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INSIDE Give the gift of community support this holiday by shopping Wichita’s local boutiques and specialty stores. Inside this issue you’ll find holiday recipes and features on some of the most unique shops and activities in Wichita. Whether it’s floral arrangements, desserts or music, we’ve got your local guide to shopping for everyone on your list.
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Survey responses: What’s the best or worst gift you’ve ever received? DIY Christmas gifts on the cheap
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Your guide to shopping in Wichita’s Delano District
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An interview with a mall Santa
Illustration by Jillian Clough
Shoppers purchase alternative gifts to aid those in need
Photo by Manny De Los Santos
A shopper looks at items under a tree inside the University Bookstore, which is hosting its annual 12 Days of Christmas sale until Dec. 12.
Bookstore offering annual holiday sale TJ RIGG
REPORTER
@tj_rigg
Photo by Manny De Los Santos
Jenny Ploussard shows children decorations that were made in time for the Wichita Alternative Gift Market on Nov. 14 at East Heights United Methodist Church. Thirty-six organizations were at the market to collect donations for their international causes. GRANT COHEN REPORTER @sunflowernews
Wichitans had the chance last month to give the gift of service to those in need around the world. In 25 years, Alternative Gifts International (AGI) has raised more than $27 million for people in crisis around the world. AGI hosted the 21st consecutive market Nov. 14 in Wichita. Thirty-six organizations presented sponsored tables at East Heights United Methodist Church, and gifts were available for purchase to help people around the world. “The participation of local people with the desire to do something good has kept this going strong,” program director Surinder Moore said. “Since the market has been present, I have seen many different
kinds of people from around the world coming to see what we are all about. Wichita is a great place where I see communities coming together.” The market started in 1980 when Harriet Prichard, director of the children’s ministries at the Pasadena Presbyterian Church in California, wanted to demonstrate a new, non-commercial way to give authentic gifts for Christmas. Starting out with five markets nationwide, AGI has expanded its outreach to hosting 325 markets in 43 states. The market also reached other countries including England, Holland, Japan and South Korea. The idea expanded into an annual catalog. Each year, the catalog lists 30 organizations around the world with suggested “gifts” — or services — that people can donate to someone in need.
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We see it on the news every day, and this is a really unique way of addressing these issues.” SURINDER MOORE Program director
“Everything from giving eye care to wheelchairs around the globe, we all want to see changes in the world,” Moore said. “We see it on the news every day, and this is a really unique way of addressing these issues.” Representatives from the Wichita YMCA Women’s Crisis Center promoted its services and informed shoppers about the location of their Wichita shelter.
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If you walk into the University Bookstore in the Rhatigan Student Center, you’re bound to see several sales over the next week and a half. The bookstore is hosting its annual 12 Days of Christmas sale, which includes several products available at discounted prices. The sale kicked off Monday and runs through Dec. 12. It is available only in-store, while other sales are available on the bookstore’s website, wsubooks. com. Retail manager Misti Meneley said the sale is something of a tradition at Wichita State. “We’ve been doing it for several years now,” she said. “Faculty and staff definitely look forward to it.” Meneley described the sale as a snowball sale. Beginning Monday, Wu dolls were available for $14.99, and crew sweatshirts and sweatpants were available for $17.99 each, or two for $29.99. Each day, more items are available for sale, with the sales that began Monday still marked down. “By the time the sale is finished, the majority of the store
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is on sale,” Meneley said. Meneley said the store tries to keep the pending sales a secret until the day they are made available. “We ask that customers either call the store or check our Facebook and any type of social media that we have,” she said. In addition, Meneley said the sale is highly popular with the WSU community. She said customers often call months in advance asking the start date of the sale, which is always the Monday after Thanksgiving. “We prepare for this six to eight months in advance,” she said. While the sale is geared toward students, faculty and staff, Meneley said the bookstore hopes to draw in people from off campus, too. To that end, the bookstore is doing extra marketing in Wichita, including two billboards around the city advertising the sale. “That just lets the general public know, ‘Hey, you can come shop with us. You don’t have to be a student, faculty or staff — you can come shop with us anytime,’” Meneley said.
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21st & Ridge Old Red Beans Bayou Grill 316-440-4610 21st & Webb Cambridge Market 316-977-9332
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