A Hawker’s Holiday: Peddler’s Mall
Fads. That’s what the holiday shopping season is really all about. Filling our credit cards with purchases and our hearts with the spirit of consumerism as we track down those annual, not-so-elusive popular items everybody just has to have to save face with friends and neighbors. Now, we’re not saying there’s any shame in being trendy. If you want to be a scooter clone, rolling around with your Palm Pilot m500, pimped-out Nokia, and travel-size paraffin hand-dip kit in your sturdy hemp-fiber backpack, more power to ya. If, however, you wish to maintain a shred of individuality, you have to dig deep for your gift purchases. And where better to dig than flea markets?
We can feel you shudder. But consider a few things before sacrificing us unto the Gap gods. Flea market gifts, while usually cheap, don’t have to be cheesy or cheap looking. A bunch of people working for themselves almost always offer better service than temporary holiday help working for minimum wage. And, depending on the market, you’re more likely to avoid the shopping mob found at, say, the mall or Wal-Mart. It’s for these reasons (especially the latter) and more that we checked out the small but adequate Peddler’s Mall. We think the stats speak for themselves.
Affordability: Um, hel-lo, McFly! It’s a flea market. That means two things: bold bartering and untamed competition. Every peddler in the place is working for him or herself, which means most are pimping out their products for all they’re worth. But don’t let the vendors have all the fun; get in there and smooth-talk your way into some seriously low-priced swag.
Annoying Kid Factor: Virtually nil. To be sure, there are kids at Peddler’s Mall, but the majority at kiosks we visited were calm and quiet, and sticking close to Mom and Pop. Whether it’s a factor of well-behaved kids or child-snatching paranoia on the part of the parents, this is a good thing.
Decorations: As of Nov. 15, not a string of garland or a twinkly light in sight. Not surprising; Peddler’s Mall is a multi-culti market, which translates to less Santa-shilling ornamentation. Hence, no brightly colored baubles to distract you from your mission. (We wouldn’t be surprised if a tree popped up before season’s end, though.)
Food: Here we must defer to the malls, which, for all their pandering to the money set, do offer great grub. It’s mostly uninspired fare here — hotdogs, pizza, popcorn and the like. Still, Peddler’s Cove Restaurant has decent enough lunch foods; the No Jive Java Company serves a smooth cuppa; and Fred & Jessie’s Pickles is a munch-a-liscious delight.
Gift Selection: Depends on what you’re looking for. CDs, cell phones, movies and jewelry? Peddler’s has got ya covered. Some eclectic gems include Liron’s Collectibles, Tom’s Crystal Cave and The Ancient Key. But an untapped imagination is your best friend here. Buy a basket and fill it with exotic fruits and veggies from Lucas Produce or, better yet, pick up cheap, bizarre bits of whatnot and create some one-of-a-kind holiday art for your honey.
Holiday Rage Potential: Let’s see: well-mannered kids, no long lines, less-than outrageous prices and nary a knock-down drag-out over “hot” holiday items … sounds like smooth sailing to us.
Music: Aside from the occasional bass boom of hip-hop from some African-American stalls, and the odd radio tuned into the odd station, there’s not a lot of tune-age. And we didn’t hear a single holiday note. Good thing, too — a few too many “Jingle Bells” can seriously escalate the Holiday Rage Potential.
Parking: Think of your average Publix parking lot, then double it. In other words, enough spaces to fill the mall, too few to turn it into a cattle drive with stores.
Security Quotient: One cop. Posted at the door. That we could see, anyway.
Service: Most vendors are non-pushy and extremely friendly, if not downright chatty. If getting to know your neighborhood flea market maven isn’t your thing, best just drive on by.
Strollability: Wiiiiiiiiide aisles mean maximum maneuverability. Unlike malls and other flea markets, Peddler’s isn’t riddled with inconsiderate knuckleheads causing corridor jams by stopping dead in their tracks in front of you every few feet.
Time Consumption: Plan on taking 45-60 minutes to cruise the entire market for a quick look-see. Ample aisle space (see Strollability) makes finding what you want quick and easy. Extracting yourself from talkative sellers (see Service) is another matter. But since you saved yourself hours of holiday hunting at the malls (including at least two or three just looking for a parking spot) you’ve got plenty of time to shoot the breeze. And we suggest you do.
Peddler’s Mall is at 11309 N. Nebraska Ave., Tampa. Hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday-Sunday. Call 813-977-1306.
