90 special L.A. shops to find the perfect holiday gift
- Forget about online shopping and big box stores. It’s fun to shop for holiday gifts in real life at these bricks-and-mortar stores in Los Angeles.
- From Malibu to Pasadena, here are 90 stores where you can find inspired holiday gifts in Los Angeles area.
- When you spend your dollars at a neighborhood store, you are not only buying something special for someone you love but you’re also extending a hand of support to small businesses in L.A.
During the holiday season, the allure of online shopping can be strong. But there’s something special about visiting local stores, with their festive decor and thoughtfully chosen gifts, to get you in the holiday spirit. Another incentive: When you shop locally, you’re not just purchasing a gift for someone you love but you’re also supporting small businesses struggling amid a challenging retail landscape.
So why not savor the unique experience of shopping in person instead of worrying about the arrival of your Amazon purchase? Even if you’re not a “shopper,” making a day of it is fun in a city like Los Angeles, where you can shop for hand block-printed textiles, locally made jewelry and ceramics along Glendale Boulevard in Atwater Village. Or sip a complimentary Turkish coffee while shopping for small-batch blankets, skincare products and cotton loungewear on Colorado Boulevard in Eagle Rock. And if your giftee prefers vintage or secondhand goods to something new, our Los Angeles thrift store, vintage Midcentury Modern and flea market guides are at your service.
More gift guides
In what has become an annual tradition as part of our holiday gift guide, we’ve compiled a list of some of our favorite bricks-and-mortar shops, from Malibu and Long Beach to downtown L.A. and Pasadena. As with all our guides, this is not meant to be a definitive list, and we encourage you to share your favorite places to shop for gifts by sending an email to lisa.boone@latimes.com. We’ll try to include them in next year’s list. So start exploring and sharing your local gems.
Abierto
Given its location near the beach, it’s not surprising the store stocks sun hats. Other possible gift items you’ll find: cookbooks, cutting boards, apothecary items, cards, palo santo sticks and goodies for kids.
Acorn Eagle Rock
Alchemy Works
The downtown Los Angeles location is located at Signal, 821 Traction Ave.
Bauer Pottery Showroom
Fans of Bauer’s colorful ringware pottery will find it all here — in a combination of firsts and seconds (which have small flaws) — from coffee mugs and plates to oil jars, vases and planters. This is the place to look if you’ve got a loved one in need of colorful dog and cat bowls (choose from 17 shades) or planters for both indoors and outdoors (Bauer offers free drilling if you’d like drainage holes). In addition to Bauer pottery, owner Janek Boniecki also stocks equally colorful ceramics by Corita Kent and Russel Wright that are perfect for holiday gift-giving.
Belljar
Block Shop Textiles
For the holidays, Block Shop plans to debut a new line of pajamas and jackets as well as hand-printed calendars for 2025 by Dolphin Studio. Plus vintage pottery, hand-blown glassware, picnic knives by Opinel and Mason Pearson hairbrushes. Petra Hardware and Hopie Stockman Hill recently debuted their first collection of little drawer knobs and pulls, inspired by the snail knobs that greet visitors as they open the doors of the Atwater store. The collection has the snail and four other designs: a potato, a dimple, a block and a peapod (available in limited quantities at Block Shop and online at Petra).
Broome Street General Store
Also at Platform, 8840 Washington Blvd., Suite 103, Culver City.
Kinship Station
Find a dizzying array of incense bundles, bath soaks, natural soaps, tinctures, candles and body oils meant to calm or energize, while items for the home — such as handmade ceramics, woven baskets, stained-glass trinkets, brass bowls and heavy, glossy wooden cutting boards — are always in view somewhere, beckoning. The racks of artisanal shawls and leather goods are just as enticing as the cases glowing with gold and gem-dotted necklaces, rings, studs and bracelets. Nikbakht keeps sustainable practices and a fair-trade ecosystem in mind, and she rotates the wares frequently, so drop by often to browse something new on nearly — if not every — visit.
Burro
The sunny boutique is curated to suit everyone on your gift list: Cookbooks and pretty boxes of tinned fish for foodies, games and books for kids, jewelry, hats and casual clothing for women, home goods and ladybug gardens for gardeners and fabulous stationery and cards for everyone. The store features many local brands, including Flamingo Estate, Brightland, jewelry labels Chan Luu and Victoria Cunningham Jewelry, skin-care and olive oil brand Wonder Valley.
