Looking Around While Hunkering Down

How Shoppers Are Seeing Ways to Improve Living Spaces with Home Décor Gift Boutique Buys

Home décor is a hot-selling item for giving and receiving these days, according to gift boutique owners and staff. All across the United States, with so many people staying home to work and play due to the pandemic, it’s no wonder; top buying choices vary but the interest in reshaping and revamping home environments is clear.

At PopCycle in Tucson, Ariz., Store Manager Libby Tobey related that among the store’s top home décor sellers are some that are made in-house. “The founders of the store make these incredible vintage Tucson postcard-style images on old, reclaimed cabinet doors. They’re made right here, and they are one of our most popular items. We carry a total of over 95 local artists here in all, and we have all kinds of wonderful décor things. People are buying a lot of prints, coat racks, key racks, things like that. There’s also a real emphasis on finding locally made or hand-crafted items for the home,” she said.

She observed certain changes in how people are beautifying their homes and why. “What we’re seeing is that people are actively seeking more locally sourced home gifts, and that is especially true of things that are creature comforts. We are also seeing a lot more people buying gifts for others in that same vein. There has been a lot of interest in nesting and improving the look of your nest. It started when COVID-19 first happened, and it’s continued on.” She added, “People were finally buying that interesting lampshade to replace the old shade that they never really liked but hadn’t thought that much about until they had to see it every day. They’ve been finishing up their homes, adding small gallery touches like the handmade key racks. That is a big purchase these days.” She stressed that everything people buy is home-related in one way another, whether it is one of the prints the shop has available for hanging from over 10 local artists, or a little in-home spa kit.

“What we’re seeing is that people are actively seeking more locally sourced home gifts, and that is especially true of things that are creature comforts. We are also seeing a lot more people buying gifts for others in that same vein. There has been a lot of interest in nesting and improving the look of your nest. It started when COVID-19 first happened, and it’s continued on.”

Heading north to Once in a Blue Moose, in Anchorage, Alaska, company President Vernon Cates said the shop’s topselling home décor items are wall hangings of all kinds, from original works to art prints. “We have vendors who make beautiful prints, but a lot of our items are locally-made, which has a lot of appeal to buyers. Many of the art works are made from metal.”

He sees a locally oriented shift in terms of home beautification, he stated. “We’ve noticed that people have really increased their purchasing of Alaskan-made items.”

According to Cates, “I think a lot of what drives that interest is the fact that we are seeing more local shoppers than those from out of town, and they want to support the community. The kinds of items they buy are about the same, but where they’ve been made is what’s different.” Cates presides over nine different shops, which range in size from 600 square feet