Butter Curated Thrift SRQ

The Gulf Gate neighborhood in Sarasota is a quirky place, full of independent shops, bars, and restaurants. It’s a great place to spend an afternoon poking around storefronts. And you will want to poke into Butter Curated Thrift SRQ every chance you get.

“It is an ever-changing inventory of handpicked things,” laughs owner Lili Kinsman. “You never know where our stuff is going to come from.”

Just to clarify: Every single item in the jam-packed store is personally handpicked by Kinsman herself. She thrifts around the world in specific places to find specific things, like concert paraphernalia from Nashville or old embroidered pillows in Scotland.

Butter is the first retail venture for Kinsman and her husband, Kristian Anderson, as they reinvented themselves post-Pandemic in May 2022. Kinsman describes the eclectic-yet-welcoming store as “boutique” thrift. There are no donations and no consignment, except for the creations of female artists whose work hangs on the walls.

“We are different because we have that niche where nothing gets through the door without my approval,” says Kinsman.

The main requirement? An item must speak to Kinsman. It is a very kitchen-centric store, with different styles and eras of dishes and décor. I couldn’t pass up a pink Depression glass bowl that blended perfectly with ones I had from my late grandmother. The culinary theme is a credit to Kinsman’s early career as a trained chef in the Connecticut River Valley and an homage to her first mentor and hero, Julia Child. It is also the root of the store’s name: Butter. And true to the name, you will find butter dishes scattered about. They have become one of their most popular items.

“I didn’t start the trend,” says Kinsman. “My customers started the trend, and I just followed their lead. And now I make sure I have dozens of butter dishes, and I almost always upscale them by adding antique knobs or something fun.”

But there’s way more than just butter dishes and serving bowls at Butter. You will also find vintage denim or chandeliers and everything in between. Kinsman puts her special touch on many of the items by refinishing furniture, adding knobs and painting frames. The beauty is you never know exactly what will be on the shelves or walls. But if you see it, buy it. Everything is priced to move, purposely at least 10 percent below any comparable items found online.

“We offer a little bit of everything and let people decide what it is that they treasure.

You can come in and pick up a pie plate and a pair of stilettos. Where else can you do that?”

Go to Gulf Gate and sample Butter. You are bound to find something that completes your day.

Butter Curated Thrift SRQ: 6625 Superior Ave, Sarasota; 941-402-4751