This late in the holiday-shopping game, hoofing it around town is your best option for picking up truly special gifts — especially considering this year’s supply-chain-related shipping delays. Fortunately, since last year, when the city’s retail landscape felt exceptionally bleak, a surprising number of excellent small boutiques have opened, from a dinner-party-centric spot in Greenpoint to an animal-centric bookshop on East 9th.
1.
Big Night
154 Franklin St., Greenpoint
In August, Katherine Lewin, formerly in charge of restaurant coverage at The Infatuation, opened this shop that focuses on things you would need for a dinner party.
Hand-caught; chargrilled with birch, beech, and oak; and tinned in Asturias, Spain.
2.
Bike Plant
175 Tompkins Ave., Bedford-Stuyvesant
While there are bikes to be bought here (from Brooklyn Bicycle Co. as well as a handful of vintage cycles), the main draw is the well-curated stock of accessories, like burrito-shaped bicycle bags from Road Runner.
The dome shape and steel, brass, and aluminum make it sound nicer and ring longer than your run-of-the-mill bike bell.
3.
The Break
62 Allen St.
Hannah Richtman’s 6,000-square-foot space is meant to feel like a shoppable apartment — filled with cream vintage Prada dresses, turmeric soaps, and sandalwood-scented candles.
Baina’s soft, woven-in-Portugal towels come in pool size, too.
4.
Earth & Me
30-38 Steinway St., Astoria
Bamboo cotton swabs from UpCircle Beauty and Tesa paper packing tape abound at this “zero waste” store. Behind the shop is a community garden, café, and free climate-focused library, where you can borrow some Naomi Klein.
Honeymilk-scented and made in Astoria by Puertorriqueña textile designer Desirée.
32 E. 2nd St.
Adrian Rew, he of experimental label Ergot Records, opened a shop of the same name right off the Bowery. He keeps both lesser-known releases (Brussels composer Dominique Lawalrée’s LP) and a healthy collection of Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours for $25 apiece.
This rare 1978 jazz collaboration between two guitar greats typically sells for double what Ergot is asking.
48 Hester St.
Owners Frank Carson and Bijan Shahvali’s always-changing inventory is full of Zizmorcore deep cuts like decades-old MoMA-exhibition tees and WNYC mugs.
1. Leisure Centre sells these hats whenever its “unnamed source” — who discovered them among a supply of deadstock official HBO promo materials — sends more its way.
7.
Antithesis
1 Rivington St.
The mysterious founders (who go by simply “MB” and “LP”) sell a range of cult menswear brands like Acronym and Byborre in their downtown space.
This water-repellent Japanese tote-backpack hybrid has a secret, secure outer pocket.
8.
Lolo
192 Amity St., Cobble Hill
Designer Lauren Williams stocks a cheery collection of Memphis-inspired knickknacks, like a candlestick made from chain links and a polka-dot squiggly pillow in a gentle green.
Ugly Rugly makes its hand-tufted vases (which come with a glass insert) out of a Bushwick studio using New Zealand wool.
9.
Of the Cloth
1134 President St., Crown Heights
Designer Tione Trice sources antiques from across Africa, Asia, and Europe to fill his gallerylike shop. Currently for sale: an array of imperfect ceramics and baskets that get their deep-charcoal color from being immersed in a mixture of water and soil for weeks.
An early-1900s piece from Central Africa; other seating options include an ornate Tibetan chair and a pair of checkered stools.
10.
Pillow-Cat Books
328 E. 9th St.
At author Cleo Le-Tan’s animal-specific bookshop, you’ll find The Story of Babar in the elephant section and Octopus Protests in the water-animals corner.
A Snoopy-themed cookbook from the ’80s with recipes for vaguely western dishes like ham hocks and lima beans.
11.
Tangerine
616 Lorimer St., Williamsburg
This concept shop carries obscure womenswear brands (Alterita, Anna Fiedler) as well as hard-to-find objects (the verawood scalp combs from Japan sell out quickly).
Hand-knotted in Japan, each pair of recycled-cotton slip-ons is slightly different.
12.
Colbo
51 Orchard St.
Part shop (it has, for instance, a camel-colored Hed Mayner overcoat), part gallery (Mexican artist Cazso recently showed work), this spare space was opened by vinyl seller Tal Silberstein.
Caps designed by Silberstein and made by Nicole Lane Fulmer, who has done knitwork for designers like Connor McKnight and Emily Adams Bode.
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