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MV shopping by town: Bunch of Grapes, Vineyard Vines origin story, Black Dog history, glassblowing, thrift shops, and no chain stores.
No Target, no Walmart, no malls: Martha's Vineyard is one of New England's last great holdouts against chain retail. Every purchase supports a local business, many run by families for generations. From the Black Dog t-shirt to hand-blown glass pumpkins from a West Tisbury barn studio, this guide covers every major shopping district by town.
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The shops along Beach Road, the working end of Vineyard Haven's retail strip.
The island's most reliable shopping town: many shops stay open 12 months because it's a year-round ferry port. Main Street runs uphill from the harbor.
King’s Barber Shop, a local favorite in Vineyard Haven
Since 1964. Publishers Weekly's 2002 Bookseller of the Year. Owners Molly and Brendan Coogan (since 2022). Two floors of books with a strong local-authors shelf. Resident cat Bookmark. Author events multiple times/week in summer. Year-round. bunchofgrapes.indielite.org
Founded 1913 by Lithuanian immigrant cobbler Judal Brickman. 110+ years continuous operation. Three floors: footwear, clothing, sporting goods, toys (LEGO, puzzles), hats, proprietary "Brickred" line. Year-round. brickmans.com
Founded 1966 by Cheryl Barbara Stark. Nearly 60 years, repeatedly "Best Jeweler" on MV. Vineyard Charms, Nautical, Seaglass, Jaws 50th Anniversary collection. Sterling silver from ~$95, mid-range $195–650, fine $2,995+. Custom design and repair. Year-round VH, seasonal Edgartown. cbstark.com
LeRoux at Home (62 Main St): 3 floors kitchen/home goods, year-round; LeRoux itself started on the island in 1980. Rainy Day (66 Main St): "way better than touristy crap," gifts/jewelry/home, year-round. Lennox and Harvey: design-forward general store, 51% Black-owned, NYT featured. The Seven Sisters: Boston Magazine "Best of Boston." The Green Room: surf/skate/sportswear 30+ years. Louisa Gould Gallery: fine art, year-round.
Second Nature at Eden (427 State Road): the old Eden garden center, bought from Donaroma's in 2024 and reopened in spring 2025 by landscape designer Renée Clermont. Native and pollinator plants outside; inside, a gift shop they call the She Shed, with baskets, seeds, local honey, cut flowers and work by island artists. Seasonal, open into mid-October.
The She Shed at Second Nature at Eden: baskets in the rafters, local honey, seeds, island artists and the autumn stock arriving in early September.
Quitsa Kitchen (455 State Rd): the bakery cafe doubles as a small island shop, with its own canvas totes, Martha’s Vineyard cutting boards, hoodies and tees, snacks for the beach and bags of Mud coffee on the shelves by the counter.
The other half of Quitsa Kitchen is a shop: canvas totes at $30, island cutting boards, chips and crackers for the beach, hoodies and tees, and a shelf of Mud coffee beans, all on grey shelves against the flowered wallpaper.
Closed: Midnight Farm (Carly Simon's boutique, closed 2016 after 20 years). Bramhall and Dunn (closed 2011).
The island's busiest shopping strip: quarter-mile from harbor past the Flying Horses Carousel. More casual, more eclectic, generally more affordable than Edgartown.
The Kennebec Avenue plaza at dusk: the Corner Store lit on the right, brick planters full of petunias, and the walk down to the harbor between the trees. Circuit Avenue’s shopping starts here.
Inside one of the Circuit Avenue souvenir shops, where we picked up a hoodie: island sweatshirts on every shelf, Inkwell tees overhead, tote bags, personalized knives and a jewelry case.
Out of the center, at the corner of Edgartown–Vineyard Haven Road and County Road, Jardin Mahoney (45 Edgartown–Vineyard Haven Road, 508-693-3511) is the island’s garden center: a greenhouse of houseplants and palms, a nursery yard of trees and shrubs, bagged soil and mulch by the pallet, and a wall of tools that saves a ferry trip when a rake breaks. It carries Mahoney’s own soils and mulches. Open every day, 9 to 4 as of September 2026; jardinmahoneymv.com has the current hours.
Inside the greenhouse at Jardin Mahoney: houseplants and palms on one side, the tool wall on the other, and a model biplane hanging from the rafters. It is the kind of place islanders go for a hose reel in September, not just for flowers in May.
The nursery yard outside: pallets of Coast of Maine potting mix and compost, potted evergreens and hydrangeas, the shop porch behind.
Next to the Flying Horses, The Good Shoppe (10 Oak Bluffs Avenue) opened in 2024 with bins of candy from around the world, Italian ice, pastries and coffee, a first stop a few steps from the ferry.
The Good Shoppe’s badge on its striped yellow front at 10 Oak Bluffs Avenue, next door to the Flying Horses.
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The most upscale shopping town. White-columned whaling captains' homes frame boutiques, galleries, and national brands.
Brothers Shep and Ian Murray quit their Manhattan jobs the same day in 1998, sold 800 ties from a backpack in one MV weekend, and built a brand reaching $476M in sales and ~$1B valuation. First real store opened here July 4, 2005. Now 100+ national locations. Ties $55–85, polos $90–125, tees $40–55. Seasonal on MV.
The Vineyard Vines launch tied up on the Edgartown waterfront, a short walk from the North Water Street flagship. The whale went from a tie label to a boat.
Two floors in an 1880 Victorian building. Vineyard-author section, porch signings. Companion Behind the Bookstore café: hidden courtyard, lavender lattes, "most delicious cookies." Year-round.
