Best of Philly

Best Gifts

2020 Best Quarantine Care Package

Resting Gift Face

When coronavirus dried up their busy season, publicist Kylie Flett and event designer Donielle Powell pivoted to a new venture: rad gift boxes filled with ways to pass the time during the stay-at-home order. Their first run-through sold out, as did a second batch dedicated to moms, but the just-released ’90s kit (pictured here) is designed to make a Zoom or socially distant happy hour as fun as, well, the real thing. Read More »

| 216-212-5135 | Website

2019 Best Gifts for Die-Hard Philadelphians

VIX Emporium

Here, you’ll find a boutique filled with quality items by Philadelphians (Vellum Street Soap Company’s matcha mint bars) and for Philadelphians (SEPTA-coin earrings). Read More »

5009 Baltimore Avenue, Philadelphia, PA | 215-471-7700 | Website

2019 Best Customized Gifts

Chick Invitations

Why wait a few weeks for some Etsy vendor in Moscow to make your monogrammed totes when Robyn Platoni can etch, embroider and foil-stamp her adorable goods in just a few days? Read More »

241 Race Street, Philadelphia, PA | 215-592-1407 | Website

2018 Best Not-Boring Hostess Gifts

Ali’s Wagon

Fairmounters heaved a collective sigh of disappointment when home and gift shop (and 2017 BOP winner) Division IV shuttered earlier this year. But we needn’t have despaired: Owner Jessie Menken simply moved all of her gift-able goodies down the block to sister shop Ali’s Wagon, so we can still buy those terrifically thoughtful hostess gifts – candles, tote bags, tea towels, olive oils, salt scrubs, simple syrups, mugs – for anyone kind enough to invite us over for dinner. Read More »

2017 Fairmount Ave, Philadelphia, PA | 215-787-0611 | Website

2018 Best Gift Box Service

Bloom & Blossom

Sure, you could go to 10 different shops to curate the perfect assortment of goodies, package it up yourself, and drive to the post office to mail it. Or you could visit Jersey-based Melissa Brooks’s new online gift service, choose a themed – and super-thoughtful – gift box (baby, pre-travel, housewarming, all packaged in sweet wooden crates), and have it delivered without ever leaving your house. We’ll leave it up to you. Read More »

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2017 Best Hostess Gifts

Division IV

This sweet shop ups the ante on otherwise pedestrian hostess gifts. Do you usually present a jar of fruit preserves? Try the bacon jam! Typically exchange fine spirits? Pair a bottle with a charred grapefruit tonic! Even humdrum candles — like a basil-and-cucumber eco-candle in an upcycled wine bottle — earn an upgrade. (Note: Division IV was absorbed into Ali’s Wagon, from the same owners, in 2018.) Read More »

2017 Fairmount Avenue, Philadelphia, PA | 215-787-0611 | Website

2016 Best Men's Gifts

Gorshin Trading Post & Supplies

This two-year-old shop is a venerable retail anchor for Haddonfield's sleepy main street, with a mix of gear and goods he'll love from brands like Filson, Topo Designs, Dubarry and Shinola. Want something out of the box? Starting this fall, Mitch will lead trips to outdoorsy spots like Steamboat, Colorado. Read More »

125 Kings Highway East, Haddonfield, NJ | 856-427-6800 | Website

2015 Best Special Kid Gift

Twice as Nice Productions

This one-woman company, run by local artist Connie Rea, turns your child's drawing into a huggable stuffed doll. Read More »

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2015 Best Thoughtful Hostess Gifts

The Little House Shop

Go here, buy something for your host (Hamptons-inspired beach blanket? Cobalt blue goblet? Hand-hooked cow portrait pillow?), and earn yourself a permanent spot on everyone's guest list. Read More »

Eagle Village Shops, 503 West Lancaster Avenue, Wayne, PA | 610-688-3222 | Website

2014 Best Baby gifts

Baby Jives

If you want a baby gift that's more personal, local designer Jahje Ives sells her mobiles on her Baby Jives website. Each one is a handmade suspended work of art; the puffs of clouds, birdies, stars and flowers are so precious that you might even be inspired to have another kid. Read More »

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