El Nicho

My husband & I were doing a cross country trip from NJ and Santa Fe was one of our stops. This is a little shop with authentic pieces of native handy work. The owner Debi (ha she has the same first name as me) was very pleasant and informative about the Santa Fe area. Please visit her shop you will not be disappointed!

This is a great local owner with stories to share. Visit her shop, spend a few minutes with her and you will learn a lot about the great carvings available and a little local history. We loved it and plan to be long-​term customers!

This is a lovely little store with local wood carvings that are reasonably priced. There are also expensive items in the store, but there is something for everyone’s budget. I found a very sweet carved wood angel for a friend of mine who has cancer. While deciding which angel to buy, I ended up relaying my friend’s story and health struggles to the owner who was very empathetic. She tucked in a darling carved bird as an extra gift for my friend at no charge. I was touched by her generosity; I don’t believe all the talk about Santa Fe being such a tourist trap… This store has a wonderful feel to it and the owner was so professional and helpful. I’ll return the next time I’m in Santa Fe.

Old town Santa Fe could come off much more touristy but for the most part, the area is fairly subdued. Out of all the little art shops we visited, this one was my favorite. The first thing that strikes you is how rustic it is. Located in a building over a hundred years old (young by old town standards), El Nicho’s storefront apparently used to be part of a horse stable.
What makes this store great? Local artisan wood carvings and plenty of them. Each piece is unique due to the natural source of the carving. I picked out these pretty sweet little carved birds on a «log» (see my attached photo).
The lady who assisted us (whom I can only assume is one of the owners) supplied us with plenty of anecdotes of our bird’s artist as well as other pieces around the store. Talk about endearing… When you buy something that you wish to cherish as a memory of a travel experience, it doesn’t get much better than that.