This year, be a bad-ass Santa and stuff your stocking with these rockin’ local gifts…
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Words by Jen Russo, Jacob Shafer and Anu Yagi
Photos by Sean Micheal Hower, Henry Arroyo and Britney Kidd
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Rock and Christmas aren’t diametrically opposed (“Jingle Bell Rock” and “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” are, after all, holiday mainstays). But they aren’t a perfect match, either. One is about leather pants, partying and sticking it to the Man; the other is about cookies, snow men and diminutive arctic toymakers.
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There is one way, however, that you can ensure your Christmas (or Chanukah, or Kwanzaa, or Festivus) will rock—by purchasing gifts at locally owned stores. As we remind you every year, injecting dollars into the Maui economy has a big impact. And you can take pride, knowing your stocking stuffers aren’t merely cool and unique, but supporting island-based small businesses rather than Mainland corporate behemoths.
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Hey — maybe Christmas can be about sticking it to the Man after all.
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*Note: Each category hed is also the title of a famous (or semi-famous) album or song. See how many of the artists you can name (answers at bottom*).
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PET SOUNDS
Pets are great to shop for because they love you no matter what you get them. Instead of wrapping that bag of dog food and putting a bow on it, take your four-legged friend down to… CLICK HERE to read more.
BEGGARS BANQUET
We can be thankful that we live in a land of plenty with myriad local alternatives to the pesticide-laden, processed foods have become so much a part of our food culture. Start with gift boxes of Maui-grown… CLICK HERE to read more.
SAFE AS MILK
Distilling your own beer and hooch sounds like a pain in the neck. Luckily there are plenty of local distillers, spirits producers and craft beer makers on-island to keep your holiday booze shopping local… CLICK HERE to read more.
THE CHRONIC
You love tobacco, but you don’t want to smoke it out of some boring cigarette, right? No, you want to smoke it out of a massive water pipe taller than a pre-pubescent power forward. And you want to stash it in… CLICK HERE to read more.
KID A
As a parent, you want your kids’ toys to be engaging, safe, well-made and age-appropriate. As a kid, you want your toys to be cool. Fortunately, Maui’s local toy shops understand this, and cater to children and the Santa Clauses responsible for their social and mental development… CLICK HERE to read more.
CRAZYSEXYCOOL
Spa packages are a fabulous service—for men and women. It’s not your usual dude gift, but they may surprise you—even if they aren’t metro sexual. For hands and toes, head to… CLICK HERE to read more.
LADY (AND GENTLEMAN) IN SATIN
…There aren’t a whole lot of indie shoe stores on-island, but staying out of the corporate footwear emporiums is easier than you think… CLICK HERE to read more.
DIAMONDS FROM SIERRA LEONE
Since there’s loads of local places that offer beaded and wire-wrapped jewelry creations, let’s instead highlight some of those with smithery skills enough for Santa’s stamp of approval… CLICK HERE to read more.
PAUL’S BOUTIQUE
…No longer just for bailiwick collectors who love good patina, vintage items are hot on everyone’s list — and you just might spock the perfect quirky accoutrement for that perfectly quirky someone on your list. But since offerings are innumerably varied and subject to luck, it’s impossible to describe exactly what you might find. Instead, here are a few tips on how to shop second hand… CLICK HERE to read more.
HEAD LIKE A HOLE
Did you know that tuque is the technical term for beanie, or that fedoras were at first a feminine fashion and that the name comes from a 19th century play about heroine Princess Fedora? Hats of any style have history, and whatever groovy noggin-topper you’re in search of… CLICK HERE to read more.
ON AN ISLAND
You’re automatically on the Naughty list if you sink so low as to gift any faux-waiiana crap from Walmart et alia. Yes, even to Mainland peeps. Yes, even as a joke. So where do you find good Hawaiiana goods? Look no further than… CLICK HERE to read more.
SPEAKERBOXX/THE LOVE BELOW
Walking into Requests Music’s bizarre realm of beats may be a time warp, but it doesn’t have to be a time suck. See, Requests’s staffers’ synapses sync up a web of media knowledge that’s comprehensive yet curated—better and quicker than any Internet search might. If the… CLICK HERE to read more.
CHALK MARK IN A RAINSTORM
…So if handmade is what you’re after and you can’t find it there, visit your optometrist. If your rods and cones are in working order, how about… CLICK HERE to read more.
THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST…
If crystal healing isn’t in your alternative medicine cabinet, you may wonder how the mystical crystal market hasn’t become saturated (we’re guessing it must be a hippie food source). But however the demand for esoteric stones is kept up, rock collecting has hard science (ba dum ching!) joys, too… CLICK HERE to read more.
BEYOND THE SEA
If you live on Maui and don’t participate in any water sports, you’re missing out on more than half the fun. But even if you’re an ocean-phobe, you’ve assuredly got someone on your list who isn’t. Head to… CLICK HERE to read more.
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“So this is Christmas/And what have you done/Another year over/And a new one just begun…” – John Lennon, “Happy Christmas (War Is Over)”
*Artists (in order): The Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones, Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band, Dr. Dre, Radiohead, TLC, Billie Holiday, Kanye West, Beastie Boys, Nine Inch Nails, David Gilmour, Outkast, Joni Mitchell, David Bowie, Bobby Darin
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