—Kelli K
Delusions of Grandeur: International Plaza
For all its upscale-wannabe mass consumption, International Plaza is the place to shop in the Tampa Bay area this year. The wide, naturally lit, marble-floored corridors are a pleasure to stroll through. Moreover, the smartly decorated living-room-like areas offer a comfy respite between stores. Sure you still have to deal with bumping into agape shoppers who lose their sense of direction. And there are mall rats here too. In fact, during our visit, the clientele at this mall was no different from most of the other malls we’d been to. It seemed as if Jesse Jackson conducted a casting call for extras — the racial, cultural mix was that even.
Sure, the International Plaza does fancy itself something superior to other gauche retail outlets, with its fancy-schmancy Lord & Taylor, Tiffany’s, etc. But the upscale boutiques are usually on the empty side while people pour into the typical mall stores, like The Gap.
Just about anyone can shop here. You don’t have to be an overpaid yuppie — really. The following overview explains why.
Affordability: Just like any mall, you can find bargains here. Just use some common sense. For instance, don’t go into Tiffany’s expecting to purchase a cubic-zirconium pinky ring, or to Louis Vuitton looking for a $20 vinyl handbag. We found a great deal at Express, where tops that cost $19.95 or $24.95 were marked down to $12.50 — friggin’ Target prices! Nordstrom had shoes on clearance for around $70. Sure, you’ll find pumps for much cheaper than that at Payless, but the shoes on sale were designer brands that go for twice as much. Expect to pay more at the trendy stores. For instance, Diesel will try to sell you for $75 bucks what essentially goes for $15 at Old Navy, but label whorelings with Mommy’s credit card won’t care about that. If you’re really strapped, you could buy an “I Love Farting” magnet at Spencer’s for only 4 bucks.
Annoying Kid Factor: Stay out of Sanrio, Spencer’s, the accessory and toy stores, and you should be fine. The ergonomics and acoustics of this shopping Mecca allow for ample buffer zones from crying tots and snotty Britney wannabes. A beach-like playing area is provided for little ones. So do us childless shoppers a favor — blackmail your kids. Tell them if they whine or cry for a toy, you won’t take them to the cool playground.
Decorations: Further showing us that this is an upscale mall, (dammit!) the folks at International Plaza tastefully adorn the ceilings and various atria with white lights, tastefully elegant gold and earth-tone garlands and sashes. During our last visit, annoying Christmas Muzak was not invading our eardrums, Thank Baby Jesus.
Food: International Plaza offers mostly corporate fare in its food court, and restaurants TGIFridays and California Pizza Kitchen. But even the chain-operated eateries offer more in the way of nutrition than McDonald’s, noticeably absent here. The privately owned Profusion got kudos from our food critic, Sara Kennedy. Yeah, there are no 99-cent value meals. But here’s a thought: Eat a sandwich before you go to the mall (gasp!).
Gift Selection: Maybe you won’t find country duck potholders or aluminum picture frames for 3 bucks, but you can purchase any style of clothing and shoes at the dozens of fashion stores, including Abercrombie & Fitch, Betsey Johnson, Sisley and United Colors of Benetton. You can also choose from beauty products at Aveda, Origins and Bath & Body Works, watches at Fossil and Swatch, gourmet chocolates at Godiva or Neuhaus chocolatiers. The nifty-gifty art and novelty local chain store Nicholson House has a shop here too.
Holiday Rage Potential: Though this mall is big, with plenty of stores, it will fill up during the height of our holiday season. So stay away, I repeat, stay away from the Gap employee with the aerobic instructor headset who’s this close to losing it. Our suggestion: Shop during your lunch break, dinner hours and near closing time. Those times are always less crowded.
Music: Differs from store to store. No Muzak in corridors during our visit, but that may change by the time this goes to print.
Parking: Parking garage and ample parking spaces near anchor stores. The smartly designed, easy to read signage is helpful in getting you back on the road after acquiring that hazy feeling of shopping head. Valet parking is located at the entrance to the Bay Street Area and at Neiman Marcus.
Security Quotient: Mall spokeswoman Elizabeth Fried said that security has been heightened since the Sept. 11 attacks.
Service: This mall is going through its honeymoon phase, so you’re dealing with new employees in a new setting. In other words, everything’s rosy here for the time being. Each clerk we encountered was friendly and helpful except for one surly woman at Spencer’s.
Strollability: Wide corridors, escalators and elevators make this mall one that’s very easy to get around in. Plenty of wheelchair access too.
