In Culver City you will find a ton of shops of restaurants to explore. Walking up to Gratitude Market you are greeted by a bright seafoam façade detailed with illustrations of flowers. As you enter there is a table that sits right outside showing a sample of goods that they carry to entice folks in. Inside, the space is bright and airy which allows you to discover the products that have been curated easily.

The design of the shop and the careful selection of items feels like an artist’s space. Which totally made sense when talking to an employee that, before the pandemic, the space was once a gallery. It is obvious that the owner, Lisa Schultz, is a creative and cares about community. A portion of the profits from sales goes to The Peace Project which is non-profit that Schultz founded in 2010 that networks artists to raise money to help people in need.

There is a lot of items from local artists including jewelry, ceramics, greeting cards, housewares, and décor, but you will also find spices, teas, chocolates, cheeses, gourmet pantry items and a wonderful array of wines that add to the aesthetic of the space. The wine selection in the back, lovingly called “Sal’s Wine Room” features various wines that you can browse and sample. Some bottles have tags hanging from them that lets you know the notes in the wine and even calling out to the buyer if it’s a woman owned business.

Among the edible and sippable items there is a heavy presence of international flavors and local goods. The efforts to bring in items that are unique makes this shop bespoke without being exclusionary or unapproachable.

I couldn’t leave the store without grabbing some goodies for myself and even though the total for my purchase was higher than I planned on spending (I tend to black out when I’m shopping) I was happy to know that some of the funds were going to a good cause.