This is part two of an earlier post. With Mother’s day just a few days away we thought a few more tips about gift recommendation websites is timely and helpful. 

Yahoo mother’s day gifts section provides a basic breakout of three top categories - jewelry gifts, clothing gifts, and electronics gifts.  Yahoo then offers gift ideas structured around themes or personality types:

• Gifts for Super Moms (specific items like Mom’s wreath necklace, Mother’s Day Waterford Vase Arrangement, Mother’s day fortune cookie, flower arrangements, and more)
• Gifts for Stylish Moms (specific items like Emitations Cammy’s Silver Handcuff Earrings, Pearl Necklace: Freshwater Cultured Pearl, enameled rose mirror + card case, White Stag - Woven Stripe Crochet Tote Bag, Women’s Plaid Rain Boots and more.)
• Gifts for Working Moms (specific items like maman je t’aime bracelet, Franco Sarto Nolan (Women’s) - Black Calf, Mother’s Birthstone Necklace, Conair Thermal Spa Full-Body Massaging Bath Mat, monogrammed women’s therapeutic slippers, and more)
• Gifts for New Moms (specific items like Sally Spicer Diaper Bags Shoes - Baby Bag, baby’s memory book, Sherpani Shoes - Lena, Kodak Digital Camera Tripod, Digital Photo Diaper Bag and more.)
• Gifts for Techie Moms (specific items like Bose SoundDock Digital Music System, Saffaire Jukebox Station Universal ipod Dock, Sony VAIO notebook,
  digital cameras, and more)
• Gifts for Retired Moms (specific items HoMedics Therapist Select Shiatsu Massager SM100, Womens Wilson Hope 12pc. Golf Club Set Left Hand, Multi-Colored Gemstone Yellow Gold Pendant, Personalized Country Kitchen Cutting Board, family locket necklace, and more.)

 It is interesting to compare Yahoo’s gift categories and items with Gifts.com approach to recomending a gift for mom.  Gifts.com organizes mother’s day gifts in these categories :

• Working mom (specific items like personalized memo pads, digital picture frames, stylish laptop bags, personal video telephone, wireless headsets for cell phones, Treo Smartphones and accessories, designer iPod cases, gourmet coffee gift sets, tea gift baskets, personalized women’s stationary and more.)
• Gardening Mom (specific items like Dreamhome birdhouses, Gardener’s Tool Totes & Caddies, Ergonomic Garden Tools, potting and planting workbench and more)
• Grandmom (specific items like personalized photo pillows, tea collections, Roomba robotic vacuums, soothing eye pillows and masks, heatable spa wraps, jewelry armories and more.)
• Pet-Loving Mom (specific items like personalized custom pet portraits, designer dog collars, picture frames for dog lovers, Decorator Wicker Covers for Litter Boxes, and more.)
• Stylish Mom (specific items like Fabulous Designer Totes, Diamond Hoop Earrings, jewlery trees,  Ralph Lauren Pink Pony Tops, Stylish Diaper Bags, Create-Your-Own Oxford & Polo Shirts  and more.)
• Gadget Mom (specific items like Design your own bluetooth headset, Pink Zune, portable camcorders, Tivo digital video recorders, “Hands Free” Phone Accessories for Cars, and more.)

An innovative approach on this website is to provide presonality profiles for gift recipients.  Read them for yourself to see if they give you useful tips, reinforce silly stereotypes, or both.  The personality profile types are: Achiever, Adventurer, Country Clubber, Domestic Diva, Hipster, Super Mom, Thinker, Natural Woman, Trendanista and Urban Sophisticate.

MSN.com has posted a helpful set of last minute gift ideas and options for Mother’s Day.  Of course we hope you shop local after getting a list of gift ideas off of the web. The following general categories are the ones MSN suggests and we have linked to the corresponding general categories on our Long Island business directory:

• Clothing & Shoes  - Search for Long Island women’s clothing stores and shoe stores on Long Island.
• Jewelry & Watches - Search for Long Island jewelry and watch stores on Long Island.
• Beauty & Spa - Search for beauty products on Long Island, and beauty salons and day spas on Long Island. 

