Gifts under a hundred dollars
A good half of what leaves this shop is not for the person buying it. Somebody has a dinner on Friday, a birthday on Sunday and a new neighbor who just moved in, and they would like to solve all three in one stop without spending four hundred dollars.
That is a real category and we treat it like one. Here is what we hand people when they walk in and say the budget out loud.
Under fifty
The ceramic match striker is twenty eight dollars and it is the item that surprises people most. It is a small glazed jar with a striking strip on the rim and sixty long matches inside. Nobody buys one for themselves and everybody is glad to be given one. It sits next to a candle on a counter and it makes a small ritual out of lighting it.
The linen room spray is thirty two dollars. Guest room, car after a beach day, sheets on a Sunday. It is the gift for the person whose house is already finished and who does not need another object on a shelf.
The sea salt and fig candle is thirty eight dollars and it is the single thing we sell the most of in December. People come in and buy four at a time. It is an eight ounce pour with a cotton wick and about forty five hours in it, which is a real candle rather than a decorative one.
The ribbed scoop tank is forty eight dollars and it is the sleeper gift on this list. Everyone wears one, nobody replaces theirs often enough, and it works for a sister or a daughter or a friend whose size you know.
Fifty to a hundred
The gold hoop earrings are fifty eight dollars and they are the safest thing in the shop. An inch and a quarter across, light enough to forget about, and they go with everything the recipient already owns. When someone tells us the person is hard to shop for, these come off the case first.
The striped boat neck tee is also fifty eight dollars. Heavyweight cotton, a wide neck, and it reads a little more considered than a plain tee, which matters when it is a gift.
The pearl drop earrings are sixty eight dollars. A freshwater pearl on a gold plated post, each one a slightly different shape. These are the ones people buy for a mother, for a grandmother, and for bridesmaids in the spring.
The layered chain necklace is seventy eight dollars. Two strands on one clasp, at sixteen and eighteen inches, so nothing tangles behind the neck. It looks like more than it costs, which is not always true of jewelry at this price.
At the top of the range, the knit tank dress and the denim utility skirt are both ninety eight dollars. These are gifts for someone whose size you are sure of. If you are not sure, come to the earrings.
When you are not sure at all
There is no shame in a gift card. Ours start at twenty five dollars and go to two hundred, they never expire, and they work online and in both shops. We would rather she pick and love it than guess and return it.
We will also say the quiet part. If you are buying for someone who has strong opinions about clothes, buy the candle or the card and let her choose the dress herself.
A few notes from the counter
Wrapping is free and we will do it while you wait. If you tell us it is a gift, we leave the price off.
Buy the host gift early. Every December, the last week before Christmas is when the candles run out, and the person who came in on the eighth got the scent she wanted.
If you are shipping something to a niece in another state, tell us and we will pack it so it survives the trip. Shipping is calculated at checkout, and we will get it out as fast as we can.
And if you are standing in the shop staring at a shelf, ask. Tell us who it is for, what the occasion is and what you want to spend, and we will narrow it down to three things in about a minute. That is most of what we do all day and we are quite good at it now.