For many, the final week before Christmas is not just the end of the holiday shopping season, it's rush-shipping season.
Before all those boxes sitting under the tree will be unwrapped, the boxes will need to be filled with the right gifts, an annual problem that becomes more difficult once online shopping is removed from the equation.
Luckily, the Hudson Valley is home to many shops where you can find the right gift in person, and Dutchess County, specifically, has several downtown areas where locally owned stores have items that can't be found anywhere else.
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In fact, stores in Beacon and Rhinebeck alone may be enough to satisfy all the needs on your shopping list. Take a look at these last-minute gift suggestions for the many types of people who may be in your lives.
At The Last Outpost in Beacon, owner Chris Cimino created Hudson Valley- and Beacon-specific designs for shirts and, with the help of local graphic designer Katy Tucker, enamel cups.
"The thought was, there should be a cup for everyone, and, yes, local history and pride," Cimino said. "Each cup showcases something special about our city and the Hudson Valley as a whole. The 'Dummy Light' (at the intersection of East Main and Main streets) sits proud on our white cup; the green cup recognizes the year Beacon was born; the red cup acknowledges our valley and waterways; the yellow cup takes a fun retro look at our mountains; the blue cup a snowy afternoon; and, my personal favorite, the dark blue cup I call 'Starry Night.'"
For Cimino, the dark blue reminds him of "looking up at Mount Beacon with all the stars out and the moon just cresting."
As for the shirts, Cimino came up with designs featuring Mount Beacon, the fire tower that sits atop it, and one based on Benton Mackaye's 1921 proposed Appalachian Trail map.
Check out The Last Outpost's offerings at lastoutpoststore.com and visit at 314 Main St.
Craft beverages are a unique and popular gift to pick up, with options in Beacon alone ranging from Hudson Valley Brewery and Industrial Arts Brewing Company beer to Liquid Fables' canned cocktails.
Denning's Point Distillery in Beacon recently released a collaboration with Beacon-based coffee roaster Trax to create the Beacon Coffee Bourbon.
"We wanted to create a coffee bourbon for a few years now and always knew we wanted to work with Trax because we are big fans of their products," Susan Johnson, co-owner of Dennings Point Distillery, said. "We worked closely with them to choose the right roast that would balance the intensity of our Beacon Bourbon."
The roast? The distillery and coffee roasters chose the roasters "Sumatran roast" to balance the bourbon-coffee flavor.
The bourbon, along with Denning's Point Distillery's other liquors, can be purchased at the distillery, 10 North Chestnut St. According to Johnson, the distillery's distributor has also picked up the coffee bourbon, so it's available at liquor stores in New York and New Jersey.
To learn more about Denning's Point Distillery, visit denningspointdistillery.com.
On the east side of Beacon's Main Street, the artwork of Elin Lundman, a Beacon resident, can be found at multiple shops.
"As a sustainability focused artist, I find inspiration in bringing old items back to life," Lundman said. "A few weeks after I moved to Beacon, I found a box of bathroom tiles in the basement. They had been left there by the previous owner. I turned them into the handmade animal coasters that are now sold at Solstad House (in Beacon)."
Lundman, founder of Super Happy Ghost Co., has painted colorful likenesses of a variety of animals including a crocodile, mountain lion, an eagle, porcupine and more on coasters.
Some of Lundman's work can also be found at Hyperbole, next to Solstad House on Beacon's eastern Main Street. Inspired by old leather coats given to her by her grandmother, Lundman began a line of "painted and upcycled leather apparel" that can be found at Hyperbole as well as Lundman's Instagram, @superhappyghostco.
Her art can also be found as a mural in HAKAN Chocolatier, also in Beacon.
For more about Lundman's art, visit superhappyghost.com.
Samuel's Sweet Shop in Rhinebeck is known for serving up the sweet stuff, including cookies, candy, chocolates and more. It also offers shoppers the chance to tell their friends and family the gift came from a store owned by such stars as Paul Rudd, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Hilarie Burton Morgan.
For the holidays, the candy shop is offering the "Season's Eatings Sampler" containing peppermint bark, sour cherry Santas, chocolate-covered cherries, chocolate-covered gingerbread and some "sweet surprises." The sampler is $49.95 and can be purchased online.
Aside from the sampler, customers can find a variety of candy in the bulk candy bins including sugar plums, foil-wrapped chocolates decked out as presents, and more.
Check out Samuel's Sweet Shop offerings, including their variety of samplers, on samuelssweetshop.com or at 42 East Market St.
There are a lot of soap shops in Dutchess County, and Merriweather's in Rhinebeck has soaps, body creams and more.
Made in a LaGrangeville-based warehouse, the skin care products are small-batch products and made with "real vegetable and nut oils and include lots of vitamin E, herbs and pure essential oils" according to the Merriweather's website.
There's room sprays, hand sanitizers, lip balms, hand creams, body creams, bath salts and more in a variety of scents including lavender, lemon drop, "Mediterranean Breezes" and more.
The shop at 51 East Market St. in Rhinebeck also offers a variety of merchandise including slippers, mittens and more.
Check out Merriweather's products at merriweathers.com.
Heather Clark covers business openings and closings throughout Dutchess, Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties. Contact Clark via email, hclark@poughkeepsiejournal.com.