Cici ’n Tux
Clover
Coop
D.L. Rhein
Danny D's Mud Shop
Dekor
Dotter Store
Earthing Earth
Espacio 1839
Here you can snag custom T-shirts emblazoned with Boyle Heights logos, books by BIPOC authors, handcrafted finds by local artists and every knickknack in between. The store’s walls and ceilings are adorned with colorful art displaying Chicano and Latin American culture and social activism. But what you’ll discover here extends beyond material goods.
The place constantly shape-shifts into a community venue hosting poetry readings, workshops, art exhibits and book readings. Owners Nico Avina and Myra Vasquez, artists themselves, have created a space that centers on community and culture. Its broadcast booth, Radio Espacio, provides a place for youth and other community members to start their audio journey.
Check out CaminArte, its bimonthly art walk featuring local artists and vendors, every second Friday of the month from 6 to 10 p.m.
Espionage
Esqueleto
East/West Shop
At East/West Shop, you’ll find items like hair clips made of cloisonné (a handpainted enamel) from a Chinatown shop that closed down, handmade quilt coats and vintage sweatshirts embroidered with the brand’s rose logo. It’s best to revisit the store often — upcycled items are often snagged as they’re put up for sale.
Flowerboy Project
General Store
Gibson
Gjusta Goods and Flower Mart
Gold Bug Pasadena
Goodies
Also at: 5308 2nd St., No. B, Long Beach; 1309 Montana Ave., Santa Monica; 1219 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice; and 333 E 17th St., Unit 20, Costa Mesa.
Greenwood Shop
Haley Solar
Also in Silver Lake: 3318 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026.
Heath Ceramics
Highlow Gift Shop
In addition to showcasing her Highlow Jewelry line, Gallardo — a former buyer for the Los Angeles-based lifestyle brand Poketo — stocks items by independent makers, including handcrafted wooden objects by Koppa Wood, beautiful linen tea towels by Elana Gabrielle, Maum Co and P.F. Candle Co. candles, stationery and cards, plus gifts for children. “Para esos momentos especiales” is her guiding principle at Highlow Gift, shown by the unique objects she selects.
There’s also a great selection of affordable pantry goods, from Momofuku chili crisp to taco sauce, yuzu vinegar, Woon teas and custom coffee mugs that read “Somebody in Gardena Loves Me.” (There’s a Torrance version too.) Gallardo also offers jewelry services, for which reservations are recommended.
Homage Pasadena
House of Intuition
There are additional locations in L.A. County: 5148 York Blvd., Highland Park; 7449 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood; 14520 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks; 5018 E. 2nd St., Long Beach; and 5223 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood.
Household by Nickey Kehoe
Huset
If you can’t find what you’re looking for, there’s always the self-serve Swedish candy and savory snacks.
Kneeland Co. Rarities
LA Home Farm
Shopping is fun here, whether you’re looking for art, truffle oil or handcrafted ceramics by local potters. If you can’t decide on a gift, Kranz and the staff are incredibly helpful at creating custom gift baskets that will leave their recipients swooning or, in my friend’s case, with happy tears.
Lake
It’s easy to make a day of it on this stretch of Silver Lake Boulevard, with Now Voyager and 惭ü蝉丑 across the street, OK down the block and Botanica Restaurant and Market next door.
Late Sunday Afternoon
Lawson-Fenning
Leanna Lin's Wonderland
Lost & Found
The Santa Monica showroom is at 2230 Main St.
Luca
Made by DWC Cafe and Gift Shop
All profits from the Made store and cafe, which sells organic coffee, smoothies, salads and pastries from Homeboy Industries, help fund the center’s career training and mentorship programs. Note: The gift shop is not open on weekends.
Marz
Maude Woods
Merchant
“I wanted it to look like a house,” says co-owner Denise Portmans, who runs the store, along with an Atwater Village location, with her artist daughter Sara Marlowe Hall. “I like things that are a little unusual.”
The stores are an homage to Portmans’ mother, an artist and ceramicist, and they are stocked with Midcentury Modern furniture, vintage Moroccan rugs, contemporary ceramics from Paris and Italy, and goods by local artists such as Heather Rosenman and All Roads Studio. On a recent visit to the Santa Monica store, prices ranged from $120 for a wooden wine rack to $2,500 for a vintage leather safari chair. Portmans also is open to making deals.
The second showroom, Merchant Modern East, is at 3127 Glendale Blvd. in Atwater Village.
