With the holidays right around the corner, are you still searching for the perfect gift for a friend or family member? You’ll find something for all ages—and interests—in our annual guide.
Metro Home Style
Nestled in Syracuse’s Franklin Square, you’ll find a store that makes “gift-giving effortless.”
But Metro Home Style didn’t start out that way; it initially offered a mix of vintage and antique pieces at the Regional Market Commons.
“I did a lot of painted furniture, refinishing furniture,” said owner Linda O’Boyle. “It was getting kind of difficult to find the older vintage things and find time to finish them and keep the store stocked because it was selling. So, we started adding gifts, and it morphed into gifts and home accessories. And then in 2011, we moved over to Franklin Square.”
Metro Home Style has a little bit of everything: handbags, soap, lotion, jewelry, pet items, home décor, and cocktail bar accessories (each purchase comes with complimentary gift wrap). But there are two categories in particular that have grown in recent years.
“We opened the stationary room right before COVID and expanded all the paper goods and creative things as a response to the demand from the customers,” said O’Boyle. “And our gourmet department keeps growing and adding all kinds of different products, whether it’s cocktail stuff, things for charcuterie boards, and even the baking products that we have.”
Location: 689 N. Clinton St., Syracuse.
More information: metrohomestyle.net.
1. Syracuse coaster, $7.99 each
2. Grab and go hostess gift, $29.99
3. Caramel sauce sampler duo, $11.99, and trio, $17.99
4. Watercolor workbook, $22.99, and watercolor paint set, $15.99
New Hope Mills
New Hope Mills’ store and café are full of history.
Look around, and you’ll see a safe and a desk from the company’s old flour mill, a blade from the sawmill that was on the property, and machinery from a Pennsylvania mill of the same era.
The business has been passed down through three generations of the same family, with roots going all the way back to 1823.
“My grandfather purchased it at the end of the 1940s and passed it to my father and uncle, and then my brother purchased it about 11 years ago,” said Marketing Manager Dawn Korbel. “His son works here, and my daughter is working here, so the fourth generation is involved now, which is really awesome. Over the years, we’ve expanded from just grinding flour to blending…We still own the mill, and the equipment is still in there, but at this point, we have everything in Auburn.”
New Hope Mills is probably best known for its pancake mixes (20 varieties are currently available—buttermilk and buckwheat are the most popular), but the store also sells baking mixes, hot chocolate, syrup, jelly, salad dressing, giftware, and home décor.
“We always have our gift boxes, but the gift bags and collections in baskets, we only have those during the holidays,” said Korbel. “A lot of our products completely switch over to Christmas. It’s definitely a good time to visit. It will seem very different than the rest of the year.”
Location: 181 York St., Auburn.
More information: newhopemills.com.
1. Seneca Gift Box, $24.99
2. Cake in a Cup Kit, $19.99
3. Cozy with Cocoa, $22.49
4. A Taste of Christmas, $9.99
Please note: online prices are higher than in-store prices.
SYNPLE littles
For Kelly Landau, the timing of the launch of SYNPLE littles was “kind of serendipitous.”
Her lifestyle boutique, SYNPLE, had been around since 2014 (first online, then in the village of Camillus), dedicating a small area to children’s items. When the space next door became available, expanding it into a separate store seemed like the perfect next step.
SYNPLE littles officially opened in May.
“The great thing about it was, it was at a time when I became an empty nester,” said Landau. “Everything I bring in here is simple things that I love, and I’ve used for years. The little rocks are things that my boys loved. They loved plushies when they were little. It’s kind of just building on that. I didn’t really want to do a boutique for clothing, although we do have some clothing. I wanted it to be more of a fun place where kids could come in and grab an item that wasn’t super expensive, or where a parent could go and get a birthday gift for their child.”
The store’s top sellers are Jellycat stuffed animals, Magnetic Me onesies, and Barefoot Dreams blankets and socks (“I actually used to gift them 18-20 years ago when friends of mine were having babies; they’re good quality,” said Landau). The Tender Leaf wooden toys have also been popular.
“We have gone with the tagline, ‘your one stop-shop for everything holiday,’” said Landau. “We package everything up really nicely. We take the tags off and put them in cute packaging, so you’re all set for gifting, going with our business model of making life simple.”
Location: 68 Main St., Camillus.
More information: shopsynple.com.
1. Jellycat gingerbread house, $50, and peanut reindeer, $22
2. Magnetic Me onesie, $40
3. Barefoot Dreams blanket, $70
4. Tender Leaf kitchen range, $299.99
