Retail trends as of 2005 show that high-tech toys are booming, and the personal technology purchases are skyrocketing. Despite the explosion of ipods, digital cameras, and flip phones, the shopping atmosphere actually has not changed much. Americans still describe their shopping experience as being most defined by time. Everyone knows that crunch-time feeling, when graduation, office, and birthday parties are a week away, a day away, a few hours away, and no amount of walking in and out of mall stores is helping us find anything. Personal touches on gifts are typically marginalized by professional packaging as well, causing gifts to lose a sense of effort. The average customer also strongly favors certain retailers over others, so sometimes what seems like an easy solution (going to a person’s favorite store) turns out to be a nightmare when one realizes they have nearly everything in the store. The solution? With a little bit of ingenuity and creative retail crossover, a few tried and true quickie gifts that look great, will be useful, and won’t cause your wallet to weep can solve all your gift woes.