Best Gift Shop for Conscious Consumers 2017 | Hope Tank | Best of Denver® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Denver | Westword
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Best Gift Shop for Conscious Consumers

Hope Tank

For quirky gifts that give back in a big way, head to Hope Tank, where owner Erika Righter hawks a wide range of items: one-of-a-kind T-shirts, jewelry, men's gifts, and books for kids delving into timely issues surrounding the environment, women in history and more. A healthy portion of Righter's inventory is locally sourced — she works with about thirty Denver-area businesses and makers — and art by locals is for sale, too. In addition, cuts of all purchases made at this social enterprise are donated to one of the nonprofit partners in Hope Tank's network — and everything has a sticker on it to let gift givers and receivers know which organization they've impacted. Whatever you buy, you'll walk out of this boutique feeling doubly blessed.

Best Gift Shop Off the Beaten Path

Little Bird, Niwot

Little Bird Facebook

Ready to fly the coop for a drive out of Denver? You couldn't do better than journey to the charming Boulder County town of Niwot, where you'll find Little Bird, jewelry-making townie Liz Gould's pretty boutique on the Old Town drag. This is the ladies' shop of your dreams, strewn with beautiful and handmade things in just the right arrangements. Bring a friend or two and browse together through displays dripping with jewelry, scarves and wearable art. You can make a day and a night of it, too: Niwot's got enough fine dining, galleries and boutiques to do so, and the little town also hosts monthly First Friday artwalks. Go forth and discover.

Best Museum Shop

Denver Museum of Nature & Science

Aaron Thackeray

This town's museums and cultural facilities are as careful when stocking their gift shops as they are when booking their shows, choosing items that will expand on the institution's core mission...and maybe make some cash, too. The Denver Museum of Nature & Science gift shop does both, with a comprehensive library, a captivating collection of objects that encourage further exploration, and a wide selection of toys for all ages. Prices are reasonable — you won't break the bank buying a kitschy but educational item to quiet your kid, and maybe a little something to stimulate your mind, too. And you don't have to worry about breaking things, either: The staff lets you play with the toys, crack open the books and shop in a hands-on, brains-on sort of way.

Readers' Choice: Denver Art Museum

Best Place to Find High Fashion and Rising Artists

Goldyn

Whether it's clothing or canvas, Vanessa Barcus, the owner of Goldyn, knows how to curate. For nearly a decade, she's filled her boutique with art-minded pieces, including cutting-edge jewelry from the Woods, minimalist apparel from Shaina Mote, the classic modes of designer Helmut Lang and American-made denim by Simon Miller. But the real secret to Goldyn's upscale but approachable vibe comes from its connection with the local creative community: Painter Katy Zimmerman has designed a window display for the store, and her prints are always in stock and available for purchase, as are Kristen Hatgi-Sink's black-and-white photos and the meditational drawings of Gemma Danielle. Special shows and parties round out Goldyn's offerings. This place is dressed for success.

Best Salty Experience

5 Star Salt Caves

Stepping into the 5 Star Salt Caves can feel like an out-of-this-world experience: Here you are on South Pearl Street, but the soft pink glow of the place looks like the surface of another planet, complete with a fine, sandy salt floor. The state's first-ever salt cave is packed with the purported healing benefits of — you guessed it — salt, which is said to neutralize the electromagnetic radiation emanating off of our phones and computers and help to clean pollutants out of our respiratory system. The most immediate and gratifying perk of this healing zone is its calm: Each fifty-minute session at the 5 Star Salt Caves feels like it flies by, leaving frazzled patrons refreshed and recharged after a mid-day meditation in the briniest of seclusions.

Best Downtown Cool

Judith & Joe/La Lovely Vintage

We love it when shops team up in a space; as with co-working facilities, food courts and coffeehouse offices, it squeezes more good into a building, encouraging more meaningful conversations and better shopping. RiNo's Backyard on Blake is one of those places, with its blend of retail, restaurants, services and entrepreneurial studio spaces. And the marriage of Judith & Joe and La Lovely Vintage within its walls makes things that much cozier. At Judith & Joe, you can shop for new USA-made, sustainable, casual duds for him and her (and used records, btw!), while at La Lovely Vintage, the brick-and-mortar offshoot of a traveling boutique, you'll find curated vintage clothing and antique objects. Be hip, be retro: Suite 100's got you covered.

judithandjoeshop.com

lalovelyvintage.com

Best Name for a Tattoo Shop

Bound by Design

The name is layered with meaning, as is every tattoo created in this space. Bound by Design is a veteran tattoo and piercing shop that's definitely made its mark on Denver. Nearly twenty great tattoo artists — including Travis Koenig, Alissa Kendall, Kyle Porter, Jonathan Love, Corey Strange and Harry Catsis — use Bound by Design as their home base, and the staff is welcoming and friendly. You're bound to have a good experience here.

Readers' Choice: Black Voodoo Tattoo Parlour

Best Tattoo Shop for Walk-Ins

Landmark Tattooing

Google Maps

Want to get that tattoo before you lose your nerve? Head to Landmark Tattoo — quickly. This Capitol Hill tattoo parlor has five full-time tattoo artists, who create some of the most stunning, wildly imaginative black ink and American traditional tattoos in the city. And although many fans book appointments with the artists months in advance, the shop also takes walk-ins. You might have to wait a bit to sit down with an amazing artist like Seth Brown, Ben Thompson, Josh Ford or Nikolas Pew, but you can always pass the time chatting with owner and veteran graffiti artist Jher Seno.

Readers' Choice: Black Voodoo Tattoo Parlour

Best Shop for Your First Tattoo

Ritual Tattoo & Gallery

Ritual Tattoo & Gallery Facebook

If you're contemplating your first ink, there's nowhere better to get comfortable than Ritual Tattoo & Gallery. Owned by William Crandall and Sandi Calistro, this shop, hidden away on Jason Street in Sunnyside, boasts a roster of nine talented artists — Rochelle Marion, Rachel Paton, Sal Tino, Casey O, Jake Diamond and David Robinson among them — who all bring special points of view to tattoo designs. The space is decked out with original artwork by the artists, and a tiny pop-up of its witchy sister shop, RitualCravt, sits at the entrance, filled with talismans and charms that will help fortune smile on your new tat. Fair warning: Many of these artists, including Crandall and Calistro, are booked out six months in advance or more. But while you wait for your appointment to come up, you'll have plenty of time to decide on the perfect design. You can call for a consultation on that, too.

Readers' Choice: Black Voodoo Tattoo Parlour

Best Henna Artistry

Henna Luna

Henna Luna

Longing for a full hand sleeve tattoo, but don't have the pain tolerance to get one? Henna Luna to the rescue! She specializes in temporary, safe henna tattoos that are as intricate and intensely vivid as the real thing — but they hurt less and last only a week or two. Henna Luna can take any tattoo design and make it her own; her portfolio includes everything from traditional Indian wedding hand tattoos to mandalas, animals, sacred geometry, flowers, all-seeing eyes and more. Henna Luna can be found Monday through Thursday at All Sacred Tattoo in Edgewater; she does private parties, too.

720-612-7782
hennaluna.com

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