With Christmas and Hanukkah fast approaching, it is crunch time for both shoppers and shopkeepers alike. Opportunities to buy — or sell — the perfect gift are running out.
But the mood in Amherst and Hadley was far from frantic Thursday. In fact, most seemed to be in the holiday spirit. The feeling was not lost on Amherst business A.J. Hastings co-owner Sharon Povinelli.
“On the whole it is a really good mood, considering everything,” Povinelli said, referencing events of the year.
At A.J. Hastings, popular items have been Amherst College and University of Massachusetts Amherst gear, boxes of holiday cards, journals, calendars, candles and toys. For the lighthearted, whoopee cushions are another top seller.
“It’s one of the big parts of the year,” Povinelli said. “It is just a fun part because of the mix of different people.”
Across the street, Amherst Books co-owner Mark Wootton and his staff wrapped hardcover books and paperbacks for last-minute holiday customers.
“Business is good,” Wootton said. “It is very seasonal.”
Wootton swept his hand across a table of popular books at the front of the store. Popular books this year include “Hillbilly Elegy” by J.D. Vance, “Our Revolution” by Bernie Sanders. “The Undoing Project” by Michael Lewis is another top pick.
According to Amherst Books Manager Shannon Ramsey, 30, there seems to be an “uptick in books being published about social and political issues.”
“We like to be a venue for that,” Ramsey added.
For rock fans, Bruce Springsteen’s “Born To Run” has been a top pick. Local author Micha Archer’s “Daniel Finds a Poem” has been popular for children, Wootton added.
Ramsey, of Turners Falls, said it is nice to see people shop locally this holiday season. Competing against big box retailers and Amazon is tough for a local book store.
“It’s nice for us to feel the love,” Ramsey said. “We hope it continues into the new year.”
Thursday afternoon was Al Chapman’s first holiday shopping trip of the year.
“It’s our first attempt — and it’s our last,” Chapman said. “We never worry. We find the sales are much better after Christmas.”
Chapman, 63, explained he and his partner purchase and exchange their gifts after the holidays, once they have gone on sale. But for those in his family who prefer give gifts on Dec. 25, he and his partner bought sweat pants (to be worn as pajamas) and kitchen supplies.
For Christmas, Chapman and his partner will visit his 97-year-old mother in Danvers and their sons in Maine.
Chapman likes to go against the norm on New Year’s Eve, too. He said he sets the clocks back and convinces his guests that the clock has struck midnight at around 9 p.m.
“Then you’re not tired the next day,” Chapman said, laughing. “I’ve even done it at a bar.”
In Easthampton, Comics N’ More owner Christian Reader said the store has thousands of gifts priced under $5. While his regular weekly customers are the “spine” of the business, Reader said he’s seen some new faces during the past month leading up to the holidays.
When people come in for last minute gifts, Reader said “go nuts.”
Although the shop focuses on comics, Reader also sells action figures and other items such as a Star Trek lunch box, a Star Wars kit to build the Millennium Falcon and Pokemon Pokeball serving bowels.
For Jason Graves, the owner of Full Circle Bikes in Florence, the holiday season can be hit or miss for bike sales.
This year has been slower than others, he said, noting that the Xbox One S is probably the big gift many kids are asking for.
But for some children without a bike, Graves has surprised them with one.
For the past 10 years the shop has been open, Graves said at least one person purchases a bike anonymously as a donation to a child.
This year, three bikes have been purchased as donations, and on Saturday, Graves will deliver a the last BMX bike to a foster child in Springfield.
Graves remembers the feeling of getting his first bike as a kid. Growing up in the Hilltowns, Graves bikes were important to kids and it was a way to get from place to place on there own.
“It was the biggest gift you could get,” he said. “It was freedom.”
Caitlin Ashworth contributed to this report.