Time Consumption: Plan on taking at least two hours if you’ve got a list. Take at least four hours if you need to browse. This mall has so many stores that don’t exist in any of the other malls in the Bay area that just the sheer novelty of all will eat up most of your time.
International Plaza is at West Shore and Boy Scout boulevards. From I-275, take the Lois Street exit and go north toward Tampa International Airport. Call 813-342-8790.
—Julie Garisto
Mayberry, F-L-A: Dade City
Dade City and outlying towns — San Antonio, St. Leo and Blanton — are rich with pine groves, orange groves, grass fields and natural areas where wheat and the remains of other crops can be found growing wild. And if you’re adventurous enough to fill up your gas tank and explore the area, you’ll find plenty of landscape worth pulling over to take a photograph. The directions to Dade City are extremely simple, however, and it’s only a half-hour north of Tampa. Take Interstate 75 north to Exit 59, take State Road 52 east into Dade City (approximately 11 miles) and take a right onto Meridian Avenue into downtown. There you’ll find yourself amid the slow traffic of Pasco’s county seat, on a Main Street that has remained consistent with Florida’s past, in part under a program directed by the state’s Bureau of Historic Preservation.
Main Street is lined for several blocks by almost two-dozen antique stores, gift shops and the like. The downtown’s other small businesses include the Downtown Barber Shop, a Western Auto and Dade City Hardware, the latter of which happens to carry an excellent selection of hand knives. Depending on what types of holiday gifts you’re looking to buy, your best bet is to simply poke around each shop and get a feel for what they have to offer. There’s more variety to Dade City’s stores than an out-of-towner might expect. Some places have more furniture than anything else. Others specialize in old clocks and watches. Asking questions never hurts either. And if you see an old Victrola with a vinyl 78-rpm record sitting on its felt turntable, don’t be shy about asking to hear it play. Antique shopping is as much about appreciating whatever interesting and rare items you come across as it is about finding a bargain.
One place you’ll be sure to want to stop, though, is Williams, a fashion store that carries upscale ladies designs. Williams, established in 1908, shares space with Lunch on Limoges, an award-winning restaurant that serves delectable American fusion. Williams and Lunch on Limoges are at 14139 Main St. (352-567-5685).
Dade City’s finest restaurant, however, is Kafe Kokopelli, located at 37940 Live Oak Ave. (352-523-0055). The decor here could be characterized as hardcore quaint. The tabletops are tiled doors and the main room’s ceiling beams and walls are populated by stuffed wildlife. The food blends Southern style with Mediterranean flavors, resulting in some unbelievably great dishes: fried gator, planked salmon, pork chops and angel hair pasta, to name a few.
To simply breeze in and out of Dade City without checking out some of what the outlying towns have to offer would be a mistake. One of the best stops in the area is San Antonio Pottery, 11903 Curley Road (352-588-4228). The pottery, run by Jack Boyle, carries hand-thrown clay creations, glazed in rich earth tones and sunset shades. All of Jack’s works — from bowls to cooking pots — are as beautiful as they are functional. (Directions: Curley Road intersects SR-52 at the first traffic light on the way into Dade City; take a right onto Curley Road; the pottery is no more than 100 yards ahead on the right side of the road.)
The next great place to stop on your way into Dade City is the Lake Jovita Fruit & Produce Market, located just inside the St. Leo town limit on the left side of State Road 52. The market is an open, gable-roof stand built in front of the very citrus grove whose grapefruit it sells. Navel oranges from a local, family-owned grove are also for sale for $8 a bushel. And the market offers samples of fresh-squeezed orange and grapefruit juice that’s so good it’ll make you question what it is you’ve been buying at the grocery store all these years.
Affordability: None of these stores or restaurants battle the kind of overhead that the malls do, so you can count on prices that are fair to say the least.
Annoying Kid Factor: The youngest person you’ll encounter in any of these shops is liable to be old enough to vote.
Decorations: There are only so many ways to decorate for the holidays, but the small-town charm of mistletoe and handmade wreaths beats high-volt overkill any day.
Food: There’re great local places for a snack up and down Main Street, plus the two exceptional aforementioned restaurants.
Gift Selection: If you can’t find it, you probably don’t need it, and/or it was made after 1964.
Holiday Rage Potential: Leave any stress at home. This place is too laid-back to care if you’re anxious.
Music: The majority of these stores either play CDs on small stereos or nothing at all, so bring a headset if you’re uncomfortable shopping without Muzak.
Parking: On-street parking can be tough to find, but there are plenty of spots in lots adjacent to Main Street.
