With the holidays coming up, online deals at places like Amazon and Walmart may be hard to pass up, but I want to share some small businesses in Boston. You can find a better quality and more personal gift for your loved ones that also supports the local economy and helps keep small businesses open! As rent gets higher and more small businesses close, it’s important to remember that supporting small businesses helps everyone in your community and cuts down on waste created by shipping from places like Amazon.
A good starter for Christmas shopping is your friends. Do you have friends who make things? Having your friends help by commissioning or buying gifts from them can be a great resource. The holidays are a great reason to support your friends who sell things. If you have friends who draw and take commissions, look into seeing how to get their art!
Store-wise, one of my favorite places to shop in Boston is The Garment District. The Garment District is a vintage store that sells a little bit of everything! It has curated clothes but also does a by-the-pound thrifting experience where you get to dig through their piles looking for treasure at an insane discount. They offer a bit of everything, but it may be difficult to find larger sizes because of the vintage aspect. They have a diverse size range offered in store, but there are less options for plus sizes than for non-plus size clothes. They also have an array of accessories from purses to sunglasses to jewelry. I would recommend taking a look at The Garment District for your holiday shopping.
Another great clothing option is Mayfly. They sell handmade, upcycled clothes made in Lowell, Massachusetts by an artist named Alex DiMauro. They take old clothes bound for landfills and give them new life with trendy upcycled clothes and tote bags. Their size range goes from extra small to a 2X on their website. They also have a physical popup in Cambridge at the Garage shopping mall where they feature art from other small local artists. If you are at the Garage and are looking for a more in-person experience, The Memory Shop offers an array of photobooths with props and little sets where you can get a physical strip of photos of you and your friends. The Memory Shop is super cute and has a bunch of props and stickers to decorate your photo strips.
A great option in the North End is Loft and Vine. Loft and Vine sells an array of goods, but my favorite are their candles. They have candles from a brand called Farm + Sea, which is a small-batch candle maker from Massachusetts! They also sell paper goods including planners and notebooks. If you or a loved one need a planner for the new year, I would recommend checking out Loft and Vine. Another store that sells home decor style things is The Aperitivo Society. The Aperitivo Society has a dining club as well as a store. Their holiday collection includes an insane amount of ornaments as well as things like hats, tea towels, and candles.
Are you looking for gifts for people who craft? Check out the Boston Fiber Company in the South End and Make and Mend in Somerville! Boston Fiber Company sells yarn and patterns for knitting and crocheting. They have an amazing selection of locally sourced yarn, and if you know someone looking into fiber art as a hobby, they also hold classes by local artists. Make and Mend is a craft thrift store that offers crafting supplies such as fabric at a steep discount because it is all secondhand. They offer everything an artsy friend could need from charcoal to scrapbooking supplies. They also have a section on their website titled “leftover”, which takes things from local artists and small businesses, sells them discounted, and donates 10% to social justice initiatives.
If you are looking for holiday markets, Snowport in Seaport just opened and has a lot of small businesses selling holiday items. Carcass, which is a local art fair that showcases mostly college artists in Boston, is having their holiday event on Dec. 5. Harvard Square is holding theirs Dec. 12-14 and 19-21. SoWa has a holiday market from Nov. 28 through Dec. 28. The Cultural Survival Indigenous Arts Winter Bazaar, which showcases indigenous art, is happening Dec. 13-14 near Back Bay. If you are looking for an art market, any of these would be worth checking out.
Living in Boston gives me the great privilege of getting to support local businesses when I shop. Some of my favorite businesses in Boston have been struggling since the COVID-19 pandemic five years ago, and the holidays provide a great opportunity for people to get out and try new stores. Shopping locally is amazing, and knowing that what you’re buying comes from someone in your community makes me happy to get to shop in Boston.