What is the “Best?” It’s a subjective term after all. But we know it when we see it. Each year, we create an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink list to tickle your intellect, fill your belly, spark your imagination and inspire ideas for exploring the place where you live. We reflect on the talk of the town—newsmakers and civic upheavals—that inspired both cheers and jeers. We pile it all together into an always-incomplete list dubbed Best of the Beehive. Here we present some of our standout stops for shopping in Utah
Best place to support local makers
Salt & Honey Market
With 250 rotating local vendors, you’re bound to find something special when visiting Salt & Honey Market. The Collective Makers Market has three locations in the city, each filled to the brim with vintage wares, handcrafted beauty products, artisanal ceramics and much more. The shops are often curated to fit the season, making holiday shopping a breeze. 926 E. 900 South, SLC saltandhoneymarket.com
Best place to shop without shame
Lovebound Library
Among the treasures of local businesses in the Maven district, Lovebound Library is a woman-owned bookstore specializing in romance. From steamy fantasy novels to heart-tugging tales of queer love, this bookshop celebrates the genre loud and proud. 145 E. 900 South, SLC loveboundlibraryslc.com
Best place to shop for kitschy gifts in a former public swimming pool
Rainbow Gardens
Once a hotel with private mineral baths in the late 1800s, the establishment added a ballroom and indoor pool to elevate it into a natural hot springs resort. Since the 1970s, however, this edifice at the mouth of Ogden Canyon has been revamped into a restaurant and store. Instead of filling in the empty indoor pool, however, stairs and Astroturf were added, and the pit remains as a below-ground, weird shopping experience in which patrons can hunt for crafts and knick-knacks while descending into the belly of the beast. 1851 Valley Dr., Ogden rainbowgardens.com
Best place to make a sentimental gift
Katie Waltman Boutique Charm Bar
Charm Braclelts are back in a big way. Step up your personalized collection at Katie Waltman’s charm bar. This Sugar House boutique offers a delightful selection of high-quality charms and chains, perfect for a sentimental gift. 2108 E. 1300 South, SLC katiewaltman.com
Best way to enhance your summer glow
Seshin Korean Scrub Spa
Utah’s dry Climate can wreak havoc on your skin. Give your largest organ a reboot with a sesh at Seshin Korean Scrub Spa. Skin-prep starts with a treatment in the infrared sauna. Next is a luxurious head-to-toe rubdown leaving you soft as a baby’s bottom. The treatment ends with a super hydrating massage before you’re sent on your way. 233 Highland Dr., Holladay seshinkoreanscrubspa.glossgenius.com
Best Place to Wonder, “Are the Owners For Real?”
Your Family Still Matters—Paintball, Food Storage & Violins
Need we say more than the voluminous moniker of this shop conveys? If your family still matters, this dead-serious store hopes to quell your anxieties with a rather odd assortment of supplies. Owners say they specialize in equipping folks for “life’s unpredictable moments,” according to the Facebook page. You may be laughing now, but if you ever find yourself stuck in a bunker during the apocalypse, you’d better hope to high heaven you have food storage, plenty of paintball pellets, and a violin, obviously. 175 W. 900 South, Saint George bereadyfoods.com
Best browsing for vintage goods with a view
BCC Flea Market
This funky outdoor market at Brighton Resort is a perfect destination after getting your hike on, but is certainly a destination all on its own when temps in the valley get steamy. Best yet, it’s held on Sundays.
8304 S. Brighton Loop Rd., Brighton bccflea.com
Best place to find that thing you didn’t know you needed (like a samurai sword)
NPS Store
Exploring the eclectic merch at the NPS Store is its own kind of fun—if not for treasure hunting, then at least for some laughs. You’ll find yourself perusing a mix of surplus, misdirected, unclaimed or sometimes even damaged products, so don’t even think about bringing a shopping list…in NPS land, random inventory reigns supreme. Baby Ugg boots, Sun Bum sunscreen, fresh bananas and a 24-pack of Coke Zero were a few of my shopping wins. Hard pass on the (with-tags) clearly-worn wedding dress—it must have been a hot, humid wedding day— a tub of expired mayo, or the unboxed inflatable table-and-chairs set.
1600 Empire Rd., SLC npsstore.com
There’s more to love in the Beehive State!
Outdoors
Eat & Drink
Weird Utah
Jocularity
2025 Wasatch Faults (and Faves)
Find all of this year’s Best of the Beehive coverage, and more “Bests” from past issues. And while you’re here, subscribe and get six issues of Salt Lake magazine, your curated guide to the best of life in Utah.
