Shopping in Ashland is a sensory experience. Feel, see, smell and taste incredible products that you can’t experience online while you find that perfect gift – even if it is for yourself.
Specialty retail customers in Ashland are treated to exceptional service that can be hard to find these days. Knowledgeable staff help customers learn how to best use their products for ultimate satisfaction post sale. Whether that is in how to best select travel gear at Travel Essentials, to mastering a knitting technique at Web-sters while selecting from an amazing array of yarn, to the best way to tie a scarf at Paddington Station or how to select the best fly fishing gear at the Ashland Fly Shop to create a successful fishing experience.
Ashland residents value shopping local and supporting small businesses. One of the things that make Ashland shops so special is that the owners of the retail businesses in Ashland are local and they carefully select their merchandise to offer their customers something different than can be found in chain store shopping. Pam Hammond of the Paddington Family of Stores says, “Our stores carry a variety of products to fit the needs of our customers. We have our feet on the ground in our community and we listen and see trends. We love to surprise and delight our customers with our personal touches”.
You will enjoy discovering boutique shops that carry home décor, cookware, gourmet foods and wines. There are independently owned bookstores, specialty clothing boutiques and shoe stores. Galleries and shops feature everything from local to internationally known artists, handcrafted jewelry, pottery, paintings, and sculpture.
Many retail businesses expand their market by taking advantage of the Ashland Fiber Network (AFN), and are able to do business worldwide. Since almost everything grows here, there are several nurseries as well as organic foods, herbs, homeopathic and nutritional healing treatments that are readily available through retail grocers and shops. Ashland was designated as a Shop Small town honoring our entrepreneurs and underscoring our value system of giving back. Retail merchants support numerous local charities, youth sports and school groups throughout the year.
Remember to bring your reusable bag when shopping in Ashland and throughout Oregon. To encourage more sustainable business practices, Ashland implemented a plastic bag ban and Oregon just passed in 2019 a new law to ban single use plastic bags. To further encourage the transition to reusable bags, businesses are required to charge a ten cent fee for each paper bag used by the customer at check out. For more information to be a savvy shopper, go to ashland.or.us/bagban.
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Talented chefs showcase the flavors of each season from Oregon’s farms, orchards and wineries. Delectable offerings include organic produce and meats to specialty cheeses and chocolate.
Talented artisans create handcrafted cocktails and the local wine and beer are award-winning.
Explore friendly, relaxed environments to intimate, elegant and contemporary establishments for whatever mood you are in.
Ashland offers al fresco dining in warmer months to fireside settings in the colder times.
During the growing season, stroll through the Rogue Valley Farmers and Growers Markets on Tuesdays and Saturdays May through October.
In early November each year, attend the Ashland Culinary Festival, produced by Travel Ashland, that celebrates the food, drink, talent and creativity in Ashland and southern Oregon with a four-day event including a Top Chef Dinner, Mixology competition, a Junior Chef competition, culinary workshops, tours, tastings and the Top Chef competition with 12 local chefs competing for the Top Chef honor.
Ashland is also home to Ashland Culinary Month, the Oregon Chocolate Festival, the Oregon Honey Festival, A Taste of Ashland and many more food, beer, spirit and wine events.
Ashland’s restaurants give you the chance to experience the extraordinary culinary talents of our chefs, mixologists, wine makers and brewers then pat yourself on the back for choosing to live in Ashland – how lucky are we?
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