home shopping
When visitors ask me about where to shop in Barbados, my face (and mind) goes blank for a moment. Shopping? Umm… I wouldn’t call Barbados a shopping mecca exactly. The duty-free shops along
Broad Street in Bridgetown are good for buying designer watches and perfume (try Cave Shepherd and take your passport to get the duty-free price), but Rue de Saint-Honore it ain’t.
It’s best to view shopping in Barbados as part of your discovery of island culture instead of finding a designer outfit. That way you won’t be disappointed. In fact, you’ll be delighted, because what you find at the following is truly a piece of Barbados. My
favorite places to shop and the places I suggest to visitors are these:
1. Earthworks Since 1978, Goldie Spieler and her son David have been creating whimsical and useful ceramic dinnerware and serving pieces, candlesticks, trivets, table decor, and much more, all the colors of our beautiful sea and watermelon sunsets. Their
studio is also their shop, in Edgehill Heights, St Thomas. They ship, but it’s lots of fun to just buy a few pieces each time you visit Barbados and build your table collection slowly. 246-425-0223
2. Ins & Outs Emporium. Right next to Earthworks, this little shop sells the best marmalade (lime, grapefruit, orange, and more) I’ve had anywhere in the world. The brand of the marmalade is called Ins & Outs and packaging is adorable; they
stack three together in a pretty package, making the marmalade a special gift for friends. Ins & Outs also makes really great chutneys, pepper sauce, and other food accompaniments. Be sure to pack what you buy in your checked luggage; I learned the hard way, by
having three gifts packs of marmalade (that’s 9 jars!) confiscated at Grantley Adams International Airport. I nearly cried!
3. Also next to Earthworks is a fabulous little art gallery called On the Wall featuring gorgeous work by Vanita Comissiong and other major artists. Upstairs is a fabulous lunch place, Treehouse Cafe. The food here is delish and the view from
the open verandah of the lush St George Valley breathtaking.
4. Greenwich Antiques A hundred years ago, the building housing Greenwich Antiques was a genteel sugar plantation mansion. Today, the beautiful home’s rooms are filled to the brim with a range of treasures dating back to early 20th and late 19th
centuries. Wander among heavy mahogany furniture made by Barbados craftsmen, china, silver, and trinkets galore. I love going here with a girlfriend and taking my time sifting through the organized clutter for treasures. Unless you have the sort of husband who likes to wander
aimlessly amongst old stuff, leave him on the beach while you shop. Trents Hill, St James.
5. Walkers World One of my very favorite stores in Barbados, Walkers World sells beautiful items for the home, some made locally and others chosen with a good eye by owner Karin Truedsson and imported. Two locations: St Lawrence Gap in Christ Church
and Edgehill, St Thomas.
6. Best of Barbados Begun by famed Barbados artist Jill Walker as a way to showcase local art, Best of Barbados is today the #1 gift shop on the island because of Jill’s art. Jill’s beautiful water colors and oil paintings of traditional
Barbados life have been reinterpreted on tea towels, pot holders, beach towels, aprons, coffee mugs. You can also buy fine art prints and posters of Jill’s playful street scenes of an era gone by and the gorgeous tropical flowers of Barbados. Several locations around the
island, including St Lawrence Gap and Grantley Adams International Airport.
All of this is specialty shopping… and very special shopping. Every one of these spots has quality items you won’t find anywhere else. So who needs Rue de Saint-Honore?