How This Street Became Brooklyn’s Most Beloved Shopping Destination

When it comes time to wrangle a host gift, secure a sentimental anniversary token, or outfit your prewar walkup, your best option is making a trip to Atlantic Avenue. The Brooklyn street is more than an address—it’s where the most charming bits of Brooklyn Heights, Boerum Hill, Carroll Gardens, and Fort Greene converge. “Atlantic Avenue is one of borough’s longest streets, and in my mind it’s the true spine of Brooklyn,” says Lily Sullivan, writer of the newsletter “Love and Other Rugs” and my first introduction to shopping the stretch.

With no shortage of options for a quick bite or an iced coffee refresh, we highly recommend dedicating a weekend afternoon to all that Atlantic Avenue has to offer for design lovers. And even if you’re a local, like Lily, “there’s an element of discovery that even I, someone who has been to these places a hundred times, still finds.”

If it’s inspiration you’re after, there’s no better place to find it. Designer and founder of Don’t Let Disco, Ashley Harris, thinks of it as a “mini adventure” marked with spontaneous fodder for fashion and interior dreams. Instead of buyers remorse, she equates shopping on Atlantic Ave to hitting the refresh button. “It sparks creativity just when you need it, whether for a project or just jazzing up your place.”

Christene Barberich, a writer, editor, and brand consultant, has lived off of the throughway for more than 15 years—long enough to see Barnes & Nobles replace Barney’s, but not quite long enough to get tired of it. “What I think I love most is that it’s always had this busy Main Street vibe but consistently a bit left of center…meaning, it’s never ordinary.” She describes the street as a mix of everyday household spots (Sahadi’s for groceries, Atlantic Frame for the “best framing ever”), and “little worlds” unto themselves.

For Tenlie Mourning, writer and curator behind Source List, Atlantic Ave is the manifestation of what she loves most about Brooklyn: in her words, “hidden niches of super fresh, creative discovery.” She credits Christene with showing her around after recently moving to the neighborhood.

Many of the shop owners on Atlantic Ave (around 90% are women) even have a group chat of their own, started during the pandemic, where they can offer advice, support initiatives, and just talk with other local entrepreneurs. The following is a guide to the shops we love and the tiny universes they occupy on a leafy street in Brooklyn.