Tuesday, February 2, 2010

The 3 Keys To (Not So) Last minute Shopping For Your Valentine

Since I am not the person to talk to for "last-minute" shopping, I thought I'd post a few of my tips well in advance of Valentine's Day, February 14th. Why don't I believe in last minute shopping? I think it often leads to costly expenditures and often misunderstandings. Our money is so precious these days, and last-minute usually means we haven't taken the time and effort needed to really find the right fit. After all, we give gifts to make someone happy. And I want to get away from the one-click solves all ideas. One good quality well-thought-out item is more appreciated and more value for your money long term. That, I guess, like all other worthwhile things, takes takes time, effort, and money.My thoughts can be summed up with the following three easy to remember letters: "R.S.P." And I'm not talking anything financial here, thank God...


"R" - for "research". Ask ask your loved one what they like. It's that simple. Like in sales, ask for the order. If you don't ask, you won't learn what a person likes, and more importantly - dislikes. Ask what their best or worst gift ever was. Try to get inside their head. It's about them, not you. Understand their lifestyle, preferences and needs. If this is a really special occasion (engagement, anniversary, birthday...) make sure give yourself enough time to look around in shops too, great sales still on. For tighter budgets, if you know someone dreams of, for example, breakfast in bed, or an hour-long foot massage, you can present this with humour and create a bonding experience with a low-cost, caring gift. Bath and Body Works sells scrumptious massage oils and anti-stress products. Know someone with the I hate winter blues?  We all do! A ski, or snowshoe weekend is caring, thoughtful, and bonding. Add a spa treatment a deux afterwards and you're her hero. Guys, go shopping with her for an hour, it won't kill you! and you'll learn more about her - for example something as simple as what colors she likes or dislikes. For that special occasion, chances are you've already shopped with her/him, so you have some clues. People tell us a lot about themselves if we're prepared to put ourselves totally aside and listen to them. Did your grandmother also keep telling you why we have 2 ears and 1 mouth, so we can listen twice as much as we speak! Ugg, but true. Guys, if you have deep pockets these days, I've never heard yet of a female returning a pair of diamond studs. (Maybe to get a bigger size!).  Fortunately, there are all sorts of shapes, sizes, colors, and price ranges.  And have we women ever  heard of a man refusing a great gourmet home-cooked meal for him and his buddies, and perhaps a back massage for him. I'm still getting mileage out of that TLC I gave my husband last Christmas!


"S" is for "Surprise".This can make a Valentine's Day gift really memorable. Surprise and humour go a long way. For someone who has everything, humour can totally re-package the expected. I will always remember, (not that I'd want someone to do this for me, though!), a female friend of mine who had everything, and had just moved to Holland, was proposed to on Valentine's Day. Her successful fiance took her out to a super resto. She was full of anticipation. He gave her a nicely wrapped gift during the soup course. She opened it and found a book entitled "Dutch Cooking". She tried to smile, but needless to say was thinking of  tossing the soup. A few minutes later, her spoon hit a giant sparkly object at the bottom of the bowl...yes you guessed it. This idea is not for everyone, but it makes a good story. And shows humour can make an event memorable, that's what you're striving for. Tailor your humour to his or her tastes, though, that's where research comes in. If humour is taking advantage of someone's weaknesses, it's not funny.


"P" is for personalize. If he says he wants a drill set for the garage or something totally mundane, we should take that as a buying signal. That's what he wants. But present it in a personalized way just for him, either through wrapping (in paper made of photos of his favourite moments), or in small and large multiple packages, or present it at a favourite restaurant. Key is to listen to what he says. If it's one of those gifts for a sister, or mother in law, six months of flowers she can select herself at her local florist is about as personalized and memorable and unexpected as one can get. 


Need more original ideas? What about a personalized shopping excursion for him/her with a friend to Toronto's "insider" shopping locations, including limo and chauffeur... or a walking tour of vintage shops, all starting at $200 for 2 hours. Great mother-in-law gift too. (Gift certificates available by contacting Barbara Captijn, Director, Insider Shopping Toronto Ltd, at bcaptijn@gmail.com.)

"Confessions of a Shopaholic" : Coverage in Apire Magazine post November 2009 Tour with Tourism Toronto Journalist Mike MacEacheran

Barbara Captijn is one of Toronto’s best kept secrets. Like a cross between Sex and the City’s Kim Cattrall and a more sophisticated, leather-trouser wrapped Martha Stewart, she holds the key to an unrivalled insider’s view of Toronto that even long term residents fail to glimpse. Not only is Barbara the city’s premiere personal shopper, she effortlessly mixes her Chanels and Chloés with home-grown Canadian born brands, but she knows the backstreets of the downtown historic Yorkville area better than anyone with a new credit card. “This is the chic area to live and to shop,” she purrs. “I wouldn’t shop anywhere else, darling.” On our winter morning stroll of Yorkville, the gentrified Haight-Ashbury district of Canada if there ever was one, Barbara introduces me to a cast of designers, sales associates and red beret-wearing lovies, who have more style in their pinkie fingers than I could manage to muster from my entire wardrobe.

I meet Richard Hitelman of Harry Rosen, home to the President’s Club, the most exclusive place to buy a suit in the whole of Canada; Eleanore Rosenstein of Hugo Nicholson, a smorgasbord boutique of prom queen versus bridezilla gowns, party dresses and toe-curlingly expensive threads; Orly Weinberg of über-hip fashion store Milli; and Linda Corbo of George C, a glamorous Australian designer who looks like she’s walked straight from a chapter of The Devil Wears Prada. It is high-end fashion that one does not normally associate with red and black checked lumberjack shirts, goose-down jackets and dinky pots of sugar-sweet maple syrup. “Toronto is changing,” says style-aficionado Linda. “I’ve lived and worked in Australia and Europe but have never experienced anything like the creativity on offer here – it’s so different from what people expect of Canada. There are fashion shows happening all the time; it’s such an energetic scene.”

With a relatively weak Canadian dollar, Toronto’s boutiques are literally dripping with dresses, bag and heels that shoppers won’t find anywhere else outside North America. It’s also rich pickings for those seeking to unearth new designers before they become mass market.

Davids, attached to the Yorkdale Shopping Centre, showcases a rich vein of luxurious Italian leather throughout its shoe racks, and Avec Plaisir, offering the city’s only personalised lingerie service, is enough to make steam come out of any man’s ears.

Perhaps as a reaction to the flamboyancy of its southerly New York State neighbour, Torontonians have decided to do things their own way. Unlike Saks Fifth Avenue or Harrods, there is no fanfare – it is subtle, discrete and only for those in the know. Yet the Hazelton Lanes area off Bloor Street West – undoubtedly worthy of any Fifth Avenue store or Rodeo Drive star cachet – is enough to give any serious shopaholic nightmares. Barbara, for one, has already decided on the next two dresses she’s going to buy and I definitely feel the need to buy a hat to protect against the winter chill. “Us Torontonians, feel the need to be stylish,” concludes Barbara with a flourish. “Life’s too short not to be.” As for me, I wonder what I’d look like in a red beret?

By Mike MacEacheran - Tourism Toronto - www.tourismtoronto.com