Best Stores in Los Angeles to Shop for Holiday Gifts
Do you suffer from “shoppers block” after endless scrolling online? Here are 16 brick and mortar stores to shop for gifts in Los Angeles. |
Online shopping, while convenient, can feel soulless at times. Can I really trust the reviews? Is this another PR plant on the gift guide? Will it even ship on time? While typing into a search bar exactly what you’re looking for is a quick fix, you lose the joy and kismet of stumbling upon something entirely unexpected. How would I have known I needed a book about lesbian nuns in Renaissance Italy if I hadn’t found it in a bookstore? Would I have really bought a fragrance with the keynote “Iso-E Super” without smelling it in person? Could I have really spent that much on a throw blanket if I wasn’t totally seduced by the feel of cashmere in my hands?
If you, like me, find yourself hitting “shopper’s block” in the first few weeks of December, shopping in person is the best way to add some creativity back into your gift search. Since crowds at the mall are a bit feral during the holidays, I prefer to cosplay as 90s Meg Ryan in a rom-com and shop at local boutiques around the city. So put on your best “meet cute” outfit, grab your friend with the most bluntly honest second opinions, and support your local businesses! (P.S. Keep your elbows in! You break it, you buy it.)
8303 W 3rd St, Los Angeles, CA 90048
1716 Silver Lake Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90026
With a location on the East and West sides of LA, OK Store is jam-packed with books, housewares, jewelry, home goods, knickknacks, design-driven furniture, accessories, and more.
12701 Venice Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90066
Owned and operated by husband and wife team Keiko and Taku Shinomoto, Tortoise General store specializes in homeware made by Japanese artists, in addition to books, accessories, appliances, and art.
1257 N La Brea Ave, West Hollywood, CA 90038
This is the perfect gift shop for the chef in your life. TOIRO specializes in authentic Iga-yaki donabe pots and also offers a wide array of artisan kitchen tools and tableware from all over Japan.
1818 N Vermont Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90027
This bookstore, founded in 1996, offers a wide selection of titles you can browse for hours. They also sell a variety of kitschy stationary, cards, children’s toys, merch, and other tchotchkes you would expect from an indie bookstore. Don’t miss out on the arts annex next door for a selection of art books, comic books, and magazines.
4157 Normal Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90029
This is a perfect store if you’re shopping for the mascs in your life! Virgil Normal is a boutique specializing in new and vintage menswear from independent brands. It’s a great place to browse streetwear, denim, T-shirts, and accessories.
4011 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90029
This is definitely at the more expensive end of the holiday shopping spectrum, but a gift card to Mohawk General Store would be a fantastic treat for an Angeleno. With a mix of independent and luxury designers, Mohawk has a gorgeous curation of apparel, shoes, accessories, swimwear, and other lifestyle items.
3129 1/2 Glendale Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90039
This is the perfect bougie pitstop before a holiday party. With natural and organic wines, gorgeously curated produce, jarred preserves, canned goods, desserts, and all manner of boutique beverages, Wine + Egg is a lovely destination for the foodies in your life.
1543 Echo Park Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90026
As alluded to in the title, Des Pair books caters to the highbrow intellectual with a penchant for malaise—film theory, art books, cult classics, indie zines–the curation is inspired. With cheeky merch and a rotating art gallery on the walls, it’s a fabulous place to pick up a gift for that moody cousin who’s always asking for you to donate to the Kickstarter for their independent film.
LACMA, MOCA, Hammer Museum Gift Stores
Okay I know these don’t qualify as boutiques, but museum gift stores have always been a “life hack” especially when shopping for neo-liberal moms who have a penchant for impressionists. These stores are not only stocked with incredibly giftable art books but also boast gorgeously curated design objects, homegoods, stationary, and (occasionally) cute merch.
3707 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90026
Similar to Wine + Eggs this is a bougie little grocery that is perfect for a pit stop if you don’t want to arrive empty-handed at a holiday gathering. They specialize in tinned fish, fresh bread, and natural wines, all of which make for lovely giftable treats. And since tinned fish has somehow become a hot girl commodity in the last year or two, stock up, hotties!
901 E 3rd St, Los Angeles, CA 90013
I almost included this in the “museum gift store” category, but this art gallery’s store has some gems you wouldn’t find in any ol’ gift shop. Aside from their extensive offerings of art books, homegoods, and accessories, they also have bespoke collaborations with legendary artists in the form of blankets, scarves, and prints. We all have an art girlie in our lives that would go absolutely bonkers for a Louise Bourgeois cashmere blanket.
8271 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90048
This shop is for the chichi designer girlies out there with a lot of disposable income. If you’re looking for brands like Rick Owens, Issey Miyake, Margiela, and the like, this is the place for you.
2147 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90026
I’m sure you’ve seen this brand all over the quirked-up girlies on your Instagram feed, and they have a brick-and-mortar store in Echo Park. With clothing, accessories, and jewelry all in their signature playful prints, this is a great place to get your holiday gifts and stocking stuffers.
Culver City | Beverly Grove | Studio City
With three locations across LA, Rolling Greens was voted the best nursery in LA in 2023. If you’re looking for plants, pots, decorative arrangements, home decor, ornaments, festive baubles, etc., this is a great place to explore. If you’ve ever been at someone’s house thinking, “Where exactly does a person get a decorative bowl filled with wicker baubles?” It’s here.
7980 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90046
This one is really all in the title. You want a candle? Oh baby, they’ve got ‘em. All of them. From Boy Smells to Diptyque to Comme des Garçons, they have all the brands you know and a whole bunch you’ve never heard of, as well.