This time of year, you won’t find miracles on 34th Street. It’s hard to spot the holiday spirit on a row of chain stores where shopping is like a rugby scrum. But New York offers rich retail experiences that will fill you with childish glee - you just have to know where to look.

After all, this is one of the world’s great shopping cities. This is where sales last from Halloween through New Year’s and subway riders even tolerate being squeezed by bag- laden out-of-towners. (Everyone in New York schleps.) On upper Madison Avenue, every gift box is fastened with satin ribbon, while downtown, graffiti-clad walls disguise wonderful merchandise at tiny shops. You’re bound to mark each and every one off your list as fast as you can yell, “Taxi!”

Barneys New York, photographed by Michael Falco for the Globe and Mail

Uptown, don’t write off the city’s famous department stores. Barneys New York (660 Madison Ave., 212-826-8900) serves haute baubles and yards of cashmere with an impish grin. The shop’s famous window displays resemble charming, overblown craft projects: This year’s is a papier-mâché ode to Saturday Night Live , including characters such as the Coneheads. The fun continues inside, where copper Brillo pads decorate a holiday tree. Barneys carries a zillion top fashion and home labels, but their house brand is a high-quality, lower-cost alternative. Wood-handled umbrellas in kicky checks and stripes ($125; all prices U.S. dollars) and cotton sateen pyjamas in cranberry and navy ($260) are two nice finds for men. For ladies, try buttery tie-dyed leather pouches ($155) and Taytu handbags ($345), made in Ethiopia and lined with cotton prints. Wool pashminas from Virginia Johnson ($215) are patterned with camels, sharks or turtles.

Kinokuniya photographed by Michael Falco for the Globe and Mail

Midtown’s Bryant Park transforms into a Christmas village this time of year with dozens of vendors (theholidayshopsatbryantpark.com), and offers a free skating rink. But for unique gifts, cross the street to Kinokuniya (1073 Avenue of the Americas, 212-869-1700), the NYC outpost of this Japanese bookstore chain. Magazines and gift books occupy the top two floors, but downstairs is a wonderland of stationery, art supplies, calendars and trinkets straight from Japan. There’s a staggering selection of cutesy day planners (from $8.70), some with stickers that will make any 10-year-old girl swoon - and dutifully record homework assignments - while paper clips in unconventional shapes and colours (from $3.70 a box) make great stocking stuffers. Head upstairs to purchase a make-your-own ukulele kit ($39.95).

For home goods and holiday decor, head downtown to ABC Home (888 Broadway, 212-473-3000). The main level of this warehouse-sized shop looks like a crystalline magic forest.

Glittery chandeliers stand in for mossy branches and the fairies and angels come with strings for hanging on Christmas trees. A palm-sized kit of wooden reindeer and barn ($55) is handmade in Germany, while a set of jewel-tone icicle ornaments ($24 for 12) are straight out of the Fifties. Wade through the holiday displays to reach the floor’s outskirts, where a bazaar of Indian jewellery and gifts, stacks of ethnic textiles, hand-thrown pottery and an “eco-intelligence” corner promise even more shopping bliss.

Kiosk, photographed by Michael Falco for the Globe and Mail

The ordinary is elevated to extraordinary at Kiosk (95 Spring St., 212-226-8601), a SoHo shop that showcases household objects from a new country every few months. Right now, it’s Portugal. Children’s tambourines ($15-$18), silky hand cream in a beautiful metallic tube ($18), toothpicks hand-carved to look like swords ($15/pack) and sardines ($6) are available now, and each item is packaged with a funny anecdote about its origins or use.

Year-round, Kiosk sells a “best-of” selection from past exhibits, such as a red plastic cheese grater from Italy ($22) and a handmade German xylophone ($38). Grab-and-go, this isn’t - you’ll be tempted to dally by reading the stories and handling the objects. It’s worth it, so leave time to enjoy.

Like Kiosk’s selection, the pop-up shop is a New York phenomenon that’s both novel and useful. Storefront vacancies spurred by the recession have fuelled the trend and the silver lining is a crop of temporary stores for every taste. Just north of SoHo (in the area some call NoHo) is Gifted (20 East 4th St.), a holiday event put

on by hipster flea market Brooklyn Flea. Artisanal pickles, vintage YSL jewellery and silk-screened onesies are all in the mix. Keep an eye out for Brooklyn Brew Shop, which offers an attractive “apartment-size” home brewing kit ($40) and brew mixes ($15) like Eggnog Milk Stout. Book City Jackets sells brown-paper book covers with illustrations by artists ($15 for a roll of 3). Underground Signs will custom- make a black-and-white sign (from $99) that is identical to those in the subway. (You can order online: underground-signs.com.)

There’s shopping underground too. Quirky gift manufacturer Areaware opened a pop-up called StopShop (641 8th Ave. in the Port Authority Bus Terminal to sell its cheeky design-lover gifts. (Think of a ceramic vase shaped like a boot or a pencil cup shaped like a handful of pencils) and hip fashion items from Rogan, Devotte and A Détacher and toys for adults from Kid Robot.

And Target, the mass retailer known for its high-design collaborations, hosts a pop-up shop this weekend in the shadow of the new High Line park. Target To-Go (Gansevoort and Washington Streets) offers 50 hot gifts pre-wrapped and ready to go. Scan the giant “menu” for ribbon belts ($12.99) and halter dresses ($39.99) from white-hot fashion duo Rodarte and Santa suits for dogs ($9.99). Then place your order (“I’ll have two No. 3’s and a side of 11”) and head to the pickup window.

Don’t leave the city without picking up a treat for the kids. Street-cart pretzels don’t pack well, so head instead to Dinosaur Hill (306 East 9th St., 212-473-5850) in the East Village, where puppets and marionettes dangle from the ceiling and every corner is crammed with old-fashioned toys. Blocks ($32 and up), baby rattles ($20) and logging trucks ($47) are among the handmade, wooden creations. Anchor Stone Blocks ($135 for a starter set) is a classic kids’ game in Germany that also appeals to handy adults - architecture students from nearby Cooper Union make a habit of visiting Dinosaur Hill to play with the blocks. If you’re in town at gift-exchange time, you might find yourself doing the same.

Special to The Globe and Mail