Four Women-Owned Business You Can Shop at this Holiday Season
Written by Erica Edman (C’25); Edited by Ella Gupta (W’27)
When it comes to buying gifts for the holiday season, I am guilty of heading straight to Amazon.com. I am a sucker for the convenience, the speed, and the fact that I can do all my holiday shopping without getting out of bed. However, every time I hit the big orange “Buy Now” button on my phone, there is a little voice in the back of my head telling me that I’m taking the easy way out of gift giving.
The holiday season is the most important time of year for small businesses. For half of small businesses, holiday sales make up 25% of their annual revenue. Many of these businesses are still recovering from COVID, making this holiday season even more important.
This December, I plan on making an active effort to walk into Philly and support small, female-owned businesses. Here are some of my favorite stores that I’ve come across in my research:
111 S. Independence Mall E. Philadelphia, PA 19106
Art Star is a boutique that sells handmade and limited edition items created by emerging artists. The store sells any sort of craft you can think of, from screen-printed dresses to embroidered tote bags. On December 16-17, Art Star is curating a Holiday Procrastinator Market, where last minute holiday-shoppers can purchase items from local craft vendors from all around Philly.
140 S. 34th Street Philadelphia, PA 19104
Grant Blvd is a sustainable fashion company that makes all its clothes without using new water or new fabric. Although you may have not noticed the storefront before, one of Grant Blvd’s locations is on our campus! You can find Grant Blvd if you turn the corner on 34th and Walnut. The founder of the sustainable-fashion company, Kimerly McGlonn, started her business with the mission to be of service to the planet and to marginalized people. McGlonn believes that sustainability means not only designing clothes that do not harm the environment, but also hiring women, immigrants, and those working through homelessness.
258 E Girard Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19125
Harriett’s Bookshop, named for historical heroine Harriett Tubman, is an avant-garde bookshop that celebrates female authors, artists, and activists. Jeannine Cook decided to open the bookshop in February 2020, just weeks before the pandemic hit. After the lockdown began, Cook moved her store online and started a program where customers could buy books for essential workers and write out personal thank-you notes to slip inside. Cook then took her shop outdoors and began selling books on the sidewalk in front of her store. After months of constant shifts and new initiatives, Harriett’s Bookshop began to thrive. In 2021, Cook set up a Go Fund Me and raised over $240,000 in order to keep the bookshop afloat. Now, Harriett’s Bookstore is massively popular and has been written about in publications like the Oprah Daily and the Philadelphia Inquirer.
1729 E. Passyunk Ave. Philadelphia, PA
August Moon is a women’s brick-and-mortar boutique that opened in the summer of 2021. The store started out as a jewelry line, and has since expanded to a full women’s clothing boutique with a handmade jewelry line. The store only produces clothes through women or minority owned, domestic or sustainable manufacturers.