The Ann Arbor Holiday Gift Guide: 16 Local Shops and What to Buy

Every price here came off the shop’s own site today.

That is the whole point of this guide. Ann Arbor gets written up every December by people who have not checked whether the shop is still where they say it is, and at least two of the best gift addresses in this town are not where most lists put them. One of them has not had a storefront since 2020.

So: sixteen independent shops and makers, a specific thing to buy at each one with the price it is actually selling for, and the opening hours that will decide whether you get there. Prices are what the shop listed on 1 November 2026 and will move. Hours will move too, which is why every one of them has a source line.

The picks, with prices

Four opening hours worth planning around

Read this part before you build a route. These are not edge cases. They are four of the best gift addresses in Washtenaw County and all four are harder to reach than they look.

Hollander’s is not in Kerrytown any more. Tom and Cindy Hollander closed the retail store in July 2020 after nearly thirty years in the Kerrytown Shops. The business is still going, from a warehouse at 3858 Bestech Suite B in Ypsilanti, and its own about page says plainly that the warehouse is not open to the public. You order online and pick up Monday to Friday, in a window the site gives as 10:00 to 2:00. Four hours a day, weekdays only. Phone (734) 741-7531. If you were planning to browse their papers in person on a December Saturday, that has not been possible for six years.

Ten Fine Jewelry is open five hours a day. The Nickels Arcade jeweller runs 11am to 4pm Monday to Saturday and is closed Sunday. Thirty hours a week. Arrive at 4:30pm on a Friday, which on State Street feels like the middle of the afternoon, and you have missed it by half an hour.

Durham’s Tracklements opens two days a week. The smokery at 212 E Kingsley St is Wednesdays 10am to 2pm and Saturdays 9am to 3pm. That is it. Smoked whitefish and salmon is one of the better food gifts this county makes and there are nine chances to buy it between now and Christmas. Phone (734) 930-6642.

Arbor Teas’ holiday teas are already gone. As of today all three are showing out of stock on their own site: Organic Holiday Spice Black Tea, the decaf version, and the Cranberry Spice Tisane, listed at $7 for the small size and $28 for the large. If a holiday tea is the gift, watch for a restock rather than planning on one.

Hollander’s: first-party, hollanders.com/pages/about-us, read 1 Nov 2026. Ten Fine Jewelry hours: MIAnnArbor listing data, October 2026 first-party sweep; the shop’s own site publishes an address and phone but no hours grid, so call 734.665.7692 if you are driving in. Tracklements and Arbor Teas: first-party, tracklements.com and arborteas.com, both read 1 Nov 2026.

Kerrytown and Fourth Avenue: the one block that does most of the work

If you have a single afternoon, spend it here. Five of these shops are within three minutes’ walk of each other.

Spun, 410 N Fourth Ave

Spun is the family-owned yarn and fiber crafts shop in the Kerrytown Market and Shops building, and it is the single best shop in this guide for someone with a budget. It sorts its own stock into price tiers on its website, under $25, under $60, under $100, under $150, which almost nobody else here does.

What is in stock today at the bottom end: hand-felted smiling sheep dryer balls at $5, Spun greeting cards at $4, a notions bag at $11, a center-pull ball winder at $13, the Spun rope handle bag at $15 or $17 with the pin. The Mr. Rogers and Jane Austen bags are $18 each. Notion Nooks are $25.

Over $25 and still sensible: the Cocoknits Maker’s Board at $36, the Michigan Knitter tote at $35, the Knit Love canvas tote in the Michigan design at $53. For somebody who has never picked up a hook, the Woobles Sophie the Poodle beginner crochet kit is $40 and comes with everything.

Monday to Thursday 10am to 8pm, Friday 10am to 6pm, Saturday 9am to 6pm, Sunday 10am to 5pm. Phone (734) 780-7867. One date worth putting in your calendar: on Friday 4 December, Midnight Madness night, Spun runs 10am to 11pm and is marking its 11th birthday the same day. That is five hours longer than its usual Friday.

Hours, phone and prices: first-party, spunannarbor.com, read 1 Nov 2026. The 4 December hours are first-party from the Kerrytown District December 2026 calendar, verified 30 Oct 2026.

Mudpuddles, 407 N Fifth Ave

Mudpuddles is the toy shop inside the Kerrytown building, and it solves the specific problem of having brought children to a neighbourhood built around a cheese counter and a fish smoker.

Current stock at real prices, from their own new-arrivals feed today: Tayto Under The Sea blind box mini figures $7.99, Capy Birthday $9.99, Easy Sqweezy Cake $10.99, Oceanic Series slime $13.99, the Beach Bandits game $15.99, MicroMAGS 24-piece travel set $20.99, In a Nutshell trivia game $22.99, Mushi Cat nightlight $29.99. The golf set is $49.99 if you want the big box under the tree.

