Local Shopping #3: More Places To Check Off Your Holiday Gift List In Howard County

Used records -- the right gift for the right person

I'm not a huge shopper, so I'm going to need help with local suggestions.

This week, I'm writing a "Gift Week" series of posts aimed at inspiring folks to shop at local spots. I know the food spots, but you could find all kinds of good gifts shopping at local stores.

Where do you go for the unique or the personal?  I suggested kitchen and cookbook options yesterday, but I had some other ideas for you to fill up the rest of your house:

Accessories at the Pet Barn

• Second Edition Books in Columbia.  Check out the used records.  You can buy a turntable for under $100, and you can have some retro fun with LPs.  We have bought Beatles, Jackson 5, Paul Simon and more.  (It's fun for used books as well, although somehow used books seem harder to give as gifts.)
• Boulder For Men in Clarksville.  Cool clothes for the young man in your life.  Or maybe for the middle-aged man in your life who would enjoy a little sprucing up.  Jeans, sweatshirts, shoes, sunglasses.  I bought a fun watch there made of wood. Boulder is by the folks who own Roots, and the Nest across the parking lot has clothing, candles and hand-sewn stuffed animals along with the cookbooks that I wrote about yesterday.
• Family Game Store in Savage Mill.  Two stores in one.  In the front, you can buy puzzles and games for the whole family.  Games that you won't see at Target, and stuff that you can enjoy together over the holidays.  In the back, they have role-playing and hobby games -- heavy on the military and science fiction options.  Perfect if you have a connoisseur on your list.
• Pearl Spa in Fulton.  You can't go wrong giving a massage or a pedicure.  But the Pearl Spa also has a full display of soaps and teas that you add to the Howard County food in a basket.  Mrs. HowChow likes the Tea Forte brand.
• Pet Barn in Fulton.  Around the corner from the Pearl in Maple Lawn, you can buy gifts for the cat or dog in your life.  They often sell funny dog treats that look like human food.  They also do all kinds of beds, collars, bowls and more.

Where else do you like shopping around Howard County?  You can certainly buy unique stuff on-line -- like maybe the Little Flower Candy Co. caramels or the gorgeous Hawaiian flowers from Anuhea Flowers.  But you can find so much around here.  There are clothing stores in Maple Lawn, antiques and arts along Main Streeet in Ellicott City, and a few hours of nosing around the shops at Savage Mill, especially if you like antiques, painted furniture, or another used book store.  

What would you recommend?