Portobello Road (4 Dock St): eclectic, packed-to-the-rafters shop, "possibly my favorite store in the world." Katydid (38 Main St): women's boutique, MV pajamas. Eisenhauer Gallery: 40+ contemporary artists, plus free live music in the square on summer Thursday evenings. Old Sculpin Gallery (58 Dock St): MV Art Association since 1954, building was the model for Quint's shack in Jaws. Respoke: designer scarves repurposed into espadrilles.
Captain Robert Douglas sketched a building on a napkin in 1969, opened The Black Dog Tavern on New Year's Day 1971. Named for his black Lab-Boxer mix. The shirts were already a status symbol when President Bill Clinton’s island visits in 1993, 1994 and 1997 sped the trend up; he was photographed shopping at the Black Dog General Store.
Douglas died April 23, 2025, age 93. His legacy: ~7 MV locations (Tavern, bakeries, general stores across VH, OB, Edgartown). Prices: tees $34, hoodies $76–98, hats $34–48. theblackdog.com
Alley's General Store (State Rd): "Dealers in Almost Everything" since 1858. Oldest retail on MV. Owned by Vineyard Trust since 1993. Village mail still comes through here: the old full post office is now a contract station where mail is handed out (stamps and package mailing are at the West Tisbury post office on State Road). Penny candy, clam rakes, peacock feathers. Open year-round; call (508) 693-0088 for current hours.
The porch at Alley’s General Store on State Road, West Tisbury: Dealers in Almost Everything since 1858, coffee out front, and still where village mail is handed out.
Farmers Market: 40–50+ vendors, Agricultural Hall, Sat (Jun–Oct) + Wed (Jun–Aug), 9 AM–noon. Granary Gallery (636 Old County Rd): oldest/largest MV gallery in a red barn, 75+ artists including Benton, Eisenstaedt and Loïs Mailou Jones. Year-round. MV Glassworks (683 State Rd): watch glassblowing live, famous glass pumpkins, year-round.
Salt Rock Chocolate Co.: successor to Chilmark Chocolates (closed 2019). Sisters Allison and Sarah Flanders, mentored at original shop. Handmade at Beetlebung Farm stand (410 Middle Rd) + Farmers Market. Beetlebung Farm: expanded farmstand Nov 2024, bread from freshly milled grain, year-round.
The Chilmark General Store, up-island shopping in its entirety and all the better for it.
Larsen's Fish Market (Menemsha): since 1969, lobster rolls at sunset. Seasonal. Aquinnah Cliffs: Wampanoag-owned shops selling wampum jewelry and crafts made by tribal artisans. The cliffs themselves are sacred and protected; taking clay is illegal for visitors. Aquinnah Shop purchased back into Wampanoag ownership for $2M (2023–24).
Inside the Chicken Alley thrift shop. Every visit is a different inventory.
Chicken Alley Thrift Shop (38 Lagoon Pond Rd, VH): operated by MV Community Services since 1962, recently renovated/expanded. Clothing to furniture, plus a rack of second-hand bikes out front. Year-round; posted hours are Tue 10–7, Wed 10–3, Thu–Fri 10–5, Sat 10–4, closed Sun–Mon, with customer parking at Veterans Park. ACT TWO (66 Main St, VH): nonprofit funding arts, $38K+ in grants distributed. Trader Fred's (249D Edgartown–VH Rd): discount warehouse, designer jeans, beach gear, cigars. Thu–Sat only, 10 AM–4 PM. Chilmark Flea Market: Wed and Sat, 50+ years, mid-Jun–early Sep. Summer staff buy their bikes here; our seasonal worker guide explains.
Clothes to Go (Stone Church, 89 William Street, Vineyard Haven) is not a shop but a free clothing ministry: anyone can take what they need, and donations of clean clothing are welcome during its hours, Mondays 3 to 6 PM, Wednesdays and Fridays 10 AM to noon and Saturdays 10 AM to 1 PM.
Filmed May 2026
The Thrift Shop on Chicken Alley, established in 1962 to benefit MV Community Services, on a wet September morning.
The fleet: six shopping carts in six colors, parked out front for whoever is buying furniture that day.
For budget tips, rainy day activities, and restaurant guide.
Step 1 · WhenMonth PickerTwelve months compared on NOAA numbers, crowds, prices and what is open. 
Step 2 · DaysDay-by-Day Trip PlannerMorning, afternoon and evening sketched for every day, events dropped in, emailed to you. 
Step 3 · CostTrip Cost CalculatorFerry, beds with the rooms tax, meals, getting around and activities in one honest range. No Target, no Walmart, no malls. The island is one of New England’s last holdouts against chain retail, and nearly every shop is locally owned, many by the same family for generations.
Vineyard Haven. Because it is the year-round ferry port, many Main Street shops stay open twelve months: Bunch of Grapes Bookstore (since 1964), Brickman’s (since 1913, three floors), C.B. Stark Jewelers (since 1966), LeRoux at Home and Rainy Day among them.
Circuit Avenue in Oak Bluffs, the island’s busiest and most casual shopping strip, a quarter mile from the harbor past the Flying Horses. The Corner Store at the Kennebec plaza covers the T-shirt and sunglasses run; the Lazy Frog has games, kites and toys.
Generally, yes. Oak Bluffs is more eclectic and more affordable; Edgartown’s shops lean upscale. Vineyard Haven sits between the two and stays open longest into the off-season.
Second Nature at Eden on State Road in Vineyard Haven, the old garden center reopened in 2025, with native plants outside and a gift shop inside; and Quitsa Kitchen next door on State Road for totes, cutting boards and Mud coffee. Both are seasonal.
Island tip of the day Food No. 19 of 86 New tip at midnight, island time
Espresso Love (17 Church St, Edgartown) opens at 7 AM daily. Excellent coffee, $5–12 for breakfast. One of the few places open early on the island.
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