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DO EVERYTHING BETTER IN 2008
By Paul Lundgren
There’s the woman aimlessly wandering Home Depot a few days before Christmas, after discovering that the trendy tool she was going to get for her dad is sold out. Or the guy scouring Kwik Trip on Christmas Eve for something, anything, suitable for his sweetheart.
Picking the perfect last-minute present doesn’t have to go down that way, though. Lori Heim, owner of Rochester Errand Angels, often helps people who are struggling for gift ideas, and her company takes care of every step of the process—purchasing, wrapping, and delivering—for those who don’t have the time to do the job right themselves. Heim offers last-minute advice to last-minute shoppers:
1 Listen Up, Hubbies!: When it comes to desperation shopping, one demographic stands out: husbands buying for their wives.
Heim thinks there’s a simple enough reason for that. “A lot of men don’t like to shop,” she says. “They tend to put it off and then get frantic. They don’t generally like to stray far from Menards or Mills Fleet Farm.”
“For a husband-and-wife situation, you should always try to go with something a little more romantic than practical,” Heim says. “Husbands can never go wrong with lotions, perfumes, jewelry, and lingerie.”
Perhaps the best resource at a man’s disposal is to call his wife’s friends for gift suggestions. They usually have great ideas and are excited to be involved. On top of that, the wife’s friends tend to hold such a man in high regard, rather than make him feel beholden for the favor.
2 Please Your Parents And In-Laws: Heim says another segment of the difficult-to-shop-for market is parents and in-laws. “Older, retired people who have been in their homes for years and have their home decor the way they like it can be hard to buy for,” she says. “There’s a feeling that they have
everything.”
Dinner theater tickets, gift baskets, and restaurant gift certificates are all good options. “People love to go out to eat,” Heim says. “That’s always an old standby, if you can’t think of anything else.”
For something more personal, there are unlimited options on the Internet for creating custom calendars, photo books, family crests, and the like. The important thing is to not become overwhelmed by personalizing too many gifts. Balance your list with some simple items that are sure to be appreciated.
3 The Gift That Is Not A Sell-Out: Heim is a
big fan of a common gift that is easy to buy and generally
appreciated by a broad array of recipients—a gift card or gift
certificate. “If you really want to be certain a person gets what they want, gift certificates are great,” Heim says. “It may seem like the buyer is taking the easy way out, but people love getting them. Whenever I get one I don’t think about it being impersonal. I think gift certificates are great.”