Missouri History Museum reopens gift shop

The renovated space is dedicated to craft-centric vendors who call St. Louis home.

The Missouri History Museum opened a 2,000-square-foot gift shop on Feb. 14 to coincide with the 260^th birthday of the city.

Sold on St. Louis sells apparel, books, magnets, home decor, prints and posters, food and snacks, jewelry and a range of specialty items from more than 100 local creators.

“The shop is focused primarily on creators here in the general St. Louis area, so 95% of vendors and items are local,” says Briana McPherson, retail operations manager.

Vendors include Imo’s Pizza, Series Six Company apparel, Benton Park Prints, Excel Bottling Co., Fitz's Root Beer, Stringbean Coffee Co., STL Style House, Jon Blanco, Clementine's Creamery, Firecracker Press, Reedy Press and many more.

Among the most popular items in the mere weeks the store has reopened are the toasted ravioli earrings, which McPherson points to as being a conversation starter. The city is known for popularizing the dish in the 1940s in a predominantly Italian-American neighborhood known as The Hill, according to Wikipedia.

Another fan favorite — the So St. Louis mix of popcorn by Blissfully Popped in Maplewood – sold out in a week, McPherson notes. The blend combines cheddar popcorn with barbeque potato chips made in St. Louis known as Old Vienna Red Hot Riplets, according to the popcorn maker’s website.

McPherson notes the reaction to Sold on St. Louis has been “overwhelmingly positive.”

“[It is] a much-needed updated to the space and an overall focus of the store,” she says. “It matches the Missouri Historical Society’s priority of driving interest about the area and fostering the connection the community has with the space in which they call home.”