Small Business Gift Guide

Small businesses need your money more than ever this year. Help them stay afloat by giving them your holiday shopping budget. Bonus: you’ll find way more unique gifts at these cool small businesses than you would at a mega-store.

Bookshop

Support your local bookstore but with the same “add to cart” ease of buying a novel on Amazon when you purchase a read through Bookshop. This eCommerce storefront lets you easily buy books from the store of your choice and delivers them to your door, giving much-needed funds to independent shops.

Iya Foods

Created by Toyin Kolawole in 2015, Iya Foods sells healthy, nourishing products inspired by the flavors of Africa. The gift bundles are perfect presents for foodies, with options like spices and seasoning bundles or 100 percent single ingredient spices for baking. 

BLK & Bold

Give a gift that gives back when you buy coffee from BLK & Bold. This small specialty coffee and tea company donates 5 percent of its profits to nonprofit organizations to support at-risk youth. You’ll find lots of unique gifts at BLK & Bold’s storefront, like their steeped coffee, which brews tea-bag style and is perfect for travel.

EXAU Olive Oil

Founded by a husband and wife team (the husband is a third-generation Italian olive oil producer), EXAU’s flavorful olive oil made it on Oprah’s Favorite Things list this year. The oils are made from Calabrian-grown olives and are carefully cultivated for different flavor profiles. 

Otherland

Founded by Abigail Cook Stone, a former art buyer for Ralph Lauren, Otherland aims to bring a blend of art and fragrance into your home via their candles. The candles’ scents are designed by master perfumers and made out of a smooth-burning and clean coconut and soy wax blend. The artfully-designed glass candle holders are intended to be cleaned out and used even after the candle has run out.

Brightland

Is your olive oil Instagram-worthy? Brightland’s collection of olive oil and vinegar certainly is, with beautifully designed bottles that are worthy of displaying on your counter. Made by a husband and wife team in California, these olive oils and vinegars have no fillers or artificial preservatives and come in unique flavors like lemon and basil. 

Linoto 

Want to get in on the linen bedding trend? Linoto handmakes all their linens (from sheets to tablecloths) in their New York workshop. Each item is hand-measured, cut, and sewn, before being laundered with natural soap and shipped out to you in plastic-free recycled packaging.  

Essie Spice

Essie Bartel’s passion for spices began at home in her mother’s kitchen in Ghana, and was then further fueled by her travels around the world before being turned into her Essie Spice business. Bartel’s homemade spices are all-natural and feature amazing flavor combinations like a mango chili medley or a mekko dry rub that will amp up any dish. 

Lovard

Looking to splurge this holiday season? Check out Lovard’s modern luxury handbags and accessories. Run by a mother/daughter team with years of experience in the luxury retail business, this store is the place to go for unique, special occasion gifts. (We’re obsessed with their snake mask chain.)

All the Restaurants in New York

Immortalize the scene of a first date, special occasion New York City trip, or just someone’s favorite diner with a piece of art from All the Restaurants in New York. Artist John Donohue is on a mission to draw the storefronts of every restaurant in New York, so you can likely find your favorite spot on his site—or you can commission a piece of a place he hasn’t hit yet.

You Might Also Like:

• Last-minute gifts for travelers
• 18 Gift Swap Ideas That Every Traveler Will Want
• 13 Last-Minute Gifts You Can Get in Time for Christmas