Detroit Gifts Under $50 From Local Makers and Shops

Fifty dollars buys a hand-glazed tile from a Detroit pottery that dates to 1903. It also buys a jar of pickles, a bottle of hot sauce, a box of chocolates and a bag of Eastern Market snack mix, with change left over. The trick is knowing who makes what, and what it costs before shipping gets added.

Every price below comes from the maker's or shop's own website as listed in the first week of October 2026. Prices move, especially heading into the holidays, so read them as "about" and check the site before you order.

Stocking stuffers under $15

Bon Bon Bon chocolate novelties, $2 to $10. The chocolate company says it started in the back of a coney island in 2014. It now runs shops in Midtown and downtown Detroit, plus Birmingham, Ann Arbor and Ferndale, with headquarters in Hamtramck. The small stuff is built for stockings: a chocolate shaped like a raised hand (the Hi Five Pop) is $5, and a pink raspberry white chocolate shaped like a floppy disk is $10. Bark Bark Bark runs $9. Pops start at $2.

McClure's pickles, $13 a jar. Every 16-ounce jar on the McClure's site is listed at $13. That covers whole and sliced dills, the spicy versions, bread and butter, Bloody Mary mix and sauerkraut. According to the company, McClure's began in 2006 with a great-grandmother's recipe and made pickles in both Brooklyn and Detroit before moving all manufacturing to Michigan in 2009. A jar of spicy spears is an odd thing to find in a stocking. That's part of why it works.

Germack snack mixes, about $6. Germack has been in business since 1924 and sells from 2509 Russell Street in Eastern Market. The company describes itself as the first in America to import and roast pistachios. Its 8-ounce snack mixes were listed at $5.99, and 9 ounces of the holiday cashew cranberry truffle mix was $11.99.

Hell Fire Detroit hot sauce, $13 to $16. The milder bottles (Poblano, Anaheim) are $13, the medium ones run $13 to $15 and the habanero is $16. The superhot bottles made with Carolina Reaper, Bhut Jolokia and Trinidad Scorpion peppers are $33 each, which is a lot of money for a dare. The company lists its address in Warren and dates its start to 2015.

Between $20 and $50

Pewabic tiles and ornaments, $24 to $48. Pewabic is a nonprofit pottery at 10125 E. Jefferson Ave. that dates to 1903, and its site says it's one of the oldest continually operating potteries in the country. It keeps a "$50 and Under" collection online. A 3-by-3-inch pinecone tile is $24, the same price as the honeybee, ginkgo and honeycomb tiles. The Detroit Ornament, Michigan Ornament and Detroit Skyline Tile are $29 each. House-number tiles are $42, and a Rocks Cup is $48. Pewabic sells its own gift boxes for $2, which is worth adding if you're shipping a tile to someone.

The store is open Tuesday through Thursday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday until 6:30 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. It's closed Mondays.

A Bon Bon Bon box, from $21. The Mixed Box of Bons comes in sizes from six pieces to 36, and the smallest starts at $21. Chocolate doesn't love a warm mail truck, so buy it in person if you can.

A Hell Fire Detroit two-bottle set, $28. Hot Box #3 pairs two sauces. The four-bottle Hot Box #1 is $55, which puts it just over the line.

Pure Detroit shirts and hats, from about $28. Pure Detroit opened on Thanksgiving Day 1998 and now sells from the Fisher Building, which its site credits to Albert Kahn in 1928. T-shirts start at $28.50 and baseball caps are $34. The Fisher Building shop is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and a second shop in the Strathmore is open Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

A mug or a cutting board from City Bird, $16 to $30. City Bird is a gift shop at 460 W. Canfield in Midtown, and it stocks a long run of Detroit and Michigan goods. Not everything on its shelves is made in Detroit, so read the tag if that matters to you. A Birds of Michigan mug was listed at $16 and a Destination Michigan cutting board at $30. A Michigan air freshener is $5.

Our Half box, $49. If you'd rather send a few Detroit foods in one package, our Half box is $49 for four items, one each from any four of our five shelves: pop, salty, sweet, pantry and a keepsake. A jar of McClure's pickles is one of the options. It's packed by hand in Detroit, ships to all 50 states and comes with a handwritten card. No prices go inside.

Where shipping changes the math

A $13 jar of pickles is a $13 gift until it has to travel. Several of these makers set free-shipping thresholds well above $50: Bon Bon Bon lists free ground shipping on orders over $100, and Hell Fire Detroit sets its line at $100 too. If you're sending one small item across the country, the postage can cost close to what the gift does.

Two ways around it. The first is to buy several at once from one maker and split them among a few people. Three Bon Bon Bon novelties, two jars of McClure's or a handful of Germack mixes cover a whole stocking shelf in one order.

The second is to shop in person. The Midtown stops sit close together: Bon Bon Bon's shop at 441 Canfield and City Bird at 460 W. Canfield are both in the 400 block, and both are open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday until 6 p.m. Eastern Market's Saturday Market runs year-round from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Germack's store on Russell Street is open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Holiday hours can change, so check each shop's site the week you go.

Putting a few together

Some combinations that land at or under $50 at October prices:

• A Pewabic Detroit Skyline Tile ($29) and a six-piece Bon Bon Bon box (from $21): about $50.
• Two Hell Fire sauces in Hot Box #3 ($28) and a jar of McClure's Bloody Mary mix ($13): about $41.
• A McClure's jar ($13), a Germack snack mix ($5.99) and a Bon Bon Bon floppy disk ($10): about $29, with room for a card.
• A Pewabic pinecone tile ($24) in a $2 Pewabic gift box: about $26.

For one package that ships with no assembly, the Half box is $49 with your four picks inside. Our full boxes start just past the line: The Michigan Sundae Box is $69.

Pewabic's pinecone tile is three inches on a side. It fits in a stocking.