#shopikon

Loving Lately... Shopikon

In my first post, I expressed how I love seeking out independent shops whenever I travelled. From Edinburgh to Budapest, it's awesome to either stumble upon a store or have a local recommend you to somewhere you would have never found in a regular guide book. These shops usually carry prints, accessories, gadgets, clothes and more that are unique to that city's culture or that neighbourhood's personality, and you end up purchasing something that you may not find anywhere else. So when I came across Shopikon a few months ago, it was love at first click! Though the website only currently covers shops in 7 cities (San Francisco, New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Barcelona & Vienna), they do a great job of making each city easily searchable by breaking it down into both neighbourhoods and categories including home and design, markets, books, clothing and more. So if I'm looking for unique shops in Nolita in New York, I can specifically look up stores in that neighbourhood. Alternatively, if I want to indulge my sweet tooth while in London, I can look up all the candy, chocolate and bakeries in the city in the Food category. 

Shopikon also offers free apps that you can download for each city individually so that you can look up places on the go. I'm going to be in New York in the Fall and hopefully travelling to San Francisco as well, so I can't wait to explore these cities with the apps loaded on my phone!

They recently released this beautiful video to showcase some of their featured shop owners in San Francisco, Barcelona, Vienna and Paris. Be sure to take a look to see what to expect from this awesome service- thanks Shopikon!

Des artisans locaux? Yes, please! 

C'est la raison pour laquelle nous avions envie de partager cette vidéo avec vous. Chez Lettres d'un Inconnu, nous croyons au fait-main, à l'artisanat, aux initiatives bienveillantes faites avec coeur.