Welcome to the fourth installment in our series called Shop Local, NJ! We’re doing all our holiday shopping locally this year and we’re taking you with us. We’re almost done shopping and we’ve really enjoyed every town that we’ve visited so far. Asbury Park, though, has a special vibe that just connects with me on a personal level. I remember hearing my great-grandmother talk about escaping the heat of NYC and taking my grandma down to Asbury every summer to walk the promenade and swim in the great big woolen swimsuits of the era. My grandma was sad about what had happened to Asbury Park in the 60s and 70s and she’d be thrilled with the way it’s being revitalized now.
The last few times we’ve been in Asbury Park, we were dressed as zombies for the Annual New Jersey Zombie Walk. Shelter Home, Robert Legere Home, The Store by the Shore, re|BEARTH and all the other great shopping that’s along Bangs and Cookman Avenues aren’t places we could visit as zombies. Luckily, for us, we weren’t wearing zombie make-up and clothes this weekend so we could pop in and discover what makes downtown Asbury Park an awesome shopping destination.
Lots of stores had Tillie items that you can pick up for people on your holiday gift list who love Asbury Park. You know who Tillie is, right? He’s the grinning face you used to see on the sides of the Palace Amusements building. One of the Tillie faces was saved by concerned citizens when the building was demolished several years ago. Now, Asbury Park has basically made him the city mascot.
One of the stores that had Tillie-themed goods was Shelter Home. As soon as we walked in we knew this would be a cool store. Modern and fun, everywhere we looked we saw awesome stuff.
Pillows created with fabric made by an owner of Shelter Home in Asbury Park
Check out the pillows above and the paperweights and magnets below, all from Shelter Home.
Their whole store was actually filled with gifts that would have been perfect for us. Are you reading this family? Shop in Asbury Park or in their online store! They have lots of Jonathan Adler pottery, Anna and Alessi kitchenware and really cool holiday items also by Alessi. Honestly, I’m not joking. I want the whole store in my house, now. We even got to meet Diego and Lucia, the owners’ two beautiful standard poodles.
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