14 Women-Owned Shops Shifting the Home and Design Space in America

You don’t have to be a certified shopping expert to understand that no retail experience would be possible without the humans running the whole operation. When you choose to support a small business, your purchase is making an even bigger impact on the lives of the people behind them. So often shop owners go uncredited for their labor of love at the expense of staying humble and focused on the grind. We know that with a great eye comes even greater responsibility and want to celebrate some of the women who have been on our radar.

These 13 design retailers are bringing new life and meaning to homes across the U.S. with their covetable vintage finds and impeccably diverse discoveries. (While we’ve compiled lists of the best home decor shops in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and the Pacific Northwest, there are so many other regions in America worth exploring.) Get to know some of the tastemakers behind a few of our favorite women-owned businesses in the home and design space before your next big cross-country road trip.

Located on Philadelphia’s South Fourth Street, Yowie has become the ultimate design destination for individuals with eclectic taste. Established in 2016 by Shannon Maldonado, the brick-and-mortar store is stocked with a curated selection of ceramics, textiles, and apparel from independent designers of diverse backgrounds. In 2022, fans will be able to get an even more immersive Yowie experience with its planned hotel expansion. shopyowie.com

As an illustrator, designer, and decorator, Laura Weiszer is a very visual person. Since launching Betsu Studio in 2017⁠—first as an Etsy shop, then a rental service for events and productions, and now a retail store in Philadelphia—she’s had a mission to “share the shit that makes me happy, like objects that make the pupils in my eyes dilate and spaces that make the mouth of my soul water,” she writes on her website. Stepping into the retro showroom is like entering a hidden portal full of curated vintage and modern design pieces like laminate credenzas from the ’80s, Milo Baughman chrome sofas, framed Hilma Af Klint art prints, and Art Deco dining chairs. betsustudio.com

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Sara Swan, The Swan’s House

Following her exit from a career in the fashion industry, Sara Swan took her admiration for interior design to the next level by opening The Swan’s House in Tarrytown, New York. (It didn’t hurt that her husband, Arthur Gandy, has a background in construction and set design.) Since 2018, the home decor shop has transformed into a village mecca for lovers of the Art Deco era with a smorgasbord of contemporary and vintage gems sourced from estate-sale hauls⁠—Sara likes to describe the vibe as “Miami Vice meets Mad Men.” Retro pieces are rotated in and out as they find their new forever homes, so every visit is a totally different curated experience. There’s not a velvet sofa, waterfall table, shell pillow, Murano lamp, or brass étagère that you won’t want to take home as a souvenir. theswanshouse.com

Not unlike most people, Beverly Nguyen spent the majority of 2020 at home. During that period, the fashion stylist reconnected with her kitchen, which inspired the idea for a one-stop shop. In the spring of 2021, she opened a space on New York’s Lower East Side called Beverly’s with the intent to help people “entertain and create a beautiful home on a very affordable budget,” she tells AD. Since then her pop-up store has branched out to Rockefeller Center and Nordstrom. Customers can find everything from glassware and ceramics to steel pans and bottles of olive oil. (Don’t miss out on the linens and tea towels made by Nguyen’s parents.) beverlys.nyc

With a background in fine arts, Sandeep Salter has an eye for the most covetable objects and a deep understanding of what essentials should inhabit a space. She demonstrated this when she cofounded McNally Jackson’s Goods for the Study and Picture Room, and in 2018 she brought Salter House to her New York City neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights. The family-oriented cafe and shop shows visitors what a real home feels like with natural and sustainable housewares for the kitchen and pantry, the bedroom, and the bathroom. (The house clothes are a must-have for any true homebody.) All the simple pleasures in life can likely be found right here. salter.house

Since 2014, Kai Avent-deLeon has been rebuilding the community in Brooklyn’s Bed-Stuy neighborhood through her lifestyle concept store Sincerely Tommy. Toward the end of 2020, the entrepreneur opened a homeware store called Raini Home in Brooklyn to fulfill her passion for minimal furniture and objects. The store also carries original pieces designed by Avent-deLeon that are handmade in a factory at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, like the ruby-red-painted wood DV1 Divider that was showcased at Egg Collective’s “Designing Women III: Mother” exhibition. (This work is probably as close as you’ll get to living a life that looks identical to hers.) rainihome.com

In the spring of 2020, Eva Knezović started selling furniture on an Instagram account called Doma. Nearly six months later, she opened a café specializing in Croatian cuisine under the same name. Located in Chicago’s Near North Side, the wholesome space was designed in the style of a ’70s canteen and also functions as a furniture store where Knezović’s superb taste is on full display with a bounty of timeless vintage pieces that speak to her, including jade coffee tables from the ’70s, Eero Aarnio for UPO Furniture sets, and Martin Visser for Spectrum chairs. (All items are available to buy and rent.) The original goal was to create a comfortable place to gather, and, as Eva tells AD, “food and furniture has a way of taking you places you sometimes can’t plan for.” When you’re here, it feels like you’re already home. domachicago.com

For the bibliophile always on the hunt for rare editions, For Keeps has you covered. Founded by the artist Rosa Duffy, the boutique bookstore and reading room has become a staple for the community of Atlanta. Duffy recently partnered with Solange’s Saint Heron to curate the inaugural library and permanent collection of rare and collector’s edition books that is free to the public for “research, study, and exploration.” This season’s offerings highlight the “rich history of Black identity in poetry, visual art, critical thought, and design,” Duffy states on Instagram. After all, knowledge is power, and you can’t put a price on that. forkeepsbooks.com

Over in the Midwest, there’s an abundance of vintage midcentury design pieces waiting to be found and rehomed. For the past 20 years, MoModerne has been holding down that territory in St. Louis. The design store proudly specializes in out-of-production pieces from “the greatest designers of the modernist era” and is also a leader in estate-sale liquidation. If you’ve been endlessly searching for classic pieces of furniture and decor, look no further. momodernestl.com

There are so many dealers to choose from in Portland, Oregon, but none have a selection quite like Sunny Preston’s. After making the transition from vintage clothing to vintage furniture, the self-taught dealer launched Midnight Sunlight in 2017. The boutique serves as a “carefully curated showroom” filled with modernist furniture and lighting, and postwar decorative arts. It has also been described as a place that evokes a cozy vibe and fosters a sense of connection. (Preston recently loaned one of her yellow Togo sofa pieces to the rapper Aminé for his latest music video—truly the endorsement of a lifetime.) midnightsunlight.com

When Alana Tang founded In the Comfort Of in 2019, it served as a vintage furniture and home goods store. Now she views the shop as an extension of herself. Utilizing the Seattle-based brand and interior design studio as a platform for self-expression, Tang intends for every piece that she sources to “create moods that evoke inspiration.” Her selection includes vintage seating from the likes of Ettore Sottsass and Percival Lafer plus tables, lighting, storage, and miscellaneous housewares. inthecomfortof.com

Hailed as the queen of estate sales, Tricia Benitez Beanum has been blowing up the vintage furniture bubble in West Hollywood, California, since the beginning of her career. (For what it’s worth, Pamela Anderson was
one of her earliest clients.) Beanum is all about conversation pieces and sells an assortment of eclectic decor items from antique and primitive to sculpture and contemporary art. (Her list of services at the highly curated vintage showroom include interior styling, rentals, and consignment.) The entrepreneur is also the cofounder of the gallery UNREPD, which recently presented the artist Corey Pemberton’s debut West Coast solo exhibition, “home/body.” As Beanum told AD, she’s on a mission to diversify design, so the purpose of her latest venture is to “shift the art market paradigm by championing BIPOC.” popuphome.com

During the pandemic Jullie Nguyen decided to walk away from her full-time job at a corporation and start her own business. Evidently the risk paid off because Bàn Bạn Studio is quickly growing into one of the coolest vintage stores in Los Angeles. The name comes from the Vietnamese term bàn bạn, which means “a friend’s table,” something Nguyen views as the centerpiece for conversations. The store offers sa curated collection of vintage and contemporary pieces that Nguyen has found while sourcing for clients like Togo sofas, Gerrit Rietveld chairs, Angelo Cortesi tables, and vintage IKEA pieces. A portion of every sale is donated to community and climate change nonprofits, so your purchase is paying it forward. banbanstudio.com

Since opening its doors in 2018, online gallery Claude Home has been a destination for collectible vintage design and contemporary art. Showcasing the work of artists from all over the world at her Los Angeles studio, founder Maggie Holladay specializes in sourcing modern pieces that are unique to her roster of clients, which include the supermodel Elsa Hosk. She also restores midcentury modern designer furniture from household names like Herman Miller, Vladimir Kagan, and Percival Lafer. claudehome.com

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest