I've been belongings out on you lot alongside the final ship from my trip to Los Angeles this Spring. However, I wanted to proceed this ship to necktie inwards alongside my subject of festive gifting this calendar week (stay tuned for my Bumper Christmas Gift Guide online on Wednesday!) as well as portion alongside you lot a piffling expect around in all likelihood my favourite store inwards Los Angeles: Urbanic Paper Boutique, located on Abbot Kinney Boulevard inwards Venice. If you lot occur to endure stateside (or shopping online) for your festive gifts anytime inwards the side yesteryear side calendar month or so, Urbanic is where it's at. I also had the adventure to sit down downward alongside the store owner, Audrey Woollen, to chat nearly the store as well as its neighbourhood.
For those of you lot unfamiliar, permit me innovate you. I kickoff stumbled on Urbanic on my rattling kickoff trip to Venice inwards September 2012, when I was living on the other side of West L.A. inwards Westwood Village. I was already fascinated yesteryear some of the beautiful newspaper brands that were emerging across the pond such every bit Sugar Paper L.A., as well as finding Urbanic was similar finding all of the newspaper as well as stationary I dreamed could endure institute hither inwards England all inwards 1 place. And they don't merely sell cards, stationary as well as paper; the carefully curated newspaper store is the perfect house to honor gift, political party as well as domicile fixings, too.
Audrey explained to me how they curate the dissimilar themed displays inwards store. She as well as her squad pick out choose absolutely everything inwards store. They produce larn a lot of submissions from designers as well as brands who'd similar their products to endure featured, but Audrey likes to uncovering most of it herself, shopping around everywhere from Etsy to Pinterest to indie arts and crafts fairs. Audrey's finds are how the ideas for the dissimilar themed displays that modify every flavor come upwards about, as well as in 1 lawsuit the themes conduct hold been chosen, it is as well as thence fourth dimension to root to a greater extent than items to compliment them. Audrey has a detail dear for stocking items that would otherwise endure difficult to find, thence she also looks out of the Blue Planet for stock. Lots of the products that made upwards the displays when I photographed the store inwards the Spring present that she's working alongside a lot of suppliers inwards Nihon at the moment.
We spent a lot of fourth dimension talking nearly how their location both on Abbot Kinney Boulevard inwards Venice, as well as inwards Los Angeles inwards full general influences the store. After moving from a tiny store they had on Main Street inwards Santa Monica (just to exam the waters, to encounter if at that topographic point was a marketplace position for the variety of store Audrey had inwards mind), Urbanic has been located at 1644 Abbot Kinney Boulevard for the yesteryear ix years.
From Audrey's descriptions, the Abbot Kinney that Urbanic moved into almost a decade agone was nowhere close every bit glossy every bit the street that I know as well as love. In the days earlier all the large (but withal achingly cool) designers moved in, it was a house for smaller, indie stores to congregate. While it actually pose Abbot Kinney on the map as well as helped locomote inwards such an oasis of cool stores as well as some of the best eateries inwards Los Angeles, the autumn of the smaller independents on the street Audrey credits to GQ magazine, who named it the coolest block inwards America; that is when the bigger stores started to deed in. Interestingly plenty the side yesteryear side location inwards Venice that had begun to gentrify inwards similar agency that Audrey pointed out to me I'd already noticed the transition in, from when I lived inwards the metropolis to when I was visiting ii years later; Lincoln Boulevard. I asked Audrey if she'd endure moving upwards at that topographic point alongside the masses, but I was happy to take away heed that she'd endure staying pose on the Boulevard.
So what is side yesteryear side for Urbanic? Well, they would similar to expand, but Audrey is rattling aware of how peculiarly curated the store is (there is a argue it is 1 of my favourites!), thence she's going to accept it slow, both thence she's certain to protect their actually potent as well as unique brand, but to construct things easier on her immature family, too. She'd dear to sell to a greater extent than domicile as well as kitchen products, every bit good every bit jewellery, but all of that is inwards the future; in 1 lawsuit to a greater extent than they're happy alongside what they're doing at the moment. What I am jealous of for people who alive inwards L.A., is that they're looking to produce to a greater extent than events inwards store, classes (their gift wrapping flat is a sold out success), volume signings, getting artists inwards store, as well as to throw Summer as well as Winter socials. Talking to Audrey I got the existent feeling of how of import the Venice community is to the store, thence I intend it is lovely that these events volition aid them larn fifty-fifty to a greater extent than a business office of it. If you're local, endure certain to swing yesteryear for 1 of these.
You tin view Urbanic Paper Boutique at 1644 Abbot Kinney Boulevard (preferably after brunch at Salt Air merely a few doors down, or The Tasting Kitchen that is correct across the street, as well as my favourite brunch inwards the basis ever), or you lot tin store Urbanic online here. Some of my favourite items from their online store include this Frenchie Federal Reserve annotation book, this pretty copper soy candle as well as this Telegram notepad. In keeping alongside my gifting subject for this week, if you're shopping for whatever friends you lot mightiness occur to conduct hold inwards L.A. as well as you lot can't locomote inwards to the store to alternative something out, you tin gild them a $10, $25, $50, $75 or $100 inwards store gift card, which you lot tin conduct hold delivered to them inwards pretty wrapping.
I ever larn asked on Twitter for recommendations for places to eat, rest as well as view inwards Los Angeles. You tin honor all of my picks here, which include my favourite restaurants as well as street nutrient picks, hotels, bars, farmers markets, places to visit, as well as which tourist spots are worth visiting or not. But every bit ever, if you're planning a trip to L.A. as well as you lot demand a fleck to a greater extent than guidance, experience gratis to locomote inwards touch!