Photography by 3Spade7Star @3Spade7Star_photography…read moreJanuary 25, 2026 - Sunday The Black Cat Shoppe was on my to go see list in Wilmington to see if I could get on a historical tour in a motor vehicle. Unfortunately, they don't have historical tours but they do have tours on foot and it was not feasible for me to do after having a surgery on my hip & leg - still healing. So I browsed the store for a long period and had the most fun with using the coin operated crystal vending machine. For two quarters you can get one to three crystals with a turn of the knob on the machine. I was lucky to get three crystals several times. You don't know how many or what kind of crystals you will get, yet it is fun, and the crystals make a great gift to give to people. I got a lot of green aventurine crystals and crystals I usually would not select like dalmation jasper & a dull moonstone. It was a steal since most crystals are $1-3 each for the sizes I received of these crystals. Alyssa was very engaging and stellar in providing me information and generating more sales effortlessly - just by answering all my questions and showing me different rings stocked inside the ring display. She was delightful, memorable, and helped me select the perfect rings to wear on my index and third finger. I got 3 rings for $24.99. Other items I purchased was: money attraction incense & oudh resin in a glass bottle for incense, unique oracle cards with funny yes & no answers, stickers, a pamphlet detailing all the places where television series and movies were filmed at in Wilmington, North Carolina, and post cards. The postcards were only $1. I should have bought a book there that I thought I already had. The book is The Ghosts of Old Wilmington by John Hirchak. The book is signed by the writer. I had two ghost books about Wilmington but it was not that one. Yet it is another reason I should go back to The Black Cat Shoppe. I plan to come back here and go on their tours later in the future. This is a place I plan to visit again the next time I come to Wilmington, North Carolina.

This store was supposed the "one tree hill record store" and used as something else in Dawsons…read morecreek I believe.. has a lot of toys, magnets, post cards and etc... If you are a fan of the show One Tree Hill come check it out!

This is a kitschy local artist shop in a nice shopping center. I was brought in by a local friend…read morewho is particularly art savvy and interested. There is everything from handmade jewelry to figures, paintings, pottery, photography printed large, t-shirts, sports team logo emblazoned memorabilia and catnip toys for your cat. That's just a smattering of what they have. This being art, you can imagine the prices range broadly depending on what you're wanting. Larger items can be several hundred dollars while I saw smaller items down to just a few bucks. Staff was friendly and helpful. The store itself is in what used to be an old bar/restaurant. It has an almost rustic feel to it, although I don't believe the building is truly all that old. If you find yourself in this area you should give it a look.

Booked a "Paint Your Pet" session with my husband and our friends. The entire process was seamless…read more- I booked online and emailed a few photos of our dogs to the email address provided on the booking page. I received an email response confirming the photos were received. We showed up about 10 minutes before our event was scheduled, and were greeted by our expert painter and shown the canvas with photos of our dogs. We were given paint colors for our background (whatever we chose) and the appropriate base colors for our dogs. What initially seemed like an intimidating process turned out to be a lot of fun and was surprisingly easy - we think our photos turned out to look amazingly like our pets! As a bonus, our instructor was AMAZING and we really enjoyed her company and were grateful for her reassurances throughout the evening. We will definitely be coming back to do more of these events!

One word: Adorable!!! I was walking along the riverwalk…read moreand I saw this place so I had to go in. I'm not one to always purchase fun or funky jewelry, but I always like to browse. This store didn't disappoint on options to look at and then the sales girl told me the prices, $7 for ANY pair of earrings in the store. WHAT??? Ok, now I instantly need 3 pair of adorable earrings. How about a necklace? Well that's gonna set you back $10 - $25. Uh, ok, now I need a few of those too. The stuff reminded me of the jewelry you'd see in Francesca's or Anthropologie, but had Claire's prices. So, now that you know that, you MUST stop in to pick up some lady flash for yourself.

Seriously love this shop! Every time I visit Wilmington, and I do mean every time, I stop by to get…read morea pair of earrings. Their jewelry selection has everything from hand crafted selections to trendy pieces. Also, currently they have blanket scarves and they're only $14!!! Boutiques sell these for $20-$30 typically. Go shop local! You won't regret it. The customer service is top notch and they have online selections too.

I had the pleasure of meeting Lindsay at her extremely awesome boutique on Market Street. Loved the…read moremerchandise, especially those items crafted by locals. The store has a great vibe and going in there was a delightful experience. It's so important to shop the local stores and boutiques to keep them around. They add such a nice touch to downtown Wilmington! I love my new accessories!