Service: It may not be with a smile so much as with a nod and a kind hello, but it’s sincere.
Security Quotient: Don’t leave any blueberry pies to cool on your windowsill. Other than that, there’s nothing to worry about.
Strollability: No one here walks faster than one might to get the mail, so strolling just happens naturally.
Time consumed: There are no lines or traffic jams, so how long you spend in town is up to you.
—Cooper Cruz
Shopping Central: Downtown St. Pete
While the citizens of Tampa are still either crying or cackling with glee over the $27-million allocated to build a cultural arts district in downtown Tampa, the city of St. Petersburg’s art district is open for your holiday shopping pleasure. On the stretch of Central Avenue roughly between Fourth and Eighth streets, the cultured shopper can find gifts that say, “I have class and I bought some for you.” With almost as many antique stores, second-hand shops, and eclectic boutiques as chi-chi galleries, the less moneyed among us can also find gifts that are too cool to be trendy and too cheap to cause a post-holiday credit card hangover.
Affordability: Central Avenue has a work of art for every wallet size. While a work of art by a major artist showing in Gallery Enormous can clean out your Christmas Club account, works from local artists can be had for less than the cost of a velvet Elvis. And unlike that paint-by-numbers rendition of a sneering fat man, local art can be worth the big bucks when the artist formerly known as starving becomes the artist whose work you can’t possibly afford. Ditch the galleries and the wares get even cheaper. Stores like new and used CD heaven Daddy Kool and the eclectic and funky Star Booty offer unique gifts that even a writer can afford.
Annoying Kid Factor: Many think that the holiday season is for the kiddies but, fortunately for shoppers, the folks on Central Avenue beg to differ. During a nearly seven-hour shopping extravaganza, not one tot in full-on, face-reddening, ear-drum-bursting tantrum mode was encountered. No wee ones lurked between clothing racks, playing hide-and-seek with parents who clearly weren’t looking for them. In fact, we didn’t see any kids at all. Joy to the World.
Decorations: It could have been the early November shopping date, but Central Avenue offered little in the way of decorations. Minshall The Florist Inc. had a holiday display, but then you’d expect that from a flower shop hoping to move those poinsettias off the shelves before their Dec. 26 expiration date.
Food: The mall food court? Central Avenue laughs at the mall food court with its greasy meat on a stick and lack of wait staff. Central is home to favorites like The Garden, Ovo Cafe, Bangkok #9, Tamarind Tree Cafe and other eateries that know food isn’t something that you stand in line for then inhale on your way to Saks. And don’t forget the holidays aren’t just about eating; they’re about drinking too. Central Avenue has plenty of bars for your holiday drinking pleasure, including The Rare Olive, where you can knock back pricey martinis and contemplate whether it’s truly better to give than to receive. We don’t think so either.
Gift Selection: Stellar. Want hand- painted holiday cards that won’t get thrown away as soon as the recipients see there’s no money in them? You can find them at Fitting Image on Central Avenue. Want hand-made soaps that smell like grandma’s kitchen and have little gingerbread men trapped inside? At Milagros on Central they have that plus about a zillion other hand-made soaps that smell good and are gorgeous to boot. On Central there are paintings, sculptures, music, antiques, clothing, original jewelry, and a place called the Little Fruit Basket that will ship fresh oranges, grapefruits, guava jelly and pecans to your relatives up North who have never seen the sun.
Holiday Rage Potential: None unless you dine at Ovo Cafe, where the price of pierogies, the food of peasants in Poland, is about the same as the price of caviar, which is not the food of peasants anywhere.
Music: The music varied from new-agey to hip to nonexistent, but none of it involved lyrics about elves or being good for goodness sake, which made us very merry indeed.
Parking: It’s on the street, and on a busy day this can be a problem. Car pool.
Security Quotient: We didn’t notice any police, but since Central Avenue is in downtown St. Petersburg, we know that Johnny Cop will be there in a jiffy if he’s called. We wish we could say the same for some other areas of the city.
Service: The shop owners are knowledgeable and eager to educate you about art, jewelry, antiques or whatever else they sell. This is the proverbial blessing and curse combination.
Strollability: City streets in scenic areas are made for strolling and Central Avenue is no exception.
Time Consumption: Shopping on Central Avenue will open up a hole in the space/time continuum and suck up your day like that weird thing that sucked the U.S.S.Voyager 70,000 light years off course on Star Trek. Instead of aliens, you’ll encounter clerks who give lessons on the local art scene, small studios down dark allies, and dusty boxes of old videos from the 1970s that you just have to sort through. Relax and enjoy it; scurrying is for mall rats.