Monday to Friday 10am to 6pm, Saturday 9am to 6pm, Sunday 11am to 5pm. Phone (734) 662-0022.

Prices: first-party, mudpuddlestoys.com, read 1 Nov 2026. Hours and address: MIAnnArbor listing data from the October 2026 first-party sweep. Kerrytown tenants set their own grids and several run later than the building’s, so confirm by phone for a late visit.

Fustini’s, upstairs in the same building

Here is the other address people get wrong. Fustini’s Oils and Vinegars in Ann Arbor is on the second floor of Kerrytown Market and Shops at 407 N Fifth Ave. It is not on Main Street.

You taste before you buy, poured from the fustis at the counter, which is the argument for going in rather than ordering. Gift boxes on the company’s holiday collection today: Tuscan Herb at $60, Marinade Magic at $60, and three at $90 – Taste of Michigan, Sweet Italian, Mediterranean Pantry.

For something under twenty dollars, their Michigan shelf is the interesting one. Traverse City Cherry Balsamic, Michigan Apple Balsamic and Iron Fish Honey Vinegar are each $9.95 in the small bottle and $17.95 in the large. Horseradish Maple Mustard is $12.95, Fig and Maple Paste $14.95, Bourbon Maple Syrup $25.

Monday to Friday 10am to 6pm, Saturday 9am to 6pm, Sunday 11am to 5pm. The 9am Saturday open lines up with the farmers market across the lot.

Prices: first-party, the fustinis.com holiday gifts and Made in Michigan product feeds, read 1 Nov 2026. Ann Arbor hours and the second-floor location: MIAnnArbor listing data from the October 2026 first-party sweep, taken from the company’s own store-locations page.

Encore Records, 208 N Fourth Ave

Encore Records buys and sells used music in every format. Their own buying page does something most shops never do and publishes what they pay: a non-collectible record is worth $2 to $5 to them. That tells you roughly what the shelf price of ordinary used stock looks like, and it makes this one of the best rooms in town for a gift under twenty dollars.

Monday to Saturday 11am to 7pm, Sunday noon to 5pm. Phone (734) 662-6776.

First-party, encorerecordsa2.com, read 1 Nov 2026.

Thistle and Bess, 222 N Fourth Ave

Thistle and Bess sells fine jewelry four doors from Encore. One correction worth carrying: it used to close Monday and Tuesday both. Its own site now has it closed Monday only, open Tuesday to Friday 11am to 6pm, Saturday 11am to 5pm and Sunday 11am to 4pm. Tuesday is back.

First-party, thistleandbess.com, read 1 Nov 2026.

Found, 415 N Fifth Ave

Found in the Kerrytown courtyard opens its holiday season with a party on Friday 6 November 2026, 5pm to 8pm. Found publishes no opening hours on its own website at all, so for an ordinary day treat it as the courtyard grid and call ahead.

Party date: first-party, the Kerrytown District November 2026 calendar, verified 30 Oct 2026.

Downtown: Washington, Main and Liberty

Literati Bookstore, 124 E Washington

Literati is the obvious pick and still the right one, because signed editions are the gift that costs the same as the unsigned copy. On their shelf today: John Green’s Hollywood, Ending, signed edition, $32. Min Jin Lee’s American Hagwon at $36. Rebecca Yarros, Threshing Day, $24.99. Theo of Golden at $20 and Robert Macfarlane’s Is a River Alive? at $19.99, both of which land under twenty-five dollars.

Sunday 11am to 7pm, Monday to Thursday 10am to 8pm, Friday and Saturday 10am to 9pm. Phone (734) 585-5567. The parking structure directly across the street at Washington and Fourth is free on Sundays, and Literati does not validate.

First-party, literatibookstore.com/hours-location and the store’s current bestseller shelf, read 1 Nov 2026.

Vault of Midnight, 219 S Main

Vault of Midnight is comics, graphic novels and board games, and it is one of very few downtown retail doors still open at 10pm on a Friday. Sunday to Thursday 11am to 8pm, Friday and Saturday 11am to 10pm. Phone (734) 998-1413. If you do not know what the person reads, their book of the month is a safer bet than guessing.

First-party, vaultofmidnight.com/locations, read 1 Nov 2026.

The A2AC gallery shop, 117 W Liberty

The Ann Arbor Art Center runs a shop of work by Michigan artists, and it extends its hours for the season: 6 November to 24 December, Monday to Thursday 10am to 7pm, Friday and Saturday 10am to 8pm, Sunday 10am to 5pm. The rest of the year it is Monday to Saturday 10am to 7pm and Sunday 10am to 4pm.

