

Ok, sure, everyone’s been to West Elm, but the new-this-fall West Elm General Store and Community Market is an (almost) entirely different thing altogether. This is a homey, handsome-looking space, packed with nicely-designed ‘tools’ for the kitchen, garden, home and personal care. Think rustic salt mills and brightly-colored hoses, Brooklyn-made hand soaps and wooden flashlights. Tons of gift possibilities here. Bonus: a comfy cafe right in the middle of things, serving Columbian coffee and awesome baked goodies from Roberta’s. West Elm Market is located on Washington Street between Front and Water, and is open Monday to Saturday from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., and on Sunday from 9:00 to 7:00 you can also shop their online store at westelm.com.

Posted in Downtown, NYC Events | Tagged Holiday shopping NYC • Shopping DUMBO NYC • Shopping NOHO NYC • Shopping SOHO NYC • Shops in Dumbo • Shops in soho