Regla de Oro – Art Gallery & Fair Trade Gifts

Happened across this little gem while venturing out to Buffalo Exchange. What a find!
As a tidbit, Regla de Oro works with a number of local artists from the Twin Cities and surrounding areas & community non-​profits, participates in local public exhibits, and provides a portion of the proceeds from our events to Arts Education and Social Justice Non-​Profit organizations (taken directly from their website). I’m all about some fair trade shopping and am sorely under-​shopped for Christmas, so I figured what the hay.
SO many upsides to this place. First, the location is amazing. The signage is beautifully understated, yet impossible to miss. And they are a hock-​spit away from WSK. What more could you ask for?
They have some of the most unique gifts I’ve seen at such an unassuming shop. The wares run the gamut of price points and the aesthetics of the shop itself are comfortable, welcoming and nowhere near the level of presumption that shops of this nature routinely have.
The service: SO HELPFUL! Ask them why they exist — best shpeel I’ve gotten from a shop assistant EVER. They want you to know what each product is made of, where it comes from and who it benefits. Information about the artists, the materials… they have it. And they’re so friendly.
Some cute items I noted: A fire-​red cat head-​shaped «piggy» bank, gourd containers, beautiful vases, Minnesota-​themed coasters (snagged ‘em!), hand-​made artisan cards (snagged ‘em too!), gorgeous scarves, TONS of jewelry at amazing prices (we’re talking $ 15 for a pair of handmade earrings)…I could go on and on.
SO glad I found this place. You should find it, too!

This is a Gallery and Gift store with a focus on art and fair trade gifts. I went in looking for a mother’s day gift and the owner was SO helpful — she even packaged up my gift so that I could send it out easier! Exceptional! She also gave me some chocolate! The Fair Trade gifts/​cards/​jewelry etc. were all really nice, high quality, products and I will definitely be going back again to pick out some stuff for myself and for other gifts I need.
Aside from the great products and service, I think this place really stands out because it really seems like the owner is trying to have the gallery/​store strongly connected to the community and to promote the arts and social justice. I saw that the store plans to give some percentage of the profits to Art Education and Social Justice Non-​Profit Organizations — for example, I added them on Facebook and saw that this month (June) every Friday 10% of sales will be donated to a youth summer mural project — awesome! I know that the owner recently held a World Fair Trade Day Celebration — I wasn’t able to attend but I think the plan is that there will be more community focused events as well. It really seemed to me like this place has a lot of great potential and could really become a community fixture in the neighborhood.
Definitely recommend everyone to check it out!