With classes wrapping up in the next couple weeks, it’s easy to forget about anything other than school. This includes, but is not limited to: eating, your personal hygiene and shopping for gifts. However, it’s time to shop for loved ones, or that person you just happened to draw for Secret Snowflake, before the semester gets too overwhelming.
Don’t worry about setting aside a great deal of time for shopping as you have many options right here on campus for picking out a gift quickly and without breaking the bank.
Let’s start with arguably one of the most popular and expensive stores on our campus: Urban Outfitters.
Despite the reputation Urban Outfitters has for having items clearly out of the normal college student’s budget, you can find great deals for items to gift as long as you are willing to put in the effort.
The sales section at Urban Outfitters is so great, most of the time you won’t need to go anywhere else in the store to find what you need. I’d suggest starting your adventure for finding the perfect gift here.
The Urban Outfitters’ sales section has everything from clothes to home decor.
If you’re looking for a gift for a close friend or relative, you can find deals on a wide selection of clothes. Make sure when you go shopping you have the person’s sizes on hand. No one, and I mean no one, wants to be gifted clothes one or two sizes bigger than what he or she actually wears.
Looking for gifts for the person you have for Secret Snowflake? Home decor items are great options.
Urban Outfitters has a wide selection of home decor items such as artwork, pillows and knick-knacks. If you don’t know the person that well, but have a general sense of his or her style, home decor items make for easy gifts.
Urban Outfitters also has numerous quirky gift options. They carry items such as funky phone covers, an owl cookie jar for that special hipster in your life or fun coffee table books like “Feminist Ryan Gosling.”
Gap is another great place to go to find gift options. Gap has a great selection of accessories.
If you’re too lazy or unable to knit, Gap has a great selection of scarves. Every student braving the cold Wisconsin winter needs a scarf to keep warm.
Winter accessories like hats or gloves are not only practical, but they are relatively inexpensive. However, beware of cashmere unless you’re willing to put out the big bucks.
Ragstock always brings up memories of shopping for a last-minute Halloween costumes, but if you are prepared you can find gift options.
Ragstock has a huge collection of fun, weird accessories that are great for your similarly fun, weird friend. From animal hats to crazy jewelry, Ragstock is the place to go for getting a friend a memorable gift.
Walgreens is not the sexiest store, but it’s definitely the most practical. Have a roommate who constantly asks to borrow “just a couple sheets” of printer paper? Solve the issue for the both of you and give him or her a Walgreens gift card.
Gift cards at coffee shops such as CoffeeBytes or Starbucks are always a great go-to gift idea for students. No UW student is ever going to be disappointed with free caffeine.
No matter where you go on campus, the best advice to stick to when searching for the perfect gift is to look at accessories or home decor items. These items are not only thoughtful, but are useful and relatively inexpensive.
Even if you’re feeling stressed while shopping just remember how happy he or she will be after opening up the gift you picked out. Happy hunting!
