Gearing Up for Holiday Shopping: Downtown Oneonta

By BRIANNA FERGUSON
SUNY Institute for Local News
ONEONTA

The holiday shopping season is officially underway, with the Black Friday and Small Business Saturday sales events both happening this week. On downtown Oneonta’s Main Street, the business district’s many independently-owned shops are preparing for the annual holiday gift giving rush by stocking up on items both traditional and new.

If you are struggling to find good gift ideas for your kids, family, friends, and neighbors, AllOtsego spoke with a few downtown Oneonta shops to find out what items are popular this year. Here are their recommendations for unique and thoughtful gifts.

Green Toad Bookstore has been a mainstay of Oneonta’s Main Street for nearly two decades. The cozy, welcoming book shop sells a carefully curated selection of books along with handcrafted custom items made by local artists, including plush gnomes, book covers, crotched birds, candles, and jewelry.

Jim Havener, who has owned Green Toad since 2014, recommended that you give your loved ones books, of course. The shop, located at 198 Main Street, has a holiday sale happening now, with 20 percent off new literary fiction and new history non-fiction books. These titles are displayed as soon as you walk through the shop’s front door, flanking the left and right side of the entrance.    

If it’s a hard-to-shop-for reader you are trying to impress, Havener recommended going beyond the typical novels, biographies, and other bestsellers. Book categories that often get overlooked, he explained, include art, photography, sticker books, and coffee table books.

“Since it’s an independent bookstore, there’s no rush, no hurry. Take your time,” Havener advised about the holiday shopping experience, adding, “Get a nice cup of coffee or a cup of tea at The Latte Lounge and come in and spend some time and, you know, just wander, think.”

Shopping for gifts doesn’t need to be stressful, he shared. And while giving gifts is about others, you can and should also make the activity meaningful for you, too. Havener advised that the shopper should enjoy being in the space and let serendipity guide them: “I think that then you all of a sudden see something that sparks that imagination, you know in your mind that will lead you to something that you never have thought of.”

If you are shopping for kids—or the child inside your grown-up—then Good Games is your destination. The store formerly known as Serenity Hobbies, located at 154 Main Street, is the center for all retro gaming, trading cards and board games. Store employee Nick Toborg said his top gift recommendation right now is board games. Especially this time of year, when people are spending long chilly days inside with family, tabletop games are a good way to pass time and have fun together.

There are a wide variety of board games available at Good Games, ranging from classics like Clue and Monopoly to new favorites such as Catan, Splendor, 7 Wonders, and Ticket to Ride. There are also fun party games like Cards Against Humanity. Another great gift recommendation for the tabletop game lover is unique playmats; Good Games carries custom-made playmats created by local artists.

Toborg added that other underrated gifts include nostalgic video games for systems like the original Nintendo NES or the Sega Genesis.

If it is original, one-of-a-kind items you are after, then The Artisans’ Guild is a must-visit store. Located at 148 Main Street, the nonprofit artists’ cooperative sells handmade custom items produced by the 32 full-time local members of the guild. All the craftspeople live within an 80-mile radius of Oneonta.

Judy Baker, who runs the locally handcrafted gift shop, suggested that it is a great place to visit if you are on a budget. The store is full of unique knick-knacks and stocking stuffers, including handmade soaps and Laura’s Chocolates. The Artisans’ Guild has bigger items, too, such as a wide variety of custom handmade pottery and vases, and many pieces of custom jewelry.

Some underrated items in the shop are honey and maple syrup, Baker said. The co-op also has distinctive paintings, purses, hats and wooden toys for children.

This story was created by student reporters through the OnNY Community Media Service, a program of SUNY Oneonta and the SUNY Institute for Local News.