Fans of Chick’s Picks by Hillary, the popular December pop-up shop, should get ready to come to Leesburg. Chicks Day Out, a new event, happens from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, May 3, and Saturday, May 4.
It’s a day where 14 downtown Leesburg stores will host vendors curated by Hillary Tattersall, the businesswoman behind Chick’s Picks. In each business, will be a vendor Tattersall has selected to sell items. Most of the vendors are businesses owned by women.
“I picture this as a Chicks Day Out. You grab your girlfriend, your mom, your sister, your gang, your wine club, your book club, your pickleball girls, your work colleagues — you know the gang that you would go to a vineyard with,” Tattersall says. “Come to downtown Leesburg and learn about the sweet, special, fabulous, unique boutiques that we have right downtown and let me curate the day for you.”
Tattersall, who lives in downtown Leesburg, says the idea is one she’s been mulling for years as she’s taken friends shopping in the town’s boutiques and gotten to know the shopkeepers.
She says she is trying to curate what would be her “dream day” of shopping in Leesburg.
“We’ve got cocktails. We’ve got breakfast drinks. We’ve got Champagne and mimosas and bagels. We’ve got fancy macaroons and Champagne at another place, and we’ve got fabulous lunches by Lightfoot and Cowbell Kitchen,” Tattersall says.
A map of the venues will be available on social media and in stores. A turquoise balloon will mark each participating business.
“Let’s face it. We all need gifts. Mother’s Day is right around the corner,” she says.
One vendor will have fascinators for your Kentucky Derby or Gold Cup celebrations. There also will be a hat bar where you can decorate a hat or get in on the latest trend of decorating baseball caps with patches and pins