Did you notice last weekend that the city’s premier shopping strips on Elmwood and Hertel—as well as burgeoning retail areas on Amherst and Grant, Connecticut and Rhode Island, and reviving downtown—were suddenly crowded with shoppers, peering in windows? Many, loooking to get a leg up on the competition, were actually carrying bags of purchases. 

The sport has begun. The day after this paper hits the streets is Thanksgiving; the day after that commences the headlong, go-for-broke downhill race (hopefully through a beautiful topcoat of fresh new snow) that is the holiday season. The next six weeks will present a twisting, turning course of parties, dinners, outings, and gift exchanges. We’ve got ideas to help you negotiate all of it, and here we provide just a sample of those—a little something to get you through the all-important top part of the course, where you cannot afford to lose time. Check online for more gift ideas, for recipes and entertaining tips, for spotlights on shops and shopping districts in the city and across the region. And check with back us in print too; we’ll coach you right to the bottom of the mountain.

Gifts for Animals Lovers