Bored with t-shirts from Forever 21 that all say “tacocat” for some reason? Looking for gifts and decorations that don’t look like they came from the mall? Good news. Culture Flock is a brand new shop with unique and interesting apparel and other merchandise.

Something different

Summer Trottier and her wife Brittany Bilyeu are the co-owners and operators of Culture Flock. The company has been operating online and in local art festivals since 2013, but the opening of their physical shop is a very new development for their company. Their physical shop on 3938 S Lone Pine Ave just opened on Oct. 11, 2018.

Trottier says there is a wide variety of clothes that they sell.

“In our brick and mortar, we carry our entire Culture Flock line of apparel, stickers, patches, totes, mugs, etc. We also carry 30+ other independent brands, over 85 percent of those brands are owned by women,” said Trottier.

She continued, saying, “We have a big selection of greeting cards. We also carry planners, notebooks, journals, some zines, jewelry, keychains, candles, socks, calendars, and a lot of gift-type items. We are constantly buying new things for the shop, so there’s always something new getting [onto] the shelves each week.”

Engaging with the community

Culture Flock also hosts a variety of community events in their shop. Earlier this October, they hosted local female comedy group Basement Kats, and are planning other events for the future. These include art workshops such as a block printing workshop on Nov. 11 and a pottery pop-up on Nov. 17. Interested? Check out their Facebook page for a list of other planned events.

Culture Flock sources its merchandise from a majority of women-owned brands and places an emphasis on community involvement and artistic expression.

It is definitely worth checking out their physical store, though you can also always shop online at cultureflock.com. Shopping at local businesses is an excellent way to both help Springfield small businesses grow and find unique, locally created gifts and clothing.

Article by Lauren Barclay.