—Rochelle Renford
Internet Greetings: Cyber-Buying
Remember when holiday shopping meant fighting over parking spaces in overcrowded malls and knocking down the little old lady reaching for that last Holiday Barbie you wanted? Well thanks to the Internet, those days are over. Now shopping and having good will towards all are no longer mutually exclusive. Armed with a major credit card and a computer, you can visit stores that offer every conceivable product, make numerous purchases and have them wrapped and shipped without putting up your dukes or even leaving your chair. Now that’s shopping. Just a few suggestions for those choosing to duck into the shops lining the information superhighway. When it comes to cybershopping, timing is everything. You don’t want your nephew’s new Gameboy to arrive just as his arthritis is beginning to kick in. Most sites offer a handy calendar that will tell you the last possible moment you can wait to order a gift online and still have it delivered on time. They’re lying. Order before that date.
Next, and this may be the first and last time you will ever read this in this publication: When it comes to Internet shopping, large corporations are your friend. Yes, we know that corporations have driven the little guy out of business and turned our country into one big billboard. We think that’s sad. But it’s a Darwinian world on the Internet and the big boys are still there because even in a crunch they’re likely to deliver — literally. Unless you’ve shopped at a small site before and have been pleased with the service, think twice. The time to test out the little guy on the Internet is during some other holiday when having your merchandise arrive on time doesn’t matter, like Labor Day.
We’re not saying you shouldn’t order from that great hemp clothing site that has socks made from the royal (but in no way snack-inducing) weed, but be careful. Some smaller sites don’t do their own shipping and thus have no control. Some sites don’t do a good job of anticipating how many holiday orders they will receive and their employees curl up into a ball and cry under the pressure.
If you’re going to order anyway, make sure they have a phone number with a real human who answers your calls and make sure your package has a tracking number that the real human will give to you when it’s shipped. And don’t call us crying when you get an e-mail on Dec. 24 saying, “We’re sorry, but your item is out of stock.”
Affordability: In the old days, Internet companies offered deep discounts, free shipping and cool freebies for the customer that could later be regifted as a way to get you to buy from their site. Now the unemployment lines are filled with CEOs who’ve learned the basic rule of business: You can’t give everything away and still make a profit. Some sites still offer slight discounts and free shipping, but overall if a CD costs $20 in a store it will likely cost that same $20 plus shipping on the Internet. Internet shopping is about convenience, not savings.
Gift Selection: Vast and never-ending. We bought a Barbie, an old video of our favorite Super Chicken cartoon and are considering several gourmet food items from Dean and Deluca. How’s that for variety? Plus you can send gift certificates via e-mail for those people you have to buy a gift for but don’t want to waste shopping time and postage on.
Music: Only what’s in your own personal CD collection, although occasionally you’ll find some site with annoying computer-generated music. Hit escape.
Parking: Your butt in a chair.
Food: Food.com will have food delivered to your front door from the local restaurant of your choice. It will take more than an hour and will cost too much. Call Dominoes.
Decorations: Mostly consists of pop-up ads trying to sell you even more stuff. Some sites have little sprigs of holly or dancing Santas but like white noise, you’ll soon filter this out.
Service: This is a big one. As we said, larger, more established sites tend to have better service because they haven’t laid off all their employees yet. The better sites will e-mail you to confirm your order, e-mail you again when it’s shipped (hopefully with a tracking number), then e-mail you one more time to try and sell you more stuff. Print the first two and delete the last.
Time Consumed: Anywhere from 5 minutes to the rest of your life.
Annoying Kid Factor: Only your own but take heart, the holiday season is that magical time of year when threats like, “If you’re not good Santa won’t come,” will have them behaving like the little angels you wish they were year-round.
Holiday Rage Potential: None if you have a high-speed Internet connection like cable or DSL. Enough to make you kick your computer if you’re still dialing in like it’s 1995. Strollability: You’ll stroll from the computer to the front door to pay the Dominoes delivery guy. It will mean leaving your chair momentarily but the cheap, second-rate eats will be worth every step. Security Quotient: Most sites use encryption technology so your credit card information can’t be intercepted and read as it’s being sent. If you are nervous about sending your credit card number and other personal information through cyberspace, most sites will offer a phone number where you can give the information to a person whose criminal history you have no way of knowing.
—Rochelle Renford
This article appears in Nov 29 – Dec 5, 2001.
