apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Here are some of mine:

1) Quimby's Books
as the self-proclaimed magazine junkie queen theres always something new and fun here....plus all kinds of art books etc

2) Penelope's
check out the Millimeter, Milligram line of desk accessories, they are original, not too expensive, and pretty much impossible to order outside japan so all your friends wont have them!

3) Hejfina
the clothes are ungodly expensive but there are cute lil accessories, art books and the like

4) Sprout
nice gardening acessories and trinkets for modern design nerds with a green thumb.

5) I used to be OBSESSED with the stationery shop FUSS...but im pretty sure they have closed the retail end of their store and now only do custom orders from a downtown studio.

6) Una Mae's
A nice blend of cute clothes and acessories and vintage. They have started stocking the Alex + Chloe line of jewelry which I just adore (www.alexandchloe.com)

7) Rotofugi
Chicago's one and only vinyl toy extravaganza....cute stuff for guys or girls, young and old alike....i particularly dig the Furilla as hes inexpensive, yet awesome.


Sorry! I guess i should stop before ive written the whole column! (but i do have more!) ha!

ok one more important one....

..for those with a sweet tooth, lust for the exotic and a penchant for lovely packaging: Vosges Chocolates

HAZEL
from greetings card (awesome selection) to womens jewelry, fabulous acessories, cute fun playful gifts. The store is great. You can pretty much get anything for a gift and yourself or just yourself. Also, something you don't see very often is men's acessories. A+. Must check it out. Two locations, one in ravenswood and one on the southside.

STITCH in Bucktown. Love this store! I can always find a unique personal or home gift for weddings, birthday, or me. They carry great purses, jewelry, pottery, lamps, etc.

http://www.stitchchicago.com/

these two are my very favorite places to go for gift giving:

PAPER DOLL
http://www.paperdollchicago.com/

RR#1
http://rr1chicago.com/

I have to second the nominations on Hazel and Quimby's! I am in both constantly, wishing I had some sort of shopping spree.

Flight 001 (north State Street) and Savvy Traveler (south Michigan Ave) for travelers.

Penzey's or the Spice House (various locations) for gourmands.

Paper Source (various) & Levenger (hopefully still in the State Street Macy's?!) for paper people.

Hannah's Bretzel on Washington for a large selection of European chocolate and coffee.

Art Institute, Museum of Science and Industry, Architecture Foundation and Chicago Symphony gift shops.

I recently found this store on Clark called Manifold. It has great stuff for guys, who I've found are the hardest to buy for.

The store has a variety of items including skin care, watches and some funky home furnishings. The thing I like best is you don't see their items in all the other stores and I know my BF and brother (and maybe my dad) will use them. This year I won't have to get them more socks and ties!

I was writing down some of your suggestions and realized Manifold took over the location of your old obsession, Fuss. Here's their site: www.manifoldstore.com

CB2, of course. Also the Hanger 18 in Lincoln Square has a nice selection of modern gifts.

cb2 is good for out of towners since there are only stores in chicago. i also second hazel!

I saw those boxes at a shop on North, just west of Damen/Milwaukee. I don't know the name but it was pretty fantastic.

I mean east. I want those boxes.

Definitely Penelope's and Sprout! The store at the MCA has some great stuff.

jennie:
the boxes are from lille...i just added the info to the post

AND

thanks to everyone for the great nominees - keep them coming!

Love the lacquer boxes, for San Francisco Bay Area readers, the importer for them is here in SF - called Pacific Connections - and has warehouse sales a few times a year. The small box usually sells for $10 or 12 at the sale, they'll polish it for you, and put it in a drawstring cloth bag for gift giving.

The details are in this bargain hunting article:
http://www.sfgate.com/homeandgarden/index2.shtml

Chicago's one of my favorite shopping towns, wish I were there more, great shopping resources for my next trip!

That Manifold store looks awesome!

My bf's roomate is moving out in Jan. and he needs to buy nice couches. We decided (as im sure at some point in a year or so ill move in) to forgo expensive presents for each other and use the money to get the couches.

We decided we still want to do something small for each other and settled on a $50 limit. This Manifold store looks perfect for finding something in this range! Thanks!

JAYSON HOME & GARDEN!!! the store is amazing and they just launched a new website that you can buy from! so many good gift ideas...

jaysonhomeandgarden.com

p.s. i heard oprah orders her flowers from jayson!!

How about:

Barbara's Bookstore on Halsted

Gamer's Paradise in the Century Mall

and a final two words. . .

Dollar Store!

I LOVE Addendum, on Broadway in Lakeview East. Really great stuff, SUPER nice guys, and reasonable prices. Furniture, greeting cards, lamps, even imported antiques from Nepal! They have everything and I love it!

I second Rotofugi and Hazel. I would second STITCH, but they're always kind of bitchy to me.

I will also add:

Hanger 18 in Lincoln Square

Hanger 18 and Enjoy in Lincoln Square
Art Effects on Armitage
Chicago Architecture Foundation shop

The Sweden Shop at 3304 W. Foster...

this blogger sums it up quit well:

http://www.houseinprogress.net/archives/001310.html

Tons of cool gifts for any price range and person, this shop is much cooler than it used to be, love what they are doing! Great Scandinavian design, tons of great kiddo gifts, too.

Sprout Home, Rotofugi and Penelope are all great nominations.

without a doubt, RR#1 Chicago...
don't waste your time shopping anywhere else!

We bought, quite literally, ALL of our christmas gifts last year at RR#1. Great shop!