Unglued: gifts for the cute and craft-savvy

Specialties: locally handmade decorations, accessories

Photo courtesy of Sarah Kocher

Unglued’s holiday theme, “love local,” is more than a December fling for owner Ashley Morken. For Unglued, a modern gift shop featuring handmade items of which 90 percent are from South Dakota, North Dakota and Minnesota, loving local is what the store is all about.

Unglued operates as an anchor store for locally and sustainably made gifts created by local and regional artists. Ashley, a former nurse, started the store as an extension of her own craft circle.

“I am not a retailer by background,” Ashley said. “It just started to make sense.” Now, Ashley says Unglued’s mission is to inspire customers into creativity of their own.

For Unglued, then, it goes further than simply selling modern, fetching and inspiring handmade items. They also host approximately two workshops a week as opportunities to kick-start the right brain.

“Life can be a lot richer when you’re making things with your hands for yourself and others,” Ashley said.

Simply Perfect: gifts for your home

Specialties: décor, tableware, gifts

Photo courtesy of Sarah Kocher

Owner Penny Klinedinst is very specific in her holiday goals: shopping at Simply Perfect will not be a chore. Rather, it will be an experience, and one step inside Simply Perfect is like stepping into a series of perfectly arranged, themed snow globes.

Essentially, Penny is in the business of “all things pretty”; she started Simply Perfect 10 years ago as a brick-and-mortar extension of her then 4-year-old interior design business. Simply Perfect’s holiday offerings, then, along with gifts and décor, includes home visits in which Penny and her team of six decorate clients’ homes from the first week in November until the week after Thanksgiving.

“With a lot of people, preparing for the holidays can be a chore” because there’s not enough time, Penny said. Simply Perfect takes charge of anything from mantles and pots to rooms and whole houses—whatever the client wants.

Again, Penny is very clear: the holidays should not be a chore.

“Gift-giving should be more than, ‘Here, here’s something I could find quickly,’” Penny said. “It should be something a little more special, and we try to do that.”

Queen City Bakery: gifts to experience

Specialties: holiday goodies, coffee, cozy catch-up nooks

Photo courtesy of Sarah Kocher

What we seem to want most around the holidays is more time, and at Queen City Bakery there always seems to be just enough: enough for a coffee, enough for a friend, enough for a little relaxation.

After successful careers in New York, Mitch and Kristine Jackson moved back to Sioux Falls to settle down and start Queen City.

“Sioux Falls had a great business climate and a void in a great bakery,” Mitch said. “We had the ability to fill that void and off we went.”

There’s another void that Queen City will fill, too: your stomach. Alongside the traditional baked goods and coffees, the holiday season finds Queen City’s offerings expanded notably by two: hot butter lattes and Buche de Noel, a labor-intensive Yule log-inspired dessert. Winter at Queen City also features performances by South Dakota Symphony Orchestra’s string quartet. And these performances bring in even more of what Queen City already has in spades: community.

“There is a wonderful community at the bakery,” Mitch said. “The vibe is totally relaxed with a genuine mix of wonderful people.”

Oh, and don’t forget the best baked goods in Sioux Falls. Queen City, Queen of your heart—it’s practically the same thing.

Great Outdoor Store: gifts for the adventure-inclined

Specialties: fashion and function outerwear

Photo courtesy of Sarah Kocher

An old train depot is the perfect location for the Great Outdoor Store; after all, its merchandise is for people who are obviously going places.

James and DeAnn Echols took over the Great Outdoor Store 16 years ago and settled it into the Train Depot. From then on, it has acquired a reputation of consistency: consistently quality product, consistent customers, consistent aesthetic.

“It was always a version of what it is today,” DeAnn said.

With their stock of winter fashion and gear for outdoor activities and travel, the Great Outdoor Store has the draw factor for everyone who has stepped foot outside on an average winter day in Sioux Falls.

“Although our products are built for activity and sport, they’re also compatible for just hanging around,” DeAnn said. “If you’re not on the ski slopes, you can still look good and feel good.”

Zandbroz Variety: gifts for the curious minds

Specialties: books, games, miscellany

Photo courtesy of Sarah Kocher

Today, it could mean a stuffed badger or a wood-block robot. Tomorrow, it could mean the bust of a polar bear, carved out of wood and a pair of socks that says “I’m running late… again.” But whatever “Variety” means, Zandbroz has it.

Owner Jeff Danz started Zandbroz in 1989 with his brother as a combination bookstore, coffee bar and variety store. By variety, Jeff simply means products you don’t see anywhere else. It’s socks. It’s polar bear busts. It’s antique chartreuse military helmets from the 1800s.

“Our passion for the store is constantly rekindled by sharing things that inspire and delight us,” Jeff said.

A large portion of this inspiration and delight comes from the window displays, which change frequently and currently feature the elves at Santa’s new workshop on the moon.

“The holidays are always fun at Zandbroz,” Jeff said. “Our selection is at its best, and we try to top the previous year’s holiday windows.”

It could be anti-gravity toy-making tools. It could be poetry volumes. In December you’ll find what you usually find at Zandbroz, from the intellectual to the juvenile to the zany, but just more of it.

“For the past two months we have been keeping the UPS and FedEx guys busy bringing us new merchandise,” Jeff said. “We love to help people find something special for the ones they love.”