Traveling on business during the holidays is a double whammy. First, there are lots more people crowding airport concourses and boarding before their rows are called. Second, if you’re on a plane, you’re not at the mall. So how are you supposed to finish your holiday shopping? Here’s a small gift from Fast Company: a guide to retail destinations at four major airports — so you can catch your plane and catch up on your shopping.
| what | how many | hot shops | gift idea |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airmall
Pittsburgh International Airport Center Core and various concourses |
59 stores (plus 41 restaurants), some of them in multiple locations | The Body Shop, Clinique, the Discovery Channel Store, The Gap, Godiva Chocolatier, Victoria’s Secret | For your parents or spouse, consider Victoria’s Secret’s fragrance-and-lotion gift sets ($14 to $40), which can be packaged in velvet boxes or in holiday gift bags. |
| Boston Landing at Terminal C
Logan International Airport Terminal C |
21 stores (plus 15 restaurants), several of them in multiple locations | The Children’s Museum, Museum Company, PGA Tour Shop, Touch of New England | Surprise your children or younger relatives with a 31-piece Land & Sea wooden-train set, from Brio of Sweden ($100). The set, available at the Children’s Museum, includes 24 pieces of track, a train, two sailboats, and a bridge. |
| National Hall
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Terminals B and C |
32 stores (plus 23 restaurants), some of them in multiple locations | Bath & Body Works, National Geographic Store, the National Zoo Shop, the Smithsonian Museum Store | Want a high-touch way for you or your boss to keep in contact with colleagues and business partners? Go with a zero-gravity Bullet Space Pen ($19.95) and a set of Van Gogh note cards ($14), from the Smithsonian Museum Store. |
| Los Angeles International Airport
Various terminals |
22 stores (plus 40 restaurants), some of them in multiple locations | Bally’s Leather, I Love L.A., See’s Candy, Warner Bros., Waterstone’s Booksellers | If you’re on a snack-only flight, you might pick up the Hadley Assorted Fruit Gift Basket ($13.95, $19.95) at I Love L.A. After you nosh on southern-Californian-grown walnuts and dates, along with cherries and dried apricots, the leftovers will make a great gift. |
Airmall, Pittsburgh International Airport, Center Core and various concourses www.airmall.com
Boston Landing at Terminal C, Logan International Airport, Terminal C www.massport.com/logan/logan.html
National Hall, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Terminals B and C www.metwashairports.com/national
Los Angeles International Airport, Various terminals www.airwise.com/airports/us/LAX/LAX_01.html