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Tips for Shopping Local in NYC

If you’re planning to visit one of these brick-and-mortar shops, check the website or call ahead to make sure it’s open. Many of the places on this list are closed at least one day a week—often Monday—and some have special holiday hours.

Want to skip the subway schlep? Most of these stores have online shopping available. Just check the shipping times if you need a gift by a certain date.

We’ve included a dollar range with each store to give you an idea of what to expect:
$ = Gifts under $20
$$ = Gifts for $20-$50
$$$ = Gifts for $50-$100
$$$$ = Gifts for $100+

All of the stores below offer items you can pick up and hold in your hands, but sometimes the best present we can give our children is time together. Whether you book tickets to a show or plan a free outing to a park or museum, we have a whole bucket list of experiences you can gift and enjoy as a family.

Best Gift Shops for Kids in NYC

1. Playing Mantis – Tribeca

Price range: $$ - $$$$
This mom-owned local shop features a beautiful collection of handcrafted wooden toys. The store owner believes in the power of creative, hands-on play, so you won’t find flashy plastic toys or screen-based games here. What you will find are colorful building blocks, puzzles, musical instruments, wooden vehicles, fairy houses, and more.

Whether you're into sports cards or Pokémon, Bleeker Trading carries them all! Photo by the author

2. Bleecker Trading – West Village and Upper West Side

Price range: $ - $$$$
My 9-year-old sports card collector has spent many happy hours at the tiny outpost of this shop in the West Village. When the weather is nice, he loves to buy a few packs of cards and sit in the little yard out back to sort through them. The guys who work here are super helpful and great with kids. It’s the kind of place where you can spend a few dollars on a pack of cards or splurge on something really special. Bleecker Trading has sports cards and memorabilia, as well as Pokémon cards.

3. Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co. – Park Slope

Price range: $ - $$
If your favorite superhero needs night-vision goggles, a new cape, or even a superpower in a can, step into the nearest phone booth and fly on over to Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co. Proceeds benefit a local literacy nonprofit.

4. The Compleat Strategist – Midtown West

Price range: $ - $$$$
This hidden gem has piles of games stacked from wall to wall. Whether your child is into board games or card games, you’ll have plenty of options. For a bit of NYC-themed fun, look for Ticket to Ride: New York. And, just ask one of the game-crazed staff members for suggestions if you’re not sure where to start.

Find a new favorite book at the kid-centric Books of Wonder. Photo by the author

5. Books of Wonder – Union Square

Price range: $ - $$$$
An entire store filled only with children’s books is a rare find these days. Books of Wonder has beautiful books for kids of all ages, and it carries both new and classic titles in stock. My go-to gift for older kids is a signed copy of The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street, the first in a series of novels penned by a NYC mom about a lovable family in Harlem. The store also has a collection of old and rare books for sale. Check the calendar for frequent kid-friendly author events and book releases!

6. Grandma’s Place – Harlem

Price range: $ - $$
You know you’ve found a local gem when the website has a “Meet Grandma” tab featuring the real-life grandmother who started the business. This Harlem store is the brainchild of a retired New York City educator and features books, games, dolls, and toys.

7. Chess Forum – Greenwich Village

Price range: $$ - $$$$
“Smart people not smart phones” is one of Chess Forum's mottoes. This NYC institution in the heart of Greenwich Village not only sells chess sets, playing cards, and other games like Mahjong—it’s also a year-round hub for learning and playing chess, and kids play for FREE.

8. WCS Zoos and Aquarium – Multiple Locations

Price range: $ - $$$
These gift shops tend to be among the most kid-friendly in the city, featuring soft stuffed animals, books, and cool souvenirs. In many cases, part of the proceeds help to protect wildlife. With four WCS zoos in the city and an aquarium in Coney Island, there are plenty of places to find something fun and cuddly for your little one.

9. Economy Candy – Lower East Side

Price range: $ - $$$
Colorful candy + a NYC history lesson = a pretty sweet deal. Economy Candy began as a shoe and hat repair shop with a candy cart on the sidewalk. When the Great Depression hit, people stopped spending money on repairs, but kept buying candy, and that’s how this legendary shop was born. The Lower East Side store has just about every confection imaginable, from gummy worms to chocolate-covered graham crackers. Online, you can shop by color, theme, and even decade. There's a small outpost in the Chelsea Market, too.

10. Midtown Comics – Multiple Locations

Price range: $ - $$$
This comic book superstore is open seven days a week and has four NYC locations—three in Manhattan and one in Astoria, Queens. Shop old and new comics along with collectibles and souvenirs featuring hundreds of characters from Bluey to Spiderman.

11. Tannen’s Magic – Midtown West

Price range: $ - $$$
This only-in-NYC magic shop bills itself as the oldest store of its kind in the USA. Tannen’s has been peddling magic for a hundred years and counting. While magicians never reveal their secrets, we’re happy to let you in on this store’s almost-secret location: It's on the sixth floor of a West 34th Street office building.

12. Museum Shops – Multiple Locations

Price range: $ - $$$$
Have you ever stepped inside an iconic museum, all excited to see the awesome exhibits, only to have your kids make a beeline for the gift shop? These places are kid magnets for a reason and often feature only-in-NYC offerings. Check out the shops at museums like The Met, MoMa, or the American Museum of Natural History for unique gifts from art supplies to puzzles to cool rocks and gems. The New York Public Library’s flagship location in Midtown is another great place to find NYC-themed gifts.

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