The Curatorium

They are officially closed. I loved them when they were open, a fantastic place to find a fun gift. YOU SHOULD GO NOW and check out their windows! Totally worthwhile. The whole front of the store is pasted with 8×11’s depicting drawings and renditions of horrible customers (and their children!) … Too true and too funny, I hope he makes a book out of these. Maybe some folks will recognize themselves up there! :)

They appear to be closing down and selling off their stock. WTF?

I consider myself fortunate to live nearby this quirky, fun-​to-​visit store. In a pickle and needing an interesting gift, this is a great place to stop in before I grab my coffee next door at Coffee Exchange. I found a unique table lamp here with a shade that depicts an antique map of the neighborhood. I like the variety of quality products that are not to be found anywhere else nearby. Some of the items are overpriced and yes, I’ve found the staff off-​putting (thus the 3 stars).

The items they have for sale our fun and quirky and I am all about that. The prices are decent on most of the products that I was viewing.
The only reservation I have is about the staff. I have been to this store twice. The first visit the store was empty of patrons and there were two staff members behind the counter. They never acknowledged me but watched me as I was looking around, so that was awkward. The only time they actually said anything to me was when I was purchasing my items. The second time it had plenty of customers (or window shoppers). This time a staff member was pretty much hovering over a group of customers without talking or engaging them (they were not menacing or anything like that). I don’t know if they just think everyone is going to steal something or what, but it doesn’t make for a pleasant experience.
I am not going to bother going back. I value good customer service and a pleasant buying experience to become a patron to a store. In all honesty I can find every item online at modcloth for the same price anyway. But that is just my experience.

Honestly, where can you go to purchase Lego products and a coffee table book on haunted house architecture? The Curatorium of course!
Really people you need to step into this shop, such great and random products that work not only for purchases for you but gifts for others.
The shop has very friendly staff that is very willing to talk to their customers.
Prices themselves are pretty reasonable for the products offered.
People you really need to go here, one of the best stores in Providence, let alone on Wickenden.

This gift shop has some of the coolest things. It is located on Wickenden St. a few doors down from my favorite sushi spot which is a plus. I have walked by a number of times and one day wandered in.
This is a great place if you are looking for some unique gift or just for browsing.

This store is such a gem. Like, really, um… It’s amazing.
I needed last minute gifts and have a serious phobia of the mall on a Saturday, let alone December 23^rd. So, I thought I’d be better off just checking out the antique and curiosity shops in Boston and Providence for gifts. Then I found the Curatorium. And my life was saved. I wandered around in this small shop for a crazy long amount of time because there is so much good stuff. I think I found something I wanted to buy for every person I’ve ever met in my life and all my facebook friends and their friends of friends and their dogs and cats.
I left with jewelry for me, gag gifts for my parents, big crazy hard puzzles, kitchen gadgets, and gorgeous photography books. There was also an awesome collection of cards and baby gifts that I didn’t hneed for on that trip but I will definitely go back for another time.
There is nothing better than finding a store owned by local folks that is stocked 1000 times better than any mall store. Worth a trip into Providence!

For my second ever visit to Providence, Julia F and I drove down for a Brown game, tickets courtesy of Avis. We used Unilocal to find a place for brunch after skipping out of the game early, then roamed the neighborhood where The Curatorium sits. They have very unique gifts and home items like adorable measuring spoons and innovative glasses. There are also books and cheesy toys, but the majority of the items are pretty useful. I took note of the abundance of squirrel related items in the store, which I found cool and scary at the same time. Anyway, I like The Curatorium overall, but it is pretty expensive. I bought a greeting card and a novelty stamp for about $ 20. Next time I am in the area, I will stop in to see what is new.

Here’s the thing: I care very much about giving good gifts, but I’m time-​starved, and I have myriad personality types to shop for. Helpful mitigation: THE CURATORIUM.
A small-​footprint, local, well-​run store is something to support to begin with, but one that delves into Lego, wry greeting cards and tea doilies, and a framed, gift-​ready tarantula? This is a different breed.
The collection writ large is inspired, but each individual part is worth investigating and considering as you make your way around the shop. Subtle cleverness breathes out of nearly everything in the place. And better yet — there are a few lavish items available, and many impressive items, but it’s very possible to go in with just a few dollars and find something special, fun, and gift-​worthy.
The owner occasionally came and offered to relieve me of the large handfuls of cool stuff I accumulated, and that was helpful — I found a lot, and checked a lot of people off my shopping list with fun, thoughtful treats.
If you like delivering smiles to your gift recipients, give this place a spin. Much respect to the establishment.

Funky finds at this place. A collection of colorful, interesting things. This place is perfect for a person like me that has a short attention span. I jumped from one display to another, reading (short story books), laughing (squirrel wall hangings), cringing (the bugs in the frames) and just making lists of what to buy people for all occasions, birthdays, holidays, you name it you can find something unique for friends and family.
During my trip, i bought a book, titled, «P.S. I hate it here. Kids letters from Camp» and also bought a metal Kazoo for a friend. My friend purchased this mid-​sized maps that could easily be framed for the wall. There were several, but his were from various parts of France. Very cool.
Staff was nice and loved their own products as well, I thought one that was browsing was a customer :) She was nice and cashed us out.
I look forward to returning to check things off my holiday shopping list.

I stopped in here for the first time as part of a Unilocal!Cash Mob. Really funky store with lots of unique and different items. I was hoping to score some mother’s day gifts here and didn’t, but I found some cute birthday presents for a younger set!
I would be back for gifts for the funky 21 – 35 crowd.

