There is no better place to find that special gift for friends or family than a world-class museum shop. And Wilmington, Delaware has the best collection of museum shops in the country. In addition to finding exactly the right gift, you’ll be supporting a great cultural institution right in your own back yard.
The flagship is surely the shops at Winterthur Museum & Country Estate. Their two retail stores, the Winterthur Museum Store and the Winterthur Museum Bookstore, are huge and chocked full of unique gifts – home furnishings, books, garden accessories, plants, holiday decorations, jewelry and more. And Winterthur‘s licensed reproductions, inspired by, adapted from or reproduced from its museum, garden, or library collections are exceptional, especially if price is no obstacle. Parking is free at Winterthur and, like all of the Brandywine Valley’s museum stores, there is no admission charge to shop.
The Garden Shop at Longwood Gardens has perhaps the second largest retail operation in the region. You'll find a huge selection of home & garden items, apparel, bath products and Longwood signature items. Although you don’t need to pay admission to shop, I can’t imagine a trip to Longwood that doesn’t include at least a few minutes of serenity in their massive, internationally acclaimed horticultural conservatory, that is literally transformed into a wonderland during the holidays. The
Nature Store at the Delaware Nature Society’s Ashland Nature Center is another great source for special gifts.
Not surprisingly some of the most unique gifts come from the three major art museums in the Brandywine Valley – the
Delaware Art Museum,
Brandywine River Museum and the
Delaware Center for Contemporary Arts. In fact
, Alternatives Museum Shop at the Center for the Contemporary Arts was named one of this year's Best Museum Stores by NICHE magazine. Arts and crafts are perfect for hard to please relatives, because they are both beautiful and in many cases, truly unique.
For gifts that are uniquely “Delaware,” the place to shop is the Delaware Store at the Delaware History Museum, open Wednesday through Friday from 11 to 4 and Saturdays from 10 to 4. They carry everything Delaware, from mementoes to high quality arts and crafts, not to mention every book ever written about the First State – history, environment, politics, art and more. And this year the Society is introducing several new lines of limited edition “Fine Historic Reproductions” in partnership with Hardcastle Gallery and Qoro Fine Art Services. In addition to historic portraits and paintings, the reproductions will include some of the Society’s most important maps, one-of-a-kind photographs, and historic broadsides . For more information about the Society’s “Fine Historical Reproductions” program go to www.dehistory.org.
Wilmington’s Hagley Museum and Delaware Museum of Natural History also have wonderful museum stores on the off chance you still haven’t found everything you need. And perhaps most importantly, all of these unique stores are within a 15-mile radius of Wilmington!
ShoppingTip: Most museums and public gardens offer significant retail discounts to members. More often than not, you’ll actually save money by purchasing a membership and utilizing your discount rather than paying the full price. AND, you’ll be supporting an important community institution!
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Comments
I love to shop at Winterthur! Such a beautiful store
I visited Winterthur last November and am looking forward to my next visit. I found the stores to be the best part of my day. I bought some inexpensive trinket boxes the grandkids loved and an exquisite silver necklace. The merchandise was really special.
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