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Shopping Downtown can net you everything you need

December 02, 2009 (1:54 pm) | Permanent Link

By Teya Vitu

Downtown is the antidote to the insane frenzy of Christmas shopping at the malls and big box stores.

Yes, an abundance of holiday shopping can be achieved in the Downtown sectors of Congress Street, Old Town Artisans, the Lost Barrio, Fourth Avenue, Main Gate Square, even the gift shops at the Tucson Museum of Art and La Pilita Museum.

You get the flip-side of Christmas shopping at the mall and big boxes: local merchants, small crowds and personalized service.

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Walking the full six-block Fourth Avenue shopping area, continuing under the Fourth Avenue underpass and then down Congress Street to the Tucson Museum of Art gift shop and Old Town Artisans adds up to fewer steps than plowing through Park Place and Tucson Mall.

Park at the Pennington Street Garage and you’re less than a mall’s walk away from Fourth Avenue or Old Town Artisans.

“They don’t realize how far they walk in a mall,” said John Atkinson, owner of Indian Village at La Placita Village, 110 S. Church Ave. “You’re not walking any farther than at the malls, in many cases less.”

Indian Village offers hand-made Indian jewelry, pottery and artifacts, southwest foods and jellies, and Trail of Painted Ponies - painted or paint your own.

“They are extremely popular for Christmas,” Atkinson said about the Painted Ponies. “We probably have the largest collection in town.”

Chicago Store, 130 E. Congress St., is the Downtown core’s largest shopping emporium, brimming with everything music from rock ’n’ roll, electronica and band instruments new and used to pianos and the city’s largest selection of sheet music.

“This whole Fourth Avenue/Congress is an experience you can’t have anywhere else in town,” said Dave Fregonese, Chicago Store’s chief executive.

That’s what particularly appeals to Local First Arizona, which promotes shopping at locally owned business.

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“What better place to go where you can go to get your shopping done, have dinner and enjoy the local culture,” said Lisette DeMars, Local First’s Tucson membership coordinator and a manager at Mrs. Tiggy Winkle’s toys, which opened a small shop this year at the Tucson Children’s Museum.

Fourth Avenue and Main Gate Square are like two outdoor malls. And on Dec. 11, 12, 13, you get the full-fledged mall mayhem at the Fourth Avenue Street Fair, where 400 artisans provide a holiday shopping cornucopia for an estimated quarter million people.

“It’s just six blocks of unrelenting Christmas shopping,” Kurt Tallis, marketing director at the 4th Avenue Merchants Association.

You can find national stores on Main Gate Square on University Boulevard, but there are plenty of local shops and restaurants, too. Main Gate by far is the most spiffed up commercial area in Downtown.

“Main Gate is a place for men to buy presents for women,” said Jane McCollum, executive director at the Marshall Foundation, which owns Main Gate Square. “Men hate malls. They would rather come here, even if they have to pay for parking. We have valet parking between Urban Outfitters and Gentle Ben’s.”

McCollum added that most of the 31 restaurants sell gift cards, and Vila Thai, Cereal Boxx and Café Lucé have gift baskets.

For an escape, stop by Old Town Artisans, a half dozen crafts shops housed in 1850s adobe structures built around a tree-shaded courtyard. You’ll find contemporary Indian jewelry at LaZia, contemporary wall art for home or office at The Outpost, Central and South American nativity scenes at Tolteca Tlacuilo, and locally made pottery at The Old Town Pot Shop.

Old Town’s Dawn Stewart Contemporary Jewelers has “high-end couture, one of a kind” jewelry with European and Asian influences, all crafted by designer and creator Dawn Stewart.

Secret Santa and stocking stuffer gifts are easily at hand at June’s Corner Store, 10 E. Broadway, Suite 108, which opened in February.

Art galleries and museum gift shops can make dandy holiday shopping venues.

In conjunction with the Ansel Adams exhibit through Feb. 14, the Tucson Museum of Art’s gift shop is offering black-and-white photography with Ansel Adams postcards, cards, notes, magnets, prints and boxed cards. The shop is also stocked with colorful arts and crafts from local artisans.

The gift shop at La Pilita Museum, 420 S. Main Ave., has lots of gifts that reflect Tucson’s culture.

“We have Christmas cards, a lot of La Posada themes,” said Carol Cribbet-Bell the museum’s executive director. “We have children’s books and territorial games like clay marbles, penny whistles, jacks and harmonicas.”

La Pilita closes for the holidays Dec. 18.

Santa Theresa tile works at 440 N. Sixth Ave., each year offers a set of signature ceramic ornaments. The ornaments come boxed, with a gift tag attached for easy giving. This year’s theme is Wild Animals at Night.

Slightly off the path is Lost Barrio on Park Avenue a block south of Broadway.

A fire in February destroyed one Lost Barrio shop, but Onetree hears that people think the Lost Barrio burned down. Not at all. It remains the region’s premiere place for household furnishings tiny and massive, cheap and very expensive from just about every corner of the planet.

“This is a favorite destination for a lot of people because of the variety and the vibe,” Onetree said. “It’s like come here and explore the world.”

PLACES TO SHOP

17th Street Farmers Market 840 E. 17th Street 792-2588.

Bowlby Jewelers 110 S. Church Ave. #4192, 628-2874.

Chicago Store 130 E. Congress St., 622-3341.

Crescent Tobacco Shop & Newsstand 200 E. Congress St., 622-1559.

Desert Bloom 27 N. Stone Ave., 792-9882.

Flanagan’s Celtic Corner 222 E. Congress St., 623-9922.

Hydra Leather & More 145 E. Congress St, 791-3711.

Indian Village Trading Post 110 S. Church Ave. #4199, 623-1162.

June’s Corner Store 10 E. Broadway, Suite 108, 622-8100.

La Tiendita 311 N. Court Ave., 622-1922.

Mahlia Collection 400 N. Toole Ave., 791-2185.

Maynards Market 400 N. Toole Ave. 545-0577.

Metropolis On Congress 268 E. Congress 894-7400.

Old Town Artisans 201 N. Court Ave., 623-6024.

Perri Jewelers 13 N. Stone Ave., 624-4311.

Preen 272 E. Congress St., 628-2991.

Rockin’ Queen 43 S. 6th Ave. 461-1075.

Studio 220/Got All Your Marbles? 220 E. Congress, 628-1433.

Mrs. Tiggy Winkles Toys at Tucson Children’s Museum 200 S. 6th Ave., 792-9985.

The Museum Shop at the Tucson Museum Of Art 140 N. Main, 624-2333.

Wig-O-Rama 98 E. Congress St., 882-8003.

For more Downtown stores visit DowntownTucson.com

Lost Barrio Shops, Park Avenue south of Broadway

Fourth Avenue, Fourth Avenue between University Boulevard and Ninth Street. fourthavenue.com, 624-4004

Main Gate Square, University Boulevard and Park Avenue. maingatesquare.com, 622-8613