If loving this place makes me a hipster, than I am proud to be one. A small store that isn’t overwhelming, but makes you smile at every turn. While I usually come in here looking for a gift for someone else, I usually leave with something for myself as well.
Clean and organized and well priced, The Curatorium is a great place to stop in, tell stories, and leave with a smile

Another awesome Providence-​based gift shop that makes me feel lucky to live in such a cool city. They have jewelry, toys, unique items for the kitchen/​dining room (such as napkin holders and salt and pepper shakers), and lots of stuff for the rad parent (kick-​butt diaper bags and onesies). It’s a really fun place to browse and I look forward to doing some gift shopping there for some of my friends who would appreciate something funky and neat.

Gifts for hipsters.
If you are self-​consciously proud to announce your brand of geekiness to the world, you will find something you want here. Periodic Table of the Elements baby blocks? check. Bacon candy? check. Things with Moustaches Printed on Them? check.
They have some cool handcrafted stuff and things from local artisans, but the majority of it is Mass-​Produced for the Artistic Temperament. And overpriced. That said, it is rare that I’ll go in here and not find something that I think is really nice.
My mom loves it. My Most Favorite keychain is one she bought me here, made by a local artist.

Nothing against knick-​knack shops that have cool stuff perched on every horizontal square inch of already-​crammed shelves — love ‘em — but The Curatorium is a breath of fresh air with its openness and elegance. ahhhhh… it’s just a pleasant place to be and browse.
Many of les objets overlap the same items you’ll find in any nice museum shop, but the store maintains its own character with local artful goodies and more offbeat pieces and designs. This isn’t a place I find «the perfect gift for everyone on my list,» you have to be one of the weird ones, but I (a weird one) can leave this shop empty-​handed having had a blissful experience looking at every single strange and unusual thing.

Delightful little shop of «well designed, well made, useful, amusing, attractive, even irresistible» oddities. Great place to find a quirky gift for a those wacky friends of yours:
*Artisan keychains, necklaces, earrings, and even wallets, nifty tea pots, humorous cards, tea kettles, bamboo spoon/​forks, mustache mugs, soldier candle holders, Edward Gorey Fantod packs, stump treat jar, and (my person al favorite): Architectural Lego Kits (*heart*).
Yup — something for everyone and all available M/​T/​W/​F/​S 10 – 6 (Th 10-​EIGHT! and Sun 11 – 5).

Ahhh, the aptly-​named Curatorium. It’s a constantly changing museum for the odd but useful.
I am a big, big fan of FRED (Easy Aces’ «home goods» line). Need silicon ice cube molds in fish, Titanic, The Scream, robot, denture shapes? You got it! Sandwich baggies with bugs printed on them? Yes, ma’am! I got my brother a brass-​knuckles-​handled coffee cup here, and he loved it!
Besides that, enameled metal pose-​able robot clocks and key chains, a big matchstick lamp that leans in the corner, Pantone swatch mugs in every color, I could go on and on.
The owner is so fun, and I love that he not only allows her in the store, but he ooohs and aaaahs over my boyfriend’s mother’s mini dachshund!
The prices are just right to pick up that funky gift or add a fun item to your home’s décor and not feel one twinge of regret.

Want to know a little something about me? I’m a terrible gift-​buyer. It’s one of my weak points as a human being. Embarrassing? Yes. Lucky for me, this little shop exists not even 10 minutes from my house. Sa-​weet.
What I like about The Curatorium is that it doesn’t cater to the tourist on Wickenden with plastic shellfish or other tacky Ocean State-​themed chachkies. I can find cool, unique and practical items here with a funky twist and always please the recipient. A lot of the items are made in RI, too — always a bonus in this gal’s book.
The clean and well-​lit space is full of things like reusable totes, posters, clocks, games, paperweights… you get my drift. The thing that sets these usually mundane items apart is the tasteful, quirky and artistic take. Even the flashlight I played with had a minimalist/​cool feel to it. The people who run this shop have great taste, and I rely on them to make me look cool. Well… cooler ;)

Excellent location to purchae knick-​nacks, curios and trinkets. Additionally, the owner has curated excellent purchases for gifts, as well as random stuff you might not see elsewhere. There is a healthy collection of Fred items, created in RI, as well as other nice RI memorabilia.
Highly recommended. Nice atmosphere.

What a neat little place! I went here on a whim, I was coming out of Coffee Exchange and I wanted to find a little something for my boyfriend’s birthday.
It’s really awesome inside, from the minute you walk in. It is surprisingly spacious and clean, and the wood floors make it actually kind of uhm beautiful. Seriously. Anyway! This place has so many knick-​knacks and doodads that at first I was overwhelmed and thought I wouldn’t find anything. Upon further browsing I found a hilarious watercolor illustrated memoir of Bigfoot that will be absolutely perfect. The girl behind the counter didn’t bother me while I shopped but was very pleasant when she rang me out.
I am DEFINITELY coming back here the next time I’d like some inspiration for a gift. I love this place!

The Curatorium has a unique blend of interesting and artistic items that can satisfy just about anyone you know, including yourself. You could wander around the store for hours making multiple circuits and you would still find something new that you hadn’t seen before. It has items for everyone’s price point as well. The wooden snowflakes look great in my home hanging from the ceiling around the mistletoe. And whoever gets the travel thermos and mug for the Xmas Yankee Swap will be really happy!
You know it’s really interesting… I’ve been in this store plenty of times and I’ve never encountered rudeness… but then again I don’t need someone to fawn over me when I’m shopping. If I did, I would go to Macy’s or Nordstrom where they are «forced» to be nice and pretend to be interested in you so they can make their commission. I like to browse around and then ask questions if I have any. I worked in retail for many years and I know what rudeness is, both on the employees’ and on the customers’ part. I think it’s important to support local individuals and their businesses.