NYC's unique stores, Christmas markets

updated 2:15 p.m. ET Nov. 26, 2008

NEW YORK - Some 11 million people visited New York City last year between October and December, according to NYC & Company, the city's marketing and tourism organization. Even if that number drops this year due to the economy, you're likely to find Manhattan plenty crowded over the holidays.

"The busiest time for visitation to NYC is typically the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas," said NYC & Company spokesman Chris Heywood.

In addition to seeing the Rockefeller Center tree and decorated windows, many December visitors come to shop. Naturally chain retailers — especially the Manhattan flagships for stores like Macy's — are a big draw. But New York is also full of one-of-a-kind shops and ethnic neighborhoods where you can find unique merchandise in all price ranges.

The city is home to several Christmas markets as well, selling everything from mittens to ornaments to arts and crafts and toys. Check out the Holiday Market in the red-and-white candy-striped tents at Union Square (East 14th Street); the Holiday Shops at Bryant Park (42nd Street and Fifth Avenue), where you'll also find a shimmering Christmas tree and a rink with free ice skating; and the 74 vendors at Grand Central Terminal's Holiday Gift Fair. Grand Central hosts its free annual "Kaleidoscope Light Show," Dec. 1 through New Year's Day, themed this year on a train ride through a snowy forest filled with carousels and magical creatures.

Be sure to include stores with international themes on your shopping tour. Takashimaya, the famous Japanese department store, has a Manhattan location at 693 Fifth Ave. (54th Street) so beautifully decorated that the displays could be in a museum. Look for accessories, cosmetics, home products, confections and teas.

Holiday travel features Photos of holiday light displays Good to go: Travel gifts for tight budgets Winter in America’s national parks Places in the U.S. with holiday names Grab a pint: Best seasonal beers How to save money on holiday travel Most dangerous driving holidays

Takashimaya is on the high end as Asian shopping outposts in New York go. For bargains, Elise Loehnen, editor at large at Lucky Magazine, suggests exploring the stores run by Indian merchants in Jackson Heights, Queens, by taking the No. 7 train to the Roosevelt Avenue/74th Street subway station. "That whole stretch, you can go into any single one of those stores, and buy all kinds of jewelry and intricate rings," she said. At Butala Emporium, 37-46 74th St., bangles are four dozen for $16. Loehnen suggests buying the batch and dividing them up as gifts. "They're really pretty," she added.

In Chinatown in Lower Manhattan, stores selling produce outside often sell nonperishables inside, like woks, hard-to-find seasonings and easy-to-use mixes. They make great presents for college kids perfecting their dorm cooking or tofu-eaters looking to spice up their lives. Loehnen recommends the Kam Man Market at 200 Canal St. "I love their collection of teas," Loehnen said.

From Chinatown, head north to Soho, where you'll find The Evolution Store, 120 Spring St., which sells gifts for budding Darwins and other natural history types: replica skulls and skeletons, anatomical models, posters, colorful mounted butterflies, scorpion paperweights and even flavored lollipops with genuine crickets inside.

Holiday travel 101 Are you ready for the busiest travel period of the year? Test yourself with our quiz. EPA

One of Loehnen's favorite places in Soho is the Young Designers Market, 268 Mulberry St., between Prince and Houston, open weekends. The "small indie designers" change every week, and "the jewelry is particularly strong," she said.

Loehnen also recommends Kiosk, upstairs at 95 Spring St. "They do these pillows ($24) that are really popular in animal shapes," she said. "And every season they switch their focus to a different country and go on these buying sprees to bring home really unusual items."

Also worth a visit is Kidrobot at 118 Prince St., the Lucky magazine editor says. The store, which does have locations in Miami, Los Angeles and several other cities, showcases collectible and limited edition "art toys," from cartoonish 3-inch, $10 reindeers to foot-tall, two-headed furry creatures called "furillas," $37. A little farther uptown, Loehnen suggests checking out John Derian's stores, at 6 and 10 E. Second St. "He has an exquisite eye for one-off antiquities, curios and china," and he's known for his collections of decoupage, she said.

FirstPerson AFP - Getty Images Holiday lights It's time to deck the halls! Send in your best shots of indoor and outdoor holiday light displays.

Nearly all museum stores can be entered without paying admission to the exhibits. You'll find unusual jewelry, art books, housewares, stationery, posters and post cards in all price ranges in, among other places, the shops at the Museum of Modern Art (53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues), the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum (2 E. 91st St.), and even the New York Transit Museum, which sells everything from subway map shower curtains to colorful purses made from recycled maps. (If you can't get to the Transit Museum in Brooklyn at Boerum Place and Schermerhorn Street, there's also a shop in Grand Central.) The shop at the Guggenheim Museum (Fifth Avenue and 89th Street) is selling a special edition of jewelry this season called "Restoration Rocks" made from bits of the museum's original Frank Lloyd Wright building that were recovered during a recent restoration; prices start at $125.

Deal of the Day Newfoundland and Labrador Explore World Heritage sites, glimpse into the life of the Vikings, more, from $1,635.

Temporary "pop-up" stores are not unusual during the Christmas shopping season, but one at 680 Fifth Ave. (open through Jan. 4 near Takashimaya) is the first of its kind: a store selling the RED-branded designer merchandise that benefits African AIDS programs. The sometimes hard-to-find RED products include Converse sneakers created by artists around the world as well as other limited edition items from Armani, the Gap, Apple, Dell, Hallmark and others.

Finally, don't forget the city's specialty bookstores, including Drama Book Shop in the theater district, 250 W. 40th St.; Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks, 163 W. 10th St., specializing in rare and old cookbooks, and the new Idlewild Books, 12 W. 19th St., which sells guidebooks, novels and other literature about places around the world, along with maps, globes and custom-made destination kits. Idlewild was the original name for Kennedy Airport.

For more detailed shopping guidance, check out Suzy Gershman's "Born To Shop New York" (Frommer's, $17). Recommendations include chocolates from La Maison du Chocolat, Madison Avenue near 78th Street; silk flower hairclips from Dulken & Derrick, 12 W. 21st St.; and a visit to Bergdorf Goodman, Fifth Avenue and 57th Street, which Gershman rates as one of the best department stores in the world.

Don't miss these Travel stories from msnbc.com Offbeat holiday celebrations Best places to spend Christmas Be sure the people on your list travel in style AAA says holiday travel to rise this year Will the real Las Vegas please stand up?

MORE FROM SEASONAL

Seasonal Section Front

Thousands flock to Aria for glitzy unveiling Will the real Las Vegas please stand up? Las Vegas golf vacations for any budget 10 things not to do in Las Vegas Beyonce talking Vegas shows with Wynn Mandarin Oriental opens at CityCenter in Vegas CityCenter mall in Las Vegas opening to public CityCenter’s Vdara officially open for business Manilow keeps it romantic at new Vegas gig Greening the Las Vegas Strip Seasonal Section Front   Add Seasonal headlines to your news reader: