You could travel to Amsterdam to find the perfect modern and minimalistic lighting for your home. Or you could venture to Lawrenceville where Shawn Aversa and his husband Jamie McAdams are selling an array of sleek globe bulbs, with custom cords, which they discovered in the Netherlands.
Boutiques like the couple’s Von Walter & Funk are popping up all over Pittsburgh, offering an array of trendy, modern and classic products to meet your every need. Each has its own mix of specialty items that you can’t find elsewhere.
Each one also gives you a shopping experience utterly unlike browsing the internet, says Leslie McAllister, owner of Point Breeze’s JuJu.
There’s more of a focus on personal attention and interaction. The shop owners will also help you learn how to use a product or help you decide which items to pair for the perfect outfit.
We’re seeing a trend toward “a new generation of shop small in Pittsburgh,” says Aversa, co-owner and creative director of Von Walter & Funk.
In April, we told you about Helen & Earl, a hat and lifestyle boutique, which opened its doors in Dormont late last month. Here are five more new or can’t-miss city boutiques rocking Pittsburgh right now:
love, Pittsburgh
If you’re looking to shower yourself with all things Pittsburgh — quite literally — this great-looking shop has everything you need. From black and gold bar soap to Pittsburgh themed mugs, n’at, you’ll find that love, Pittsburgh carries a wide variety of gifts and seasonal items, all made by Pittsburghers themselves.
Not everything has to have a Pittsburgh theme — the only criteria is that the items are made by locals — though many of the shop’s top sellers do have that City of Steel flair, from crocheted pierogies to a Pittsburgh bucket list.
“We have candles, cards, even food — salts and coffee, T-shirts, paintings, mugs,” says co-owner Monica Yope, 33, of Mt. Washington.
love, Pittsburgh was the brainchild of Yope and co-owner Kelly Sanders, 47, of Mt. Lebanon, who opened up shop on Mt. Washington in July 2017. Less than a year — and a bit more brainstorming — later, the two have opened their second shop in Downtown Pittsburgh’s Cultural District.
Already, they’ve noticed a difference in Pittsburghers’ tastes between Mt. Washington and Downtown.
A “How to talk like a Pittsburgher” guide, which typically sells out at their Mt. Washington shop, has hardly sold Downtown, where the hot-button item is “The Three Little Pigsburghers” — basically “The Three Little Pigs,” written in Pittsburghese.
“Everything has really a cohesive feel,” Yope says.
love, Pittsburgh is located at 805 Liberty Ave., Pittsburgh 15222 and 301 Shiloh St. Pittsburgh 15211. Liberty Avenue location open Wednesday through Monday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Shiloh Street location open Sunday and Wednesday noon to 5 p.m. and Thursday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and closed Monday and Tuesday.
Von Walter & Funk
From trendy lighting to kitchen tools to coffee table books, anything you need for your home can be found inside the Lawrenceville lifestyle boutique. Aversa and McAdams opened the shop in mid-2015, after working in “corporate America.” They looked at their future and wanted to do something they loved.
The shop offers an “eclecticness of everything,” Aversa says. “We have something for every angle of your life.”
Von Walter & Funk focuses on goods that will help you “live well, imagine and create.” These items are things the two would want in their home — and they’ll show you how to use them or decorate with them.
The collection — from wallpaper to books — is always evolving. They find new items at shows, or on buying trips to Paris or London.
While the shop has a lot of modern goods these days, there’s also a vintage selection. But that doesn’t mean it’s old. Items can be new, yet patterned after “vintage” styles from the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s, Aversa notes.
Von Walter & Funk is located at 5210 Butler Street, Pittsburgh 15201. Hours are: Tuesday-Friday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
JuJu
Owner Leslie McAllister makes sure to greet every person who enters JuJu, a dreamy lifestyle boutique in Point Breeze. Those greetings often come with a hug, as the person enters the space of healing, which is designed to have high vibrations.
Inside JuJu are items “to support us in our daily life.” That includes an array of curated crystals and ceremonial and ritual potions. Clothing — with a bohemian flair — includes kimonos, caftans and ceremonial maxi dresses.
“Think, something you dance under the full moon to,” says McAllister, 40, of Upper Lawrenceville.
With her self-professed “snobby nose” for great scents, she has also selected an array of perfume oils and smoke for the shop.
McAllister — who has a background in fashion and music, but a heart in spiritual therapy — opened the shop in March 2016. Along with an array of ceremonial oils, you’ll find terra decks, books and smudge sticks inside.
“You can find a gorgeous kaftan and match it with a quartz crystal and smell amazing all with things from here,” she says.
McAllister, whose great-grandmother was an astrologer and reader — also conducts in-house tarot readings in a small room in the back of JuJu.
JuJu is located at 6739 Reynolds St., Pittsburgh 15206. Hours are: Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Sunday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and closed on Mondays.
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