Vaughan’s Holiday Gift Guide / 2004
The most sacred day on the retail calendar
It’s time to make the Christmas list and start shopping
BY MARK CIRILLO
If you’re a Vaughan resident
who’s spent the last year or
so in outer space, you may
have missed the news about a
commercial development that’s
just opened for business at
Highway 400 and Rutherford
Rd. It’s a large facility — over
1.2 million square feet, housing
over 200 businesses — and
construction took
nearly a year and a
half to complete.
With its mini theme
parks, NASCAR
Speed Track and
rock climbing facitilities
(amongst
others), Vaughan
Mills Mall is billed
as more than a mall
— it’s a city unto
itself, an entertainment
complex that
promises fun for
the whole family.
So it’s a new kind of mall,
but the timing of its opening
in early November
betrays an old fashioned
bias: Vaughan Mills Mall
is open for business just in
time for Christmas.
No doubt the mall will
experience the traditional
consumer frenzy that takes
place at its older counterparts.
Wherever you go in the weeks
leading up to Christmas, the
line-ups get longer as the day
draws nearer. The only way to
beat the crowds and ensure you
get everything you intend to
buy is to shop early. For readers
looking for a variety of gift
items (and a variety of price
options), here are a few options
available in stores for
Christmas 2005.
No segment of society looks
forward to Christmas more
than children, though retailers
of children’s gifts run a close
second. The problem parents
and family face is not a lack of
options but an overwhelming
number of them. This is particularly
so for the unitiated. It’s
best when choosing a gift to
rely on your own experience —
what you liked as a child, and
why. In some cases there are
products that still exist in one
form or another from when we
were children — Fisher Price,
Lego and Play-Doh, for example,
have been around for
decades, and their longevity
indicates the value of their
products. They are often good
value in another sense as well:
Play-Doh Fuzzy Friends Farm
normally goes for less than $15
retail.
Another classic children’s
character back on the scene is
the indelible Mr. Potato Head.
Hasbro’s Mr.
Potato Head’s
Silly Suitcase
comes with 28
removable
pieces that
a l l o w
youngsters
to change
Mr. Potato
Head’s eyes, ears, nose, mouth,
teeth and mustache in order to
transform him into many different
characters. He also
comes with an assortment of
job-related hats — fireman,
construction worker and more.
Another selling feature is the
price: under $20.
A more recent classic for
the very young is the Disney
DVD VHS series, Baby
Einstein, which has been a
bestseller in recent years. Baby
Neptune Discovering Water is
amongst the more popular
titles. Set to soothing classical
music, it teaches children about
the world of water around them
— lakes, rivers and seas. The
package includes a CD-ROM
and sells for $25-35.
As for feature films, Shrek 2
is out on DVD this Christmas,
available in both widescreen
and full screen formats. It’s
bound to top wish lists for kids
of all ages — not to mention
their parents, aunts and uncles.
A special treat for parents who
want to bond with their children
by sharing some of their
own childhood is the latest
Looney Tunes complilation
(Vol. 2), a special 4-disc set
available in stores right now.
Other titles of note this year
included Disney’s release of
Aladdin on DVD and the latest
installment of the Harry Potter
series, (Prisoner of Azkaban),
and of course, Spiderman 2.
While she’s sometime the
subject of controversary — or
in part because of it — Barbie
remains one of the most loved
toys for pre-adolescent girls.
One of Mattel’s top sellers
these days is the Barbie Primp
and Polish Styling Head,
which lets girls practice full
spa-style makeovers on their
favourite glamour
girl. The set
includes jewellery,
lip, nail and hair
care products, and
costs around $50.
The imitation cosmetic
products are
safe and easily
removable, so kids
can makeover their
favourite diva as
often as they like.
If you’re shopping
for adolescents,
or adults who still enjoy
adolescent activities in their
spare time, then music and
video are the most likely categories
to pursue. Sony’s everpopular
PlayStation is back
this year with a new, sleek
design. The PlayStation 2
(SCPH-50000) is less than one
half the thickness and about a
quarter the weight of its predecessor,
which makes it much
easier to carry around. The new
model is also equipped with
both modem and Ethernet
ports. As for PlayStation
games, some of this Christmas’
more popular titles include:
Fight Club (Vivendi Universal
Games); Backyard Wrestling
2: There goes the
Neighbourhood (Eidos); and
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
2 (Konami).
