When I rehired last year, my new ASM asked me what my favorite color was at my interview, and then made me a welcome bag with a reusable venti iced cup, name tag, and sharpie all in blue. It was a small present, but it really made me feel welcomed and appreciated at my new store.

I agree with the previous poster: gifts don't have to be expensive, but should show genuine thought about who is going to be receiving them.

I had a SM that made gift reusable cups that they personalized for each partner name and had stuff inside like sharpies and pens and stickers . I remember being totally happy about not having to hunt for a sharpie.
It wasn't so much what was inside but that they made the effort that made it special . Those sharpies were gold tho. Ngl
Pins for hats and aprons can be a cool small gift as well.
The thing that makes these feel cheap and makes the gift backfire is when it's done without thought and effort. Anyone can order a pizza and call it an appreciation gift. The important thing is the thought time and effort the manager puts into it.
Would you feel more appreciated with a pizza or with a batch of homemade cookies the boss made themselves?
The key is being genuine about it.

find out everyone’s favorite candy by saying you’re trying out a new QOTD activity, and the question of today is what’s your fav candy? find out the most popular ones and get big bags of those, and (optionally) document who likes what. then make the next QOTD what your fav color is, get a few sharpie variety packs, and get as close as you can to giving everyone their fav :D if my SM did that for us, i’d be touched even if i didn’t end up with anything that was actually my favorite. like the other commenters are saying, it’s the effort that makes it touching c:
plus, no one will question it if you suddenly stop doing the QOTD after a few days, they’ll just assume it didn’t take off.

Random acts like fresh donuts from a great donut spot, carbonated waters or sodas, a big jar of fun colored personal sharpies to choose from, candy dish or medium quality chocolates( like individual ghirardelli squares or lindt truffles)... fun stuff to make an escape from the sales floor to grab a quick bite/ and have something outside the usual to choose from with no worries about getting it from elsewhere.

And a boost of energy can get you through the end of a long shift. Many a mini musketeer or caramel square have made a hard hour much more bearable for me. And I know it's not healthy but it burns right off when at work, I swear.

When my manager went on leave, she bought us all reusable cups with our names on them with candy inside & a little note from her

I'm an HR Director in San Francisco. I have to work within tight budgets for employee gifts while appearing competitive in the Bay Area, which is difficult. I posted a blog post on my curated concepts if anyone wants to borrow the ideas. I've included the Canva cards I made for free too on the post if you would like to use them for your employee gift bags/boxes. https://www.thebossysauce.com/thebs/best-remote-workplace-employee-gifts-new-hires-anniversaries-awards

At my first store, my manager made most long term baristas an apron with their name sewn on. Recently, one of my ssvs left everyone little goody bags with a couple pieces of candy & a bath & body works mini hand sanitizer with a little carrying case that easily hooks onto things (like a purse) + the same ssv brought in a bunch of work appropriate pins for our aprons. Some were preferred pronoun pins and others were more simple, like hearts and things like that.