Mohawk General Store
惭ü蝉丑
Native Sol
NicSon Mercantile
Now Voyager
OK
Other locations are at 1716 Silver Lake Blvd. in Silver Lake and 2413 Main St. in Santa Monica. A Velvet by Graham and Spencer/OK store is at 13020 San Vicente Blvd. in Brentwood.
OddBird Co.
The Turkish native started OddBird in 2016 to showcase her homeland’s traditional textiles made from 100% natural fibers.
In addition to beautiful small batches of Turkish towels, robes, blankets, pillows and scarves, Alka?-Lee stocks gifts from Los Angeles brands such as Flamingo Estate and Loam Candles. Loungewear spans sizes XS to 5X. There are also small handcrafted cups and saucers for $40, incense, handmade leather goods and curated gift boxes.
Pergolina Shop
Phoebe Peacock
HYA
Poketo
Pop Up Home
“I wanted it to feel like New York,” Beanum says of the airy third floor, which is filled with curvaceous furnishings in leather, velvet and corduroy. “Everyone is interested in postmodern furnishings right now.” In addition to furniture and accessories, including a wide variety of ceramics, artwork is mixed in with the furniture and decor as part of UNREPD, a gallery devoted to emerging and mid-career artists of color as well as women artists and LGBTQIA+ artists. Beanum also offers custom upholstery.
Potted
Prelude & Dawn
Prism Boutique
Pygmy Hippo Shoppe
Restrained Whimsy
Retreat
Ririku
Rolling Greens
Also at 7505 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles; 12833 Ventura Blvd. #145, Studio City; and Lincoln Blvd., Santa Monica.
The Good Liver
An elegant tea bar in one corner of the store is a fairly recent addition, featuring teas from Kettl and occasional tastings and classes. And Youn keeps expanding. If you’re a fan of City Pop — the style of Japanese pop music associated with emerging Western influences in the 1970s and ’80s — newly custom-built shelving holds a collection of LPs. And through a side door, a new stationery shop is now connected to the store.
Wüm Essential Elements
“Everything that’s here is a pretty small cluster of what I think are the essential herbs that you would need in a home apothecary,” said Rawls. “There’s hundreds and thousands of different plants, from ayurvedic, traditional Chinese medicine, Latin America, Africa, but these are the ones that I think are central.”
Shout and About
Soap Plant/Wacko
Spitfire Girl
Also at 7401 Melrose Ave.
Stark Studio
Stay Home Friend
Suay Sew Shop
When it comes to gifts, the shop offers one-of-a-kind clothing made from repurposed fabrics, napkins, pillows and other home goods. A Suay Sew Shop gift card can be used to repair and alter cherished items.
Sumi's
Still Life Ceramics Studios
Classes include one-hour workshops, such as its Bowl in One lesson offered on Fridays and Sundays: Sign up to learn how to throw a bowl on the potter’s wheel, no experience necessary. Make a bowl, then choose a glaze; the studio will glaze and fire it for you (you’ll pick up your finished piece on a later date).
Brentwood Country Mart
The narrow alleys connect a rabbit warren of postage-stamp-sized shops that range from the retro-delightfully mundane (a U.S. Post Office substation, a shoe repair place and a takeout barbecue joint called Reddi Chick) to the SoCal stylish (the Paris-meets-L.A. vibe of Clare V. and the elevated basics of James Perse, to name just two). Throw in a Goop lifestyle store, a Christian Louboutin boutique and a luxe kid’s store (Poppy) and you’re well on your way toward the rare kind of retro-retail romp that will empty your wallet and feed your soul at the same time.
Mavven Mercantile
On the retail side, beautifully arranged display tables showcase books, journals, ceramics, jewelry, dried bouquets and tarot and oracle cards — many of them from local artists, designers and writers. Woven blankets and straw hats from Guatemala adorn two of the walls. A line of ayurvedic-inspired beauty products line the shelves of a third wall.
How can a retail store also be a yoga studio? It helps if everything is movable. When a friend and I attended a Wednesday morning yoga class, Waters pushed the display tables to the edge of the space and set up sand-colored mats, blankets and low-slung meditation chairs on the floor. The class was lovely and appropriate for people of all ages and skill levels, but I couldn’t help glancing around the store as I did my sun salutations. So many beautiful things! My friend felt the same way. We both left the yoga class feeling relaxed and rejuvenated and wearing the new necklaces we purchased after class.