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What would your favorite thing about where you live if I asked you what it would be? Is it the pizza shop with the burnt crust bubbles? The gift shop that sells snarky cards you love mailing to your friends? The small coffee shop that roasts its own beans?
Local small businesses are where your kids get their first jobs, where you find gifts for the most obscure occasion (divorce celebration, anyone?), and sales tax goes right back into your local community, funding things like roads, schools, and fire departments. Did you know that for every $100 you spend at a locally owned small business, $68 stays in the community? Shopping at Amazon? Besides making Jeff Bezos monumentally richer, only $43 stays in the community.
This holiday season, feel the magic of shopping from independent businesses. Local artisan gift shops often source products from local makers to stock their shelves. Your independent grocer is where your neighbors’ hot sauce brand got their first order.
However you prefer to shop, this post has you covered. If shopping from your sofa is your jam, all stores listed have an online shop. But if you like to smell candles, see which card makes you laugh out loud, or ask for gift suggestions, several shops have a physical location. And if you love Etsy (as I do), there’s a section of my favorite colorful Etsy shops. Consider this your ultimate guide to shopping small and colorfully!
Colorful Women-Owned Local Shops
When I travel, I make it a point to seek out small businesses to shop. I love to buy a book from a local bookstore. If you ever travel to the cities below, you have to check out these small businesses. Many will have more products in store than you’ll find online. Many owners will tell you it’s tough to run a shop, add inventory to an online store, and ship orders, all while helping shoppers walking through the door.
Included below are gift shops, paper goods stores, apparel, plants, classes, food, jewelry, and watercolors. They can help you keep your plants alive (Shop Pigment), tell you how they handmake their watercolors (Case for Making), and why you should own five different purple markers (Calliope Paper).
Covet, Arlington, VA
Awesome, Brooklyn, NY
Leif Shop, Williamsburg, NY
Case for Making, San Francisco, CA
Hale House, Fort Worth, TX
Calliope Paper, Natick, MA
Shop Pigment, San Diego, CA
El Sage Designs, Mt Vernon, WA
Take Care Shop, Washington DC
Woon Winkel, Portland, OR
Loren Hope, Newport, RI
Callie’s Hot Little Biscuit, Charleston, SC
Craft Jam Co, New York City, NY
Penny Post, Alexandria, VA
Bonboni Mercantile Co, St Louis, MO
Yinibini Baby, Washington, DC
Colorful Women-Owned Online Shops
Christine Tenenholtz – ceramic rainbow cups and planters
Mi Cielo Dallas – handwoven Mexican accessories
The Crafted Life – WFH office supplies that brighten up your workspace
Janery – luxury pet bed company (and amazing masks)
Melanie Casey – handmade limited edition gemstone jewelry
Creative Ingrid – colorful watercolor illustrator and instructor
Sipping This – wine-themed products and gifts guaranteed to make you laugh
Fancy Sprinkles – a sugar high company that provides the finishing touch to your baked goods
Hedley & Bennett – colorful kitchen gear handcrafted & built to last
Subtl Beauty – a beauty brand designed for busy women, inspired by busy women
Ramble & Co – apparel you can live your life in
Moxxie Essential Care – a soul-filling collection of botanical bath + body + home essentials
Delta Girl Frames – expertly handcrafted frames that create picture perfect gallery walls
Eeboo Puzzles – insanely colorful puzzles with a mother run and 90% recycled material shop
Camp Craft Cocktails – enjoy the art of cocktails and the joy of community
Princess Awesome/Boy Wonder – Unicorns. Trucks. Dragons. Science. Trains. Rainbows.
Remie Girl – American-made apparel in a classic, traditional, modest, and comfortable style
Colorful Women-Owned Etsy Stores
Violet Red Studio – famous for illustrated feminist art
Black & Wheat Co – handpainted doormats with graphics or hilarious sayings
Day Dog Designs – dog collars made with ribbon
ShopMyALaMode – handmade and painted women’s wallets, clutches & passport covers
Kailo Chic – colorful home goods and holiday decor
Firebird Bath & Body – handmade soaps, sugar scrubs & lip balms featuring bold colors
Modern Tally – e-reader covers, clutches and makeup bags
Art2theextreme – handmade rainbow crayons
jujujust – colorful tapestries handwoven with a variety of wool threads
No-Cost Ways to Support Small Businesses
Here are a few ways to support your local businesses without spending money. If you’re active on social media, follow these shops on Facebook and Instagram. Like and comment on their posts. Have you ever shopped at a store, melted into your dish, or given a gift that made someone cry with deep gratitude? Leave a Google review. You can’t believe how much that review matters to prospective shoppers and store owners, but it really does.
I love searching for colorful products, and finding these small businesses is my jam. If you need help finding a store local to you or someone you love, ask for my help in the comments.
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