Area Retailers Offer Merry Merchandise & More

By Allison Collins

Theresa’s Emporium carries themed gift items, such as movie night snack kits, pictured.

Photos by Allison Collins Handmade earrings are among the many gift options available at Theresa’s Emporium.

As the holiday season ushers in the hunt for one-of-a-kind, heartfelt gifts, local retailers have shoppers covered.

In Oneonta, Theresa Cyzeski has owned Theresa’s Emporium, 155 Main St., for nine years. According to its social media, the downtown outfit is “an award-winning, eclectic shop with a family-friendly atmosphere … and the local go-to for gifts, quality toys, unique clothing, a wide selection of dips, teas, fudge and more.”

Cyzeski said she begins stocking holiday inventory in early autumn, with plans to expand favorite selections while adding new must-haves.

“My fall and winter clothing is coming in – leggings and sweaters and winter PJs,” she said in September. “We have yarn for the knitters and all the comfort food, like gingerbread and pancake mixes, maple-bacon onion jam and movie night popcorn sets. And we have new tea brands and we’ll be selling Vermont Coffee this winter, in the cup.”

Cyzeski said consumer and market trends help inform her product selection.

“Last year, it was not much clothing; it was pajamas, because everybody was in their home and not going anywhere and on Zoom,” she said. “We have specialty soaps with fun sayings on them and we have cutting boards that are made right in Stamford. I have pieces of the store designated to local (goods) and another to USAmade and fair trade (products), so we have a little bit of everything. We try to make everybody happy.”

And her handcrafted, non-electronic toys, Cyzeski noted, are perennial top-sellers.

“We sell a lot of toys,” she said. “They all are non-electronic; we have the ones that children actually have to use their imaginations for.

“The toys are always huge, and that’s all year,” Cyzeski continued, “but for gift-giving, (people) are always looking for something unique and we very often have it. (The toys) are very educational: one is a metal thing you put together and it comes out like a helicopter, and some are horses with a wooden barn and we have infant toys. Toys range from up to about 8 years old, then we skip on to puzzles and we’re starting to get in some older children’s things.”

Theresa’s Emporium also hosts regular art events, with customer favorites including pottery wheel instruction, ceramicware painting and paint-pouring crafts. Theresa’s will host children’s cookie decorating at 11 and 1 on Dec. 4 and this holiday season will see the return of story-time with Mrs. Claus on Dec. 9, during Oneonta’s tree-lighting event, and at 11 a.m., Dec. 11 and 18. Also on Dec. 11, at 11:30, staff from the Studio for Art and Craft of Cobleskill will lead a handprint ornament-making workshop. Bingo, the proceeds of which benefit area food pantries, will take place from 5 to 6:30, Dec. 21. For more details or event registration, find “Theresa’s Emporium” on Facebook.