Love this little place! The girl who owns it was so lovely and helpful. The prices were very fair…read morefor a little boutique, very cute styles for clothes and jewelry. Don't miss this little shop when you're in Wilmington!

This new cute little gift shop is next door to Nancy Joe's bakery and Michelangelo's Pizza. There…read moreare a variety of gifts here, including soaps, ornaments, children's books, birthday gifts and house decor. There are gifts for people who own pets, especially Corgis since the owners have a corgi themselves. The owners are very nice. We ended up getting a painted portrait of a pitbull made by one of the owners and zodiac sign magnets. They have their own free two lane parking spots that is located in front of the metered parking spaces. This is a good gift shop to check out if you're in the area!

A really lovely little shop in Carolina Beach for anyone who is looking to find some unique gifts…read moreor artwork. The thing that makes this place a notch ahead of a standard beach gift shop is the original artwork by one of the owners: Bob Mather. I was lucky enough to visit when Bob himself was working. What a kind, lovely human being. All of Bob's pieces are absolutely wonderful, and because he owns the store, you are able to choose between prints, cards, and other items featuring his work...AND even some of the original pieces. Many are of a beach aesthetic, but there are others that are geared more towards pet lovers. (Dogs, in particular.) You can't really get more "unique" than original artwork, so this place is a great choice if you're looking for something really special at a very reasonable price point. Although the space is relatively small and the parking looks like it could be a little tricky during a busy season, Bungalow by the Sea is absolutely worth visiting. It's a space filled with warmth; curated with care.

The perfect place located directly in downtown Wilmington for a hipster souvenir, house-warming…read moregift and I might even say dirty santa?! Planet is a store full of odds and ends that scream hip, dirty fashion and Durham...I mean Wilmington (just reminds me of a Durham, NC/Boulder, CO crowd). If you are in the mood for original t-shirts, summer dresses, raunchy bumper stickers, gem jewelry, fake aviator shades or a bench NOT made for sitting. I've been attracted into Planet on almost every visit to Wilmington and haven't been disappointed. It's cute, a quick stop, and if you're looking to but something, there's so much variety, it's hard not to see something that catches your eye. They even had a very small selection of items on sale (under $10). Planet is a great stop if you're downtown and wondering around.

In 15 minutes I found and tried on 2 dresses and 3 shirts. I purchased 4/5 items and added a…read morevintage necklace. The two tops I purchased would pair with a suit for work or jeans after hours. The dresses were fun and flirty with great prints and flattering cuts. They had a variety of super casual to date night and a few items appropriate to supplement your career wardrobe. I didn't have much time to browse but the sales woman was very friendly and helpful. I would love to come back and browse the nifty gifties!

I finally stopped into this little boutique last week - I love it! Half United carries a range of…read morebeautiful products like handmade leather bags, earrings, necklaces, natural beauty products, soap, candles and SUPER soft flowy T-shirts. The best thing about this store is that no matter what the price of the item, 7 meals are donated to those in need for each item purchased. This is a very unique donation model that I haven't run across before! Half United also carries MISSIO hair products which is a local brand (woo!) that supports the fight against human trafficking. The staff was incredibly helpful when I realized the particular MISSIO dry shampoo I was looking for wasn't in stock, Carmen ran across the street to the MISSIO office to get it for me! I really enjoyed my experience and will likely be back again before Christmas to finish up gift shopping.

I love this little store! Their mission to end hunger is amazing and their staff is so kind! A must…read morefor all gifts!

5/5 Had a great time visiting and buying!…read more Betsy was amazing to talk to when my girlfriend and I came to their shop to get ideas on her engagement ring. Betsy was so kind to help us know more about what to find when it comes to an engagement/wedding band and she showed us example. I even got to write down everything that my gf and her talked about the info of what my GF wants in an engagement ring. She showed us everything they had to offer and told us a lot about each of the jewelry. I'm very happy that we went here instead of some chain store, because we wanted to get jewelry that were hand crafted by a local business. My girlfriend felt like a seagull looking at all the jewelry and finally found the earrings she wanted. We are going to come back to TS Brown Jewelry when we visit Wilmington for now on. Thank you so much Betsy for everything!! (I hope I'm spelling your name right lol)

I loved visiting this cute jewelry shop! I don't normally wear these two rings on the same…read morehand/finger but I did for this photo! Everyone at the shop was very friendly and helpful. I love gold so I got the bottom ring first and then put in an order for the citrine stoned ring. Happy with both! Only slight complaint is I wish the ring with the stone came in a half size but I knew that ordering it. With that being said, they put a spacer on it for me! So I will be back for more jewelry!