“I had this idea back in 2020 when I was running my first shop, CW Pencil Enterprise. During the pandemic, there was all this yelling online about “shopping local” but through my own experience running a shop, I realized that a lot of folks don’t really know what that actually means, or how to do it in a way that’s actually impactful. There’s this unfortunate narrative that “shopping local” is akin to an act of charity. It’s this virtuous thing that we do during holiday season or when things are dire, and I wanted to shake it up and remind people that it’s really an everyday way of life — a really rewarding and enjoyable one, at that!”

“The big conversation right now, of course, is about tariffs. Getting inventory is difficult and that inventory, no matter where it comes from, is more expensive. Because they just don’t have the same buying power, it’s getting harder and harder for small biz shops to compete with big ones and they’re having to make a lot of compromises. The concept of “value” has become so manipulated by big box and DTC marketing, it’s a constant challenge to convince customers that what they’re buying at a small business isn’t more expensive, it’s just more honest pricing for often higher quality goods.”

“I LOVE this shop on the Upper East Side called Tiny Doll House, a dollhouse miniatures store that stocks work by hundreds of miniatures artists around the world. A favorite in my regular rotation is Kalustyan’s which is a two story international grocery store that has an insane selection of teas, spices and dried goods in no-frills packaging. I go there for hard-to-find teas, specialty curry blends and powders for making popcorn seasonings. One that I think is a real IYKYK shop is Enfleurage in the West Village. They specialize in aromatics and sell carefully sourced essential oils. They have lots of rare scents from far corners of the world, absolues and enfleurage made using traditional techniques and frankincense made at the shop owner's distillery in Oman. It’s really special.”

“A shop that I’ve long been obsessed with but which I’m always surprised people don’t know about is The Cast. It’s owned by Chuck Bones, who looks like a Ramone and makes the most perfect leather jackets in a wild selection of colors and hide types. They’re entirely made in New York City and you can get them completely customized for less than what it costs to buy an equivalent, significantly less authentic biker jacket from a designer brand. Every New Yorker should own a jacket from The Cast!”