Totem - local crafts is a gift shop at 50c Fitzherbert Street in Featherston, South Wairarapa, with a 5.0 rating on Google. True to its name, it centres on locally made work — a natural stop for gifts with a maker's story behind them.
A good craft-focused gift shop works as a shop window for its region: stock turns over with the seasons and with whatever local potters, jewellers and woodworkers have on the bench, so no two visits look quite the same. Look for makers' names on labels or swing tags, and expect small irregularities — a glaze pool, a tool mark — as the honest evidence of handwork rather than flaws. Since much of the stock is one-off or made in small runs, regulars learn to buy when they see it.
For a present that carries a bit of the Wairarapa with it, Totem sits handy on Fitzherbert Street, in a small town that rewards a slow browse.