A number of the major web portals (Yahoo and MSN) and websites that offer gift recomendations have come out with lists of gift ideas for mom.  It is getting down to the wire to find the right mother’s day gift.  You may be best off doing what many shoppers are doing for major holiday shopping- they search for gift ideas online and buy at local stores.  Some of the popular mother’s day gifts in Yahoo’s electronics category are: solar chargers for iPods and cell phones,  special edition red or pink iPods and mp3 players, security backpacks, photo printers, mini digital camcorders, and digital cameras. One of the largest Long Island consumer electronics stores, P.C. Richard is running mother’s day sales on a variety of items including: Sony Cameras and camcorders, computers, portable DVD players, iPods and more.  They are also running specials on a buy 3 get 1 free offer on major appliances (refrigerators, ranges, microwaves, and dishwashers).  Amazon.com has another set of unique items to consider like matching sets of iPod and cellphone accessories. Or visit gifts.com to discover other ideas on the latest trends in stylish laptop bags, digital picture frames, hands free accesories for the car, and voice activated devices for the home. After doing your online gift research turn to these Long Island directory pages for local shopping for computers, electronics, cameras and A/V gear: computer stores, electronics stores, cameras and photo equipment, and audio-video equipment.

With Mother’s Day fast approaching (hint, its on Sunday May 13th this year) we’ll posting on some of the latest gift ideas. Each year some items remain popular like pearl necklaces and brithstone jewelry but in the area of gift apparel you’ll see new seasonal trends each year. This year here are a few of the items that gift recommender websites are briging to our attention.

• JCPenny
  There are current women’s clothing sales that will help you stretch your gift dollars.  Some current sale items include: Worthington jackets, blouses and pants, Liz Baker cutout sweater outfits, a.n.a. hlaters and shorts, St John’s Bay mesh jackets and more. Halter dresses are a popular trend this year.
• Target
  Some of the new items are: Mossimo Yarn Dyed Trouser Pants, Mossimo Tote Bags, Isaac Mizrahi Sleeveless Bow Blouses and Raschel knit skirts.
• Walmart
  Items of note include: George ME women’s print skirt, cotton silk blend camp shirt and women’s print chemise.

For more Long Island clothing stores  listings to help you find mother’s day sales visit our business listing pages for: women’s clothing, women’s discount clothing, and women’s clothing accessories.  You’ll find several listing pages that will help you with popular mother’s day gifts like beauty products, flowers, greeting cards, and spas.

The Retail Design Diva blog is a good read for retailers and consumers alike, quirky and fact filled, with information to help you impress your friends by being in the know about baristas.  Wine is trending up on the business radar on Long Island.  And wine has become a more popular pleasure among the baby boomers in America for the past few years.  So its only fitting to let you know about the impact on home furnishings and bridal shower planning.  The Design Diva reports that “wine now makes an absolutely acceptable kitchen decor theme”.  This affects the preferences for color arrangements in rooms and the choice of wine racks for several rooms in a home or apartment.  Many Long Island furniture stores today will have selection of five to ten different types of wine racks.

 Some recent consumer surveys that young adults ages 20 to 25 are getting a more postive few of wine and they want a better udnerstanding of wine.  But there are some barriers to wider acceptance by young adults.  Wine can still be seen as foreign and elitest.  We have posted about some of the events Long Island wineries are doing to break down these barriers with fun events that target different age groups.  This is a good trend for the east end of Long Island and good for the rest of the Island too.

We thought you’d like to know about the current sales at the Tanger Outlet Mall.  Some of seasonal sales are for the Easter Holiday and some are for spring items.

• Harry & David (Can be found in Citidexli.com Long Island business listings for gourmet food stores, gift shops, candy and nut stores, Tanger Outlet Center).  They will make you Easter celebration easier with custom Easter Baskets, and in store specials on Chocolate Truffles, Cheesecakes, & Baklava.  And they offer a great deal on baked ham, the main course item in many family easter dinners.  Their Spiral Sliced Ham is lean with a sweetness that comes from slow, patient smoking.  At the Tanger mall store location an Easter Brunch Tasting is featured from 1 PM to 5 PM this weekend on March 31st and April 1st.  You’ll be able to try the spiral sliced ham, chocolate covered fruit and more.
• Le Creuset (Can be found in Citidexli.com Long Island business listings for kitchen and tableware, Tanger Outlet Center, wine racks and accessories).
  Spring sale offer: Save 30% Off All Citrus Cookware, Silicone Utensils and Stoneware but note that the offer excludes Stoneware Citrus Bell Pepper Petite Casserole.  Offer expires on 4/1/07.
• Liz Claiborne Outlet (Can be found in Citidexli.com Long Island business listings for Tanger Mall Riverhead, discount clothing Long Island, discount women’s clothing).  If you make a purchase for $60 or more you can get a Chic Linen Satchel Handbag for just $14.99.
• Off 5TH-Saks Fifth Avenue Outlet (Can be found in Citidexli.com Long Island business listings for Tanger Mall Riverhead, discount clothing Long Island, discount women’s clothing).  They have a general seasonal sale with 60 to 70% off of their typical retail prices. Sale ends April 1st.