Shopping for holiday gifts is hard, especially when you have to buy those gifts for other people. As a service to our readers, I’ve thoroughly searched through the finest companies Raleigh has to offer to find the best gifts for this holiday season. I proudly present to you, Finley’s Favorite Things: An ITB Holiday Gift Guide.
Tradition Scarves
Tradition Scarves, a Raleigh company founded by Broughton alumni Blaine Smith and Will Roach, offers scarves, beanies, banditos, and more. With products featuring more than 70 schools, Tradition Scarves surely has a gift for someone you know.
Banditos are the hottest new apparel item inside the beltline. Made from 100% polyester, with sweat absorbing and SPF 30 treatment, these are perfect gifts for those with active lifestyles or if you just want to look cool in general. They also look good on dogs of ITB.
A great man once said, “Tradition scarves uniform a crowd.” That great man was Will Roach. So educate a friend or loved one’s wardrobe this Christmas with a gift from Tradition Scarves.
Pricing: products range from $12 to $22
Where to buy: online at Traditionscarves.com. Use coupon code “WNFIV” for $10 off an order of $30 or more.
Follow Tradition Scarves: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter
Olly Oxen
Located on Hillsborough Street, Olly Oxen is a family-owned Raleigh company started by NC State alumna, Charlotte Guice. They offer classic, collegiate, apparel and accessories made in the USA. Olly Oxen has great gift options for men, women, and children, with a wide variety of schools to choose from.
They’ll be doing a holiday pop-up shop this Sunday the 18th from 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm at Vita Vite in downtown Raleigh. They’ll even wrap the gifts for you.
They’re running some great deals for the holidays, including:
$10 off orders of $50 or more
$25 off orders of $100 or more
$40 off orders of $150 or more
Free shipping on all orders over $75
Pricing: products range from $22 to $195
Where to buy: online at Ollyoxen.com
In person at the following locations: The Red & White Shop, NOFO, Alumni Hall, and Wolfpack Outfitters (NC State Bookstore).
Follow Olly Oxen: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest
H-Street Kitchen
Located in what was once the Varsity Theater, H-Street Kitchen is the hottest new restaurant on Hillsborough Street, and one of the hottest additions to Raleigh in some time. Designed by New City Design, the finest architects inside the beltline, H-Street does a great job of honoring the past while celebrating the new Hillsborough Street. You’ve probably seen some of my Instagram posts that awarded their food 5 out of 5 beltlines. The food is better than anything else on Hillsborough Street and the atmosphere and service can’t be beat either.
An H-Street gift card would be perfect for friends and family who haven’t dined there yet. ITB Tip: Be sure to make your friends or family pick up your tab with the gift card you bought them.
Hours: Sunday – Thursday 11am – 10pm, Friday – Saturday 11am – midnight
Where to buy: Swing by H-Street to pick up a gift card at 2420 Hillsborough St., Raleigh, NC 27607
Follow H-Street: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.
PBX® – Pilates Barre Extreme
Let’s be honest, you’re going to put on some holiday weight, if you haven’t already. You’re going to need to get rid of that holiday weight between now and swimsuit season, or if you’re lucky enough to attend the Fyre Festival. There’s no better way to do so than by taking fitness classes at PBX®. A combination of modern pilates, yoga, barre, and weight training, experience the PBX® method at their Raleigh studio.
PBX® was founded by Broughton alumna, Libby Bradley Burton. Using her background in dance, gymnastics, and pole vaulting, Libby combined the best of pilates, barre, and yoga to create a new method for working out, PBX® pilates barre extreme. This method provides a whole body workout that’s easy on the joints, but with the same results of high impact exercise.
While the workouts are intense, PBX® is for everyone. They offer a variety of classes that fit all fitness levels. From “I eat an anxiety pizza and frozen custard every Sunday night” to “I’m training for my 7th marathon….this month” they have a class that will fit your fitness level.
They offer private classes, group glasses, health counseling, cleanse options, high-end activewear and more. The best part is the printable gift cards so you don’t even have to leave the house to go shopping.
For the holidays they’re offering new clients 4 classes for $50, and the 6 month unlimited package is available for $225 per month, instead of $300 per month.
If you’re lucky, you’ll even see Pickle, a dog of ITB, at your class.
Pricing: classes start at $25, high performance activewear ranges from grips socks ($12-$20) to leggings and crops ($60 to $100).
Where to buy: Shop online for classes and memberships here. Shop online for gift cards here.
In person at the following location:
11211 Galleria Ave.
#106
Raleigh, NC 27614
Follow PBX: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.
Humdinger Juice
Humdinger Juice offers fresh, raw and 100% organically grown, cold-pressed juice that keeps Raleigh residents alive. Seriously. While they can’t make claims like that because of the FDA or whatever, I can say anything I want. This juice is legit.
They’re a family run company started by the brother and sister team of Colin Fickes and Mary Holt Collins (Broughton grads, obvi). They’re also Raleigh’s first organic raw cold-pressed juice delivery company. Humdinger offers a full line of single juices, juice cleanses, and weekly subscriptions.
Humdinger has great gift options available for a variety of uses. Cleanse between the holidays, use their juices as mixers for holiday cocktails, set up a weekly recurring order for January, or grab a bottle to calm your nerves when fighting the gridlock of the Harris Teeter parking lot.
During the holidays, buy $50+ in gift certificate(s) and receive a free t-shirt.
Pricing: products range from $4 to $50+ for cleanse packages
Where to buy: Shop for juice online here. Shop for gift cards online here.
In person at the following locations:
Humdinger Juice – Sunday – Thursday: 10am – 3pm and Friday: 11am-2pm
5024 Departure Drive, Unit H
Raleigh NC 27616
Bottega Hair Salon
The Farmery
The Morning Times
NOFO @ The Pig
Ladfingers Caterers
Open Door Yoga
Hungry Leaf
fab’rik
Evolve Movement
Follow Humdinger Juice: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.
Quail Ridge Books
Quail Ridge Books is an independent shop with a friendly, knowledgeable staff that provides the best in customer service. Founded in 1984 by Nancy Olson, Quail Ridge offers a wide variety of carefully selected books, events, book clubs, and town hall meetings. Owner Lisa Poole bought the store in 2013 and is dedicated to keeping it local.
Housed in their new location in North Hills (annexed to ITB by Bonner Gaylord), their spacious yet cozy store carries exclusive autographed books, CDs, Vinyl, Cards, Gifts, Calendars, and more. There’s nothing more ITB than getting your Mom a book and telling her you spent hours picking it out, when you really grabbed the first thing you saw on the “Employee Favorites” shelf.
Quail Ridge is running a great holiday sale through 12/31. Get $10 off your purchase of $25 or more and free shipping on all online orders over $35. Just print or show them this coupon on your phone or tablet at checkout.
Pricing: products range from $5 to $150
Where to buy: online at Quailridgebooks.com.
In person at:
4209-100 Lassiter Mill Road
Raleigh, NC 27609
Hours: Monday – Saturday: 9am – 9 pm; Sunday: 10am – 6pm
Phone: 919-828-1588
Follow Quail Ridge Books: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.
Thompson Buick GMC Cadillac
Last but not least, the finest car dealership inside the beltline. In fact, they were inside the beltline before there was a beltline. Thompson is one of the largest Buick GMC & Cadillac dealers in the Southeast. Check out Thompson to find the perfect stocking stuffer, a key to a 2017 Cadillac Escalade.
They’ll be running a Christmas BOGO (buy one get one free) special* if you tell them I sent you. Seriously, go tell them that you’re buying a car because you saw them featured in Finley’s Favorite Things: An ITB Holiday Gift Guide. I want someone to say those words in public. There’s a lot riding on this.
Head down to Thompson, but watch out, they employ the classic “you can’t say no to a cute toddler” sales technique.
Pricing: used models starting at $6,700. Escalade pictured above listed at $72,740.
*BOGO deal not actually valid, but it would still be great if you asked them about it.
Where to buy: Thompson is located at
2600 Wake Forest Road
Raleigh, NC 27609
Website: http://www.thompsoncars.net/
Phone: 919-926-7680
Follow Thompson Cars: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.
This concludes the 2016 Finley’s Favorite Things holiday gift guide. I’ve basically done all your holiday shopping for you, so you’re welcome.
All of these wonderful companies were kind enough to sponsor this post, which supports another local business, ITB Insider™. Contact raleighitb@gmail.com for sponsorship information for 2017.