The single most important
factor in the record sales that
Macintosh has posted in the
past year is the iPod. The bestselling
portable player sold a
wopping 2 million units last
year and promises to be at the
top of many Christmas gift lists
this time around. Just in time
for Christmas, Mac has teamed
up with Irish rock group U2 to
launch a special edition of the
player. The iPod U2 Special
Edition has a unique look:
black, with red command
wheel, and signed by U2 members
on the back. It stores up to
5,000 songs and currently costs
$499 CAD. U2 is releasing The
Complete U2, which features
the band’s entire catalogue,
plus rare outtakes, in conjuction
with the new player.
Speaking of digital music,
Mac will find itself in competition
with an unexpected source
this Christmas. Sunglasses
manufacturer Oakley has
announced the released of the
world’s first digital music eyewear.
The Oakley Thump is
available in two versions,
125MB ($395 USD) or 250MB
($495 USD) and features a high
speed USB connection that
allows for quick music transfers.
It can store up to four
hours of music at a time.
When it comes to
movies and music, there
are as many toys for
adults as for kids this
Christmas. Step into
an HMV store and
you’re almost certain
to walk out with at
least one present
for yourself.
Canadian icons
Bryan Adams (Room
Service) and Leonard
Cohen (Dear
Heather) both have
new releases out, while
Shania Twain has recently
released a greatest hits collection.
For fans of Christmas
music, fellow Canucks
Barenaked Ladies have a holiday
song collection this year.
On the international front,
Tuscany’s Andrea Boccelli has
a new record out this
November, entitled simply
Andrea, including songs in
both English and Italian.
If you’re buying for a
book lover, you will likely
be stopping at
Indigo/Chapters this season.
A good place to
look in these stores is
the “Globe and Mail
Bestsellers”
s e c t i o n ,
where hardcovers
go for
30 percent off
the listed price.
The savings are even better for
ireward clients — take and
extra 10 percent off the price. If
a loved one doesn’t own it yet,
check out Dan Brown’s excellent
Da Vinci Code, which still
ranks amongst hardcover bestsellers.
In the non-fiction category,
American political satirist
Jon Stewart is sure to please
and enlighten us this Christmas
with his new release, America
the Book: A Guide to
Democracy Inaction. Both
books are on sale at
Indigo/Chapters right now. If
you’re searching for something
a little more out of the ordinary,
we recommend stopping
at one of Book City’s three
Toronto locations, where you’ll
find the most helpful and
informative staff in the city.
Lastly, there’s always the
clothing option. Can your dad
ever have enough ties? If
not, check out Moore’s,
the Bay or Harry Rosen
for solutions. Sweaters
are another safe bet during
a cold Canadian
winter: the Gap
always has a good
selection, but if
you’re counting
your pennies try Old
Navy, where you can
stretch your buck a little
further. Both stores
have willing
“upsellers” working
the floor, anxious to find a
matching pair of jeans or socks
for the sweater.
At the aforementioned
Vaughan Mills Mall you will
have several new clothing
stores to choose from: US
retailer H&M, which boasts
800 stores south of the border,
are opening their first Canadian
store; The Tommy Hilfiger
Outlet will be the largest of its
kind anywhere in the
world; and the Bay is trying
something new
called The Hudson’s
Bay Company
Designer Depot,
which promises top
name clothing at a
fraction of its
original price.
For a worthy
alternative to
cotton and synthetic
clothing,
check out one of the hemp
clothing stores cropping up
around the GTA. One such outlet
is the Toronto Hemp
Company, located at 637 Yonge
St. (Yonge and Isabella).
A word of caution when buying
presents: always keep your
receipt and always ask what the
store’s exchange and return policy
is (including the deadline for
returns). No matter how confident
you are in your choice of
gift, unforseen circumstance (like
duplicate gifts) can always arise.
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