If the thought of holiday shopping comes with a pang of anxiety, Women-Owned Passport has you covered — and they’re making it so easy to support local, women-owned businesses. Back for its second year, it’s your invitation to connect with the inspiring female entrepreneurs behind some of our favorite Memphis businesses. Read on to learn the how this beautiful initiative came to be and how you can participate!
Get Your Passport!
Passports are available in participating stores starting October 1, and each store will offer special rewards and deals valid from November 1 through December 31.
The 2024 Women-Owned Passport brings together 17 fabulous shops across the city, each filled with unique gifts and artisanal goods. You also have the chance to win one of three grand prizes valued at over $300 by collecting a stamp from each participating shop!
Once you’ve collected stamps from all 17 shops, drop off your completed Passport at your final stop by December 31. Three grand prize winners will be announced on January 13, 2025. Collecting passport stamps is a breeze, with three simple ways to participate:
1. Make a purchase at any participating store.
2. Tag the store on social media and show your post at any of the stores.
3. Leave a Google review and share it with the business.
Participating Businesses
- Avenue Wrapping
- Blue Suede Vintage
- Boshi Botanicals
- Everbloom Design
- Five in One Social Club
- Mbabazi House of Style
- Midtown Bramble & Bloom
- Mili’s Flowers & Gifts
- Mrs. Post
- Paradox at PeCo
- Penn Home & Design Co.
- Planeta777
- Second Kiss Vintage
- Snapdragon Floral
- Stitching Supply
- TCB & Co.
- Whitney Winkler Art
How the Passport Came to Be
Women-Owned Passport was first launched in 2023 as a way for women-owned retail businesses in Memphis to help raise awareness for and drive traffic to women-owned stores across the city during the holidays. In the first year, the stores handed out 3,400 passports, and the initiative was so popular that some Memphians even gathered groups of friends to hit up each of the shops together.
“Last year, I remember a fierce group of women making a day out of visiting all the shops, and when they arrived at my shop in the afternoon, tears filled my eyes because of their support,” says Vanessa West, owner of Avenue Wrapping and a driving force behind the Passport initiative.
Bringing Women Together
Women-Owned Passport is more than a shopping initiative; it’s a movement that celebrates the bold, passionate women behind the businesses that make Memphis unique. In fact, the Passport is just one part of the greater collective of women owners who provide a sounding board and support to each other as they tackle challenges unique to local retail.
Rather than seeing each other as competition, the women look to one another for camaraderie, emotional support, and help encouraging people to shop local, women-owned businesses.
“I can’t begin to describe what it means to me to go from quietly direct-messaging these women on Instagram a couple of years ago in order to feel less alone, to now — this beautiful Passport initiative. Sometimes all you need to do is say, ‘Hey, I need you,’ and beautiful things grow,” says Whitney Winkler of Whitney Winkler Art.
At Blue Suede Vintage, owner Casey O’Rourke finds the Passport initiative to be a brilliant way to welcome new faces to her tucked-away boutique. “We’re excited to see what 2024 brings and grateful for the opportunity to continue to lean on this group of Memphis Women Shop Owners for support,” she says.
With this amazing array of participating shops, the Women-Owned Passport encourages us to explore new corners of the city while supporting the incredible women shaping Memphis’s retail scene. Whether you’re getting gifts for friends or treating yourself to something special, there’s no better way to celebrate local this holiday season.
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Southern women are doing inspiring work. Meet more of them over at our FACES archives!
