In early 2023, a new term to describe a type of beloved local market popping up across American cities entered the zeitgeist: “the shoppy shop”. You’re probably familiar with the type: global pantry goods, one-of-a-kind wines and artisan staples that make entertaining feel, or at least look, effortless.
In November, Boulder got its very own. Perched on the northeast corner of the S’PARK community in central Boulder, Sundry Goods brings a new, affordability-minded, community-driven approach to the trend.
“We've always wanted to open up a little ‘shoppy shop’—something that's approachable and fun, but less cost-prohibitive than others,” explains Sundry team member Jake Novotny. “We think of it as a grocery store, but we like to also think of wine and spirits as groceries and stuff like this,” he says, motioning around the space. “These essentials for a fun dinner party, as staples,” he continues. “It’s a market, a dinner party store, it’s…”
“It’s a full-on one-stop shop,” chimes in the owner, Mackenzie Terzian.
Inside, the wooden shelves that stretch up to the ceiling (handcrafted by Jake) are as curated as they are stocked, lined with artisan goods sporting colorful packaging. Yet in the in-between spaces, you’ll find the quotidien: dish soap, detergent, batteries.
“It’s everything from toilet paper to tampons to bougie non-alcoholic olive oil martinis to wine anywhere from $9 to $500,” explains Mackenzie. “Well, maybe not quite $9,” she laughs. “Essentially, goods that serve the whole community—age-wise, income-wise—just making sure that it's a resource for anyone that needs it.”
At Sundry, community is a key part of the curation.
“We're very much going to be dependent on our community to tell us what else is needed,” adds Sundry team member Mojo Monjack. “We opened with some extra space specifically for people to tell us what they want and need. We want that input from our community, from our guests.”
With a collective background in the food and beverage industry, the Sundry team is also guided by a sense of hospitality.
“Our goal is to have tastings here at least once or twice a week. We're all coming from the restaurant industry, so we want to be able to do some classes, whether it's how to make certain cocktails or just a wine tasting and some snacks—we really want to be able to create that hospitality within a store,” says Mojo.
“Why not have this fun, sort of experiential thing?” adds Jake. “We have great music on, and we try to make shopping fun, but also affordable at the same time. We focus on ‘good’ goods and try to do our best with small companies and sustainability. But at the end of the day, we’re focused on the guest that comes in. So we have a little bit of everything.”
Shoppers can stop by seven days a week, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. For more updates and to learn more, follow Sundry on Instagram at @sundry_boulder.
