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13
onsumers ind unique gifts on Square
Porsha Thomas
Contributing writer
Holiday shopping on a budget
has been the plight of college stu-
dents for ages. Now with students
experiencing the ramifications of a
crumbling American economy, the
less-is-more concept is more popu-
lar gift-buying-method this season.
Lucky for NT students, eclectic,
budget friendly shops on the Square
offer ample choices for choosy peo-
ple with prices under $20.
Shopping for women is simple at
Aiyana's Art, Fashion & Trends,
209 W. Hickory St., Suite 101.
The colorful boutique is filled with
enough items to find at least one
that tickles your fancy.
A large chunk of what the owner,
Chara Prasad, inventories is hand-
made and imported from India.
In her shop you can find jewelry,
ornate hand bags, pashmina shawls,
decorative throw pillows, cloth-
ing, and a collage of miscellaneous
gifts, most handmade and many
under $20.
Prasad is sympathetic to the fact
that most of her clientele are stu-
dents of the broke persuasion .
"A lot of the students who come
in want jewelry for one or two dol-
lars," Prasad said explaining her
philosophy on pricing. "I can't do
that, but I do like to give quality for
good prices. In an economy where
everything is doubling, I don't want
to tax too much, you know? There
should be a balance between the
two."
Prasad is good at balancing cool
items for low prices. Walk into her
store and you'll find a number of
clearance signs designating things
30 to 50 percent cheaper.
Students shopping for those who
like getting wine for Christmas can
make their way over to Wine2, 110
W. Oak St., A.
At this quiet wine boutique with
pale-yellow walls, one can pick up
a rather unique "boite du vin" as the
shop's stock is forever changing.
"We have quite a few bottles under
$20, and we have a few that get
requested by a lot of our clients,"
said Douglas Smith, an employee
of Wine2, "We keep some, but we
have change about every week and
a half."
Its Denton location allows the
shop to sell wine without humon-
gous retail mark ups.
"It's boutique wine," said co-own-
er Nathan Mathis, "We can sell it
for cheaper that what you would get
at Mercy in Addison. Look at this,"
Mathis said, pointing to a price for
Dom Perignon on a Mercy menu,
"$300, and our price is $130!"
Whether the person being shopped
for has a love/respect for one of-a-
kind gifts will determine if stores
like Time Bandits, a vintage shop
at 108 W. Oak St., Suite 102, and
the Downtown Mini Mall, at 108 N
Locust St., are good stops to make.
While items in these stores
may appear as simply junk to the
untrained eye, for the right person,
these places are like wonderlands
for cheap, eclectic gifts.
Time Bandits takes a step back
into the past with its eccentric retail.
The store carries vintage clothing
and accessories, records and LPs.
"We're one of two places in
Denton that sells old records," said
Lisa McCullough, who owns the
shop with David Townsend.
The clothes found inside are not
your typical Good Will cast-aways.
Time Bandits showcases a plethora
of designer clothing and accesso-
ries, and for the store to be so small,
there is a lot to choose from.
"We get mostly everything from
California," said Smith, an Orange
County native. "We take trips often
and bring the clothes back our-
North Texas Daily
selves."
The Downtown Mini Mall is
a jumble of antiques, handmade
items and well, stuff, sold inside a
large two story building by local
vendors. Each "shop" is marked off
into sections you can walk in and
browse around.
Comic books, antique medicine
bottles (with pills in them), guns,
dolls, clothing, vintage posters, and
old post cards are just a fraction of
the items available in the mall.
Most vendors aren't present at the
time of purchase, so shoppers are
on their own as far as help from
sales associates.
The store is pretty crowded with
stuff as well, at least 45 minutes to
an hour is required to sift through
things store.
And for the student who is just flat
out broke, there is hope!
Discover your inner Martha
Stewart with do-it-yourself crafts
that are cheap and usually com-
pleted within a few hours.
Diynetwork.com is a Web site
dedicated to keeping people busy
dolling out craft ideas by the mass-
es.
Clicking the "Crafts" link and
scrolling down to the "Holiday"
section opens a Web page full of
ideas for creating great gifts.
The categories are endless and
include instructions on making
totes, scarves, dog clothes, baby
items, and even toaster pastry I pod
cozies.
After all, it is supposed to be about
the thought that counts, and tilings
from the heart make the best gifts
anyway.
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JASON BIGGS
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Holidaily 2008, newspaper, 2008; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth145817/m1/13/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.