Shop Local, NJ! Kings Highway, Haddonfield

by Alice Magdziak • December 4, 2011 • Camden, Shopping • Comments (0) • 3207

Welcome to the third installment in a series we’re calling Shop Local, NJ! We’re planning on doing all our holiday shopping locally this year and we’re taking you with us. We spent a few hours this weekend in Haddonfield and had a really great time. We bought several gifts for our families and had lots of fun browsing all the stores.

Kings Highway Streetscape

I’ve learned something over the course of shopping all these independent stores and beautiful downtowns. I used to think that I hated shopping but I’ve learned that what I actually don’t like is shopping in malls and giant department stores. I get overwhelmed and feel like I can’t decide on any gifts for anyone. In our experiences over the last few weeks, I’ve had the exciting discovery that I actually LOVE shopping! I love meeting the owners of the stores and hearing directly from them about what special items they just got in, what my budget will afford and what products they have that are from local artists and companies. It’s been a real pleasure getting to know the local businessmen and women.

Our favorite stop in Haddonfield had to be Rhinoceros Activities, Gamery and Toys.

Rhinoceros Activities, Gamery and Toys

The owner knew about all the games and toys in the store and helped me pick out the best game for my sister. She also had some other ideas of games for us to buy for ourselves and we’re definitely going to try some of those out, too! They also carried a good selection of puzzles, toys and other cool gift ideas. So, if you have a gamer in the family or if your entire family are game-players like mine, you should definitely head over right away!

I was pretty impressed when she pointed out that Rhinoceros Gamery also had toys and clothes for special needs kids. What a nice place to get something special for a child on your list who could use sensory clothes or equipment.

The Gamery section of the store has space you can rent for $10 an hour and they’ll teach you any games you wish. Game players can also come in, bring beverages and play games with other people in the Gamery. Can you tell how cool this store is, yet?

Rhinoceros Toys’ Gamery Section

Our next stop was to look for a few cat toys for our kitties at Doggy and Kitty Style. This store had all kinds of treats, food, clothes and toys for your furry friends. We got a new collar and a few toys and they were all very reasonably priced.

Doggie and Kitty Style

Happy Hippo Toys was recommended to us by our Facebook fan, Ray Markey, and boy were we happy he did!

Happy Hippo Toy Store with Santa

He said “Absolutely amazing little store… old-time toys and new favorites as well. Amazing how many of the toys from my childhood I found in here thinking I’d never see again. Worth a trip!” We agreed with Ray once we entered this toy wonderland. The store was packed with little stocking stuffers, giant stuffed animals and all kinds of toy sets and neat gift ideas. We got one of our nieces a giant stuffed globe that she can use as a giant pillow for now and later get some geography lessons from mom and dad. We loved this store! They also have a Happy Hippo Toys in Moorestown.

Other great stores we visited and thought you should know about for family and friends’ gifts were: the English Gardener Gift Shop where you can pick up a cute gift for the Anglophile on your list; the N.K. Thaine Gallery that had cool art for the person who has everything; Haddonfield Running Co. for the athletes; and, Jamaican Me Crazy for the kooky and fun people on your list. See what we mean when we say that Haddonfield has just about everything you need to finish up your holiday shopping?

Check out all of our pictures from our morning in beautiful Haddonfield: