Follow My Coffee: #ShopSmall

Shop Small Saturday came about as an annual tradition to celebrate small businesses while bringing communities together. In 2010, American Express, the credit card company, created it to promote spending in smaller shops during the busiest time of the retail year. The Saturday following Thanksgiving is where it all started but some businesses promote shopping small every Saturday of the year. One of the shops I follow on Instagram hosts events and craft fairs on some Saturdays using #ShopSmall. It's a simple hashtag that reminds people to support independent companies and mom and pop shops while they might otherwise get lost in the great big corporate world. I used an artist signing to take advantage of supporting 3 small businesses this past Saturday in the nearby neighborhood of Burbank.
Elsa Chang is a Character Designer with Disney but I found her on Instagram through other artists. She was at The Neko Stop, a kawaii Japanese stationary and gift shop, signing her art and selling her doodle books and other merchandise. Kawaii, is Japanese for cute or trendy, and Neko is Japanese for cat. Elsa's vintage Disney cartoon style art fit the theme of the stand-alone store. I was nervous to be around a talented artist that I admired, but mustered up a hello and we bantered about our favorite YouTube celebrities and our various pets. She was warm, welcoming, and funny. Happily, she signed two of her pieces that I purchased and added a personal message on each.
A little over a mile away was the next stop on the #shopsmall tour. Owned and operated by a woman, this quirky shop, The Perky Nerd, is a catchall for everything nerdy. At the entrance, current comic books line the wall to the left, Pop figures and women's accessories featuring Wonder Woman run down the center, and on the right, the cash counter adorned with more Pop figures and supplies for the cold brew coffees they sold. Unfortunately, they don't brew fresh coffee there but offer bottles and cans of Stumptown cold brew and sell Stumptown beans to brew at home. In the middle of the store, a cozy section of couches sits across from a few tables, at the time, set up to play a Star Wars tabletop game. The walls and shelves surrounding housed art by local artists. I instantly fell in love with a collection of toddler superheroes and science fiction characters acting like kids, leading to my second art purchase of the day. In the very back of the store is a raised platform. This is a special events area. At the time, there seemed to be some card games being played by a younger demographic, so it was noisier than the rest of the place. Usually this space might be for gaming tournaments or artist signings, but as I mentioned, this place is quirky. In May of last year, a couple was married in this event space. On the way out, The Husband purchased a Nitro Cold Brew that we shared. I'm not saying I regret this purchase, but it definitely was not my usual brew. A carbonated punch in the mouth, followed by a watery taste, and ending with the bitter, gritty flavor of licking a used coffee filter.
To finish up the small business shopping spree, the last stop of the day was only a couple of blocks down from The Perky Nerd. A community loving, cat rescuing, board game and tea shop known as Geeky Teas and Games. Also run by a woman, this shop creates its own tea blends with a geeky or pop culture theme. The layout here has a large focus on tabletop games. Five dollars per person lets you borrow and play any of the available board games in the shop. A wall of seemingly never ending games runs floor to ceiling in the first third of the space. Following that are the games for purchase. Included among the Dungeons and Dragons figures, the many versions of Dixit, and the hilarious Deadpool version of Munchkin, is local artist's work and teas to match the franchises on the shelves. This includes a Big Bang Theory tea and a Dungeons and Dragons tea, which came with dice. The artist's work varied from silhouettes of Dr. Who characters to a tissue box cover that looked like the Ghostbuster's ghost trap. Further toward the back of the shop was my favorite meet and greet of the day, Mr. President. Mr. President is the ultra sweet and laid back shop cat. A pudgy tuxedo that let every customer pet him and took it all graciously. He hung out on top of an old pinball machine, just outside of the cat rescue room. Could this place get any better?! The owner runs a cat rescue inside her shop, while volunteers come to help care for the cats, they're pretty happy just hanging around, people watching, from their Star Wars cat perches. Two sleek and vocal Bengal cats occupied the room for now with adoption forms just outside. The opposite side of the shop consisted of multiple areas for game-play. I thoroughly enjoyed the attention to detail around the shop. The giant Dr. Who Tardis and Minecraft Steve outside, immediately clue you in to what to expect inside, but the details that take a minute to realize are there, remind me of the detail Disney puts into their stores and parks. The Sherlock wallpaper was one of those components that really showed me the love the owner had put into her store. Almost daily events are held at the shop as well as some charity fundraisers and Geeky Teas is a voice for the community as well. In addition to being a rescue, the shop's social media feed is constantly sharing information to keep the integrity of the city on the up and up. After chatting with the owner for a bit, The Husband made a few purchases, including the Goodberry tea. This tea is based on a spell in the Dungeons and Dragons game. We brewed it when we got home and enjoyed the strong berry flavor and more subtle black tea background flavor.
I am always thrilled to share when I enjoy something. Shopping these little locations and then telling others about them, I hope to get these businesses a few new customers. When you #shopsmall, your money goes to families and artists who are doing what they are most passionate about.