The holiday gift-buying season is in full swing, and local shops have enough to fill your shopping needs.
Shopping locally is part of a Blair County Chamber of Commerce's "Buy Here. Live Here." initiative started in March "to instill a mindset in local businesses and consumers to purchase products and services from local companies ... when at all possible," Chamber President and CEO Joe Hurd said.
"Local shopping bolsters our area's economy and allows our retailers to have more disposable income to sponsor the arts, our sports teams and anything else that speaks to our quality of life," he said.
Article Photos
Mirror photo by
Amanda Gabeletto
Some unique gifts from the area include a purse and a pair of wallets from The Fashion Exchange in Tyrone.
The Altoona Mirror visited several local shops in Hollidaysburg, Tyrone and Duncansville. From retro items to fashion to jewelry and toys, see what they have to offer.
With television shows such as the History Channel's "American Pickers," and PBS's "Antique Roadshow," the mantra is everything old is new again, and that rare find can make the perfect holiday gift.
Inside FINDS Furniture Consignment, Hollidaysburg, a box of vintage Christmas ornaments for $30 is the perfect gift for the friend who just moved into a new house. Or remind Dad of his childhood with the gift of a vintage Tonka jeep for $15. Christmas-themed plates for $5 or $12 or a cake stand for $12 make an even better gift when piled high with cookies or fudge.
Fact Box
The stores
Thompson Pharmacy, 510 Blair St., Hollidaysburg. Hours: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays; 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays.
Beerbower Jewelers, 315 Allegheny St., Hollidaysburg. Holiday hours, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday will begin Monday. On Dec. 24 the store is open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
FINDS Furniture Consignment, 301 Allegheny St., Hollidaysburg. Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays.
Tea Merchant 101 Tea Bar & Gift Shoppe, 1381 Plank Road, Duncansville, in the Meadows plaza. Hours: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday; noon to 7 p.m. Thursday; and 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Friday.
Rosalind's Finds & Consigns, 31 W. 10th St., Tyrone. Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
Gardners Candies, 30 W. 10th St., Tyrone. Hours: 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
The Fashion Exchange, 34 W. 10th St., Tyrone. Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday and Friday; 10:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday; and 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday.
"You're only limited by your imagination here," said Dawn Garrity, sales associate.
The store, which opened a little over a year ago and is owned by Kerrie Kinzle.
The store is selling, among other items, handcrafted Christmas cards, holiday decorations, hard-to-find collectibles, Lenox china, Waterford crystal, furniture and artwork.
Retro and vintage gifts can also be found in Tyrone.
Rosalind Snyder, owner of Rosalind's Finds & Consigns, Tyrone, sells pre-owned and new items.
The store sells locally made children's tutus ranging in price from $15 to $30, and handcrafted baby clothes such as a crocheted caplet and blanket for $40.
For the artist lover, there is authentic Mexican pottery for sale. Other items include Christmas garland, nutcrackers and recipe books, including Gooseberry Patch and Southern Living.
The store also sells items with professional and college sports team logos such as gloves for $8 and $5 for smaller sizes, decals for $8 and license plates for $5. Other items include towels, pendants and touch lamps.
Snyder also has pendant scarves - scarves with a pendant necklace attached - cost $16 and are popular, she said.
Across the street, The Fashion Exchange, Tyrone, has the latest trends ready to wrap up for placement under the tree.
Popular items include authentic Nicole Lee handbags for $58, Bella Taylor wristlets for $24 and what she calls "bling cowgirl" wallets for $20, shop owner Tammy Huff said. Blinged-out handbags are also on sale for $45, and fashion scarves for $12. The store is running a Christmas special with sparkling sequin boots on sale for $20.
Thompson Pharmacy, Hollidaysburg, has a waiting list for the popular kid's toy called Kendama.
The traditional Japanese toy consists of a ball on a string attached to a wooden spike with cups attached. Among other more complicated tricks, a player tries to catch the ball in the cups or land it on the spike.
"We've been selling out of it as fast as we can get them in," store manager Brandon Long said.
A glow-in-the dark version sells for $24.99. A regular version of the toy is $19.99.
The store also has holiday-decorating items for sale in themes of Winter in the Woods, Camouflage Christmas and Candy Land.
An adult apron from the Candy Land theme costs $23.99, and a matching child's apron is $15.99.
Thompson also has an assortment of children's animal hats, including a penguin and a pink bunny reminiscent of the infamous bunny costume from the movie, "The Christmas Story."
The hats cost $7.99, and would make a sweet pick for that adorable niece or nephew.
Beerbower Jewelers, Hollidaysburg, has an assortment of interchangeable jewelry for sale.
Any interchangeable jewelry seems a popular pick, store co-owner Don Beerbower said.
The Lorenzo Collection by CoLore has an open-ended bracelet starting at $225 with interchangeable jeweled ends for $40 and up.
A bracelet from Convertible by LeStage has different clasps that can be attached.
The bracelets start at about $125 and the clasps, which can feature interests such as cheerleading with a megaphone or summer time fun with a pair of flip flops, cost $45 and up.
Unsure of what your gift recipient's cup of tea is? Then turn to the Tea Merchant 101 Tea Bar & Gift Shoppe, Duncansville.
The shop offers 130 varieties of loose-leaf tea, with 20 percent blended on the premises, and assorted tea bags, owner Joseph Doyle said.
The store also can create gift baskets using items customers bring in such as a candle or bathrobe along with tea and accessories from the shop, he said. The baskets cost $40 and up.
Loose-leaf teas range in price from $1.64 to $8 per ounce. A 10-tea bag variety gift set costs $2.90.
They also sell gluten-free biscotti in chocolate, cinnamon and almond, and lemon basil flavors.
A 12-ounce teapot, with two matching cups and three varieties of tea costs about $55. A mug with an infuser and lid comes in nine colors and costs $24.
If someone needs a sweet tooth satisfied for the holiday, Gardners Candies, Tyrone, has a variety of gift ideas.
A one-pound box of chocolates costs $22.95, said store manager Kristin Barrett. Other treats wrapped in festive holiday wrappings ranged in price from $139.95 to $61.95 to $39.95.
"Our peanut butter meltaways, that's our top seller," Barrett said. "I don't think that will ever change."
Mirror Staff Writer Amanda Gabeletto is at 949-7030.
