WOW. there are so many locally-owned shops in the strip district, it is amazing! i had never seen anything quite like the strip before coming here; i am from the DC area and that is the city i am used to. there are definitely locally-owned places in DC, but not at the same density as in the strip district, does that make sense?
the first shop i went into was a woodcarving sort of place. there were handcrafted cutting boards and other wooden things, as well as handmade blankets and candles. very cool place!
another shop i really liked was a coffee and tea shop. an entire wall was lined with giant mason jars full of loose leaf tea that you could buy by the pound. i bought a quarter pound each of three different types, which was very exciting.
one last place to note was grandpa joe's candy shop, which had a variety of fun and vintage candies.
there are also several farmers' markets, and of course a primanti brothers!
i came with my family on a saturday and most of the shops closed at 5:00, which i was surprised by. so this is definitely a daytime/early afternoon activity.
definitely recommend coming here and checking it out!