That Friday and Saturday 8pm close is the latest regular holiday retail in this guide that is not a one-night event. Paid parking in the S Ashley lot next door is free on Sunday. Phone (734) 994-8004.

First-party, annarborartcenter.org/about-us/location-hours, page self-dated 8 October 2026, read 1 Nov 2026.

State Street and Nickels Arcade

Two of these share a doorway, which makes them the most efficient pairing in the guide.

Van Boven Clothing at 326 S State St, in Nickels Arcade, has been trading since 1921 by its own account. This is the upper end of the guide: the two own-label Michigan pieces on their front page today are the Women’s Michigan V-Neck Sweater at $165 and the Michigan Reversible Vest at $249, and the coats run from $745 up. Monday to Saturday 10am to 6pm, Sunday noon to 5pm, with a note on their own site that holiday hours may vary. Phone 734-665-7228.

Ten Fine Jewelry is a few steps away at 10 Nickels Arcade, making one-of-a-kind pieces and taking walk-in consultations. Remember the five-hour window above.

Wazoo Records at 336 S State St is the other used-vinyl option, and its clock runs backwards from everyone else’s: noon to 6pm Monday to Friday, 10am to 6pm Saturday and Sunday. It is one of the few doors on this street you can usefully reach before noon on a Sunday. Phone (734) 761-8686. The 6pm close is firm.

Van Boven: first-party, vanboven.com, read 1 Nov 2026. Ten Fine and Wazoo hours: MIAnnArbor listing data from the October 2026 first-party sweep.

Two makers you can only buy from on specific days

The Ann Arbor Potters Guild at 201 Hill Street is a cooperative of more than fifty potters that has shared that studio since 1949. It is not a shop and keeps no public hours. It opens twice a year, and the December opening is Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 December, 10am to 5pm both days, free to walk in. It is the biggest handmade-ceramics sale in the county.

One trap: the guild’s own homepage headline still reads “Next Sale June 6th and 7th, 2026.” That sale has happened. The December dates are published on the same page but inside a graphic, which a search engine will not read back to you. Confirm on (734) 663-4970.

The Sunday Artisan Market is the answer if you cannot clear that weekend. An independent cooperative of artists in its 35th season, it rents the farmers market pavilion at 315 Detroit St every Sunday 11am to 4pm, and its last market day of the year is Sunday 20 December. Free, free parking, no admission. Google lists that address as closed on Sundays because Google is describing the city’s market and not this one.

Both: first-party, pottersguild.net and sundayartisanmarket.org, verified 30 Oct 2026.

Order online, pick up local

Arbor Teas is an Ann Arbor company with a catalogue built for giving, and the $30 to $50 band is the deep part of it. Matcha bowls are $32 in four glazes, including one called Michigan Sand. The ceramic tea mug is $36, the ForLife D’Anjou teapot $40, the stainless storage canister $44, the Kyusu teapot $49.50. Under fifteen dollars: a tea scoop at $6.75, a glass teacup at $10.95, a stainless straw set at $11.50. The full Matcha Gift Set is $93.95.

Hollander’s, covered above, is the other one. Their complete workshop kits are the gift for someone who would rather make the thing than own it: the Complete Hinged Lid Box and Complete Leather Journal are $55 each, the Complete Clamshell Box $60, Complete Flat Back Bookbinding $68, Complete Round Back $75, and the Complete Journal with Clamshell Box $125. Instruction booklets on their own are $8.50.

Both: first-party product feeds, arborteas.com and hollanders.com, read 1 Nov 2026.

The short version

One afternoon, no car moves: park once in Kerrytown and do Spun, Mudpuddles, Fustini’s upstairs, Encore Records and Thistle and Bess on foot. That is five shops, every price range from $4 to $90, in about four blocks.

One evening, late: Friday 4 December. Spun is open until 11pm, Vault of Midnight until 10pm, and Main Street is running Midnight Madness until midnight. It is the only night of the year this town’s retail behaves like that.

One gift, ordered tonight: a Hollander’s workshop kit or an Arbor Teas matcha bowl, both local, both shipped, neither requiring you to find parking.

For the rest of December, the holiday markets guide has every 2026 market date in the county, the holiday lights guide has the lighting and parade start times, and the Christmas tree farm guide has the cut-your-own fields with their real opening weekends. For what else is open on an ordinary day in these two districts, the Kerrytown guide and the State Street guide are the hours grids this one leans on.

If the gift is edible, the chocolate and sweet gifts guide is the companion to this one: twelve chocolatiers, bakeries and candy makers from Kerrytown to Saline, with every box price read off the maker’s own site on the same day.