"All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth." - 1944 novelty Christmas song

These days, more than half of adults actually want gift cards, those colorful slivers of plastic that can buy everything from a Grand Slam breakfast at Denny's, to a shotgun at BassPro Shops to an airline ticket at Southwest.

Even local businesses can issue gift cards. Holiday shoppers nationwide this season will buy almost $25 billion in gift cards, averaging about $40 a card. Read more...

The Villages — Consumers might have sensed some excitement in the air Monday as they strolled throughout Lake Sumter Landing Market Square.

Shopkeepers and restaurateurs throughout The Villages’ town center were preparing for Wednesday evening’s Holiday Walk Around Sumter Landing shopping event. Read more...

Vancouver - Customer traffic is up, but not by that much. That’s the word from merchants along the new Canada Line, many of whom anticipated a big hike in business when it opened in August but have yet to see it materialize.

“In the beginning, there was definitely an increase in traffic,” says Caroline Boquist, co-owner of the contemporary gift shop Walrus at 3408 Cambie St. “But since then, the novelty [of the Canada Line] has worn off a bit. Now, it’s pretty much returned to normal.” Read more...

New Orleans, LA — The future is unclear for his character on the hit TV show "Mad Men," but actor Bryan Batt is taking advantage of the down time in his hometown since the recent season finale.

Batt -- who plays closeted gay art director Sal Romano -- is preparing for the holiday shopping season at the home decor and gift shop he runs in New Orleans with his life and business partner, Tom Cianfichi. Read more...

If you walk past the gift shop of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, or Meltdown Comics in Los Angeles, or Cheeseburger Baby in Miami, the chances are that you will see a sticker in the window that has a Google Maps logo and a one-inch-square with a series of pixelated black-and-white cubes called a QR Code.

In the coming weeks, Google plans to send out 100,000 of these stickers, each with their own QR code, to a new demographic of businesses Google is calling “Favorite Places”. These favorites are based on search results from users interacting with local business listings on Google Maps. Read more...

“Take a few quiet moments just for you — sit back, relax & enjoy.” Those words on the fireplace at Linda Beer’s Victorian shop in Longview are words she hopes customers take to heart.

“That’s what I’m after,” Beer said. “I want them to feel like they’re coming into Grandma’s parlor.”

Beer opened the Porcelain Rose Gifts in mid-September, and her latest addition, Rawnsley’s Tea Parlour, opened Oct. 28. Read more...

With Christmas just three weeks away, you may already be scouring the department stores for that perfect gift. But if you’re looking for something extra special or one-of-a-kind, it probably won’t be found at the big box stores. Instead, it might be sitting on the shelf of a local art gallery or gift shop.

The Sun Coast is a paradise full of art districts such as the Village of the Arts and tucked-away boutiques that stock not just paintings and sculptures, but jewelry, toys, creative gifts for guys and items that moms would love. Read more...

The Historical Society of Schuylkill County is hoping to attract not only historians and genealogists to its headquarters, but also holiday shoppers.

The halls at 305 N. Centre St., Pottsville, which celebrate the county's past, now include a gift shop. Items can also be bought on the society's Web site, schuylkillhistory.org, David Derbes, society president, said Friday.

The gift shop is part of an effort to make books written by local authors, greeting cards featuring works by local artists and Schuylkill County-themed T-shirts available and to help the society make some money to keep the lights on, Derbes said. Read more...

Pittsfield -- A Lenox gift shop is the latest business outside of Pittsfield wanting in on the action of the city's downtown revitalization.

The owners of the Lenox Old Country Store have temporarily opened "Emporium" at 431 North St., across from St. Joseph Church. If their second gift and boutique shop proves successful during the holiday shopping season, Bill and Carrie Wright expect it will become a permanent fixture. Read more...

Historic downtown Canal Fulton was already a fun holiday shopping stop, with nostalgic playthings at The Toys Time Forgot, huggable residents at Keillor's A Teddy Bear Shoppe, and the disappearing delicacies of Deliciously Different Fudge.

But this summer, those stores welcomed a new neighbor: Canal Fulton Glassworks. Visitors can see the hand-crafted work of dozens of Ohio artists and even see glass-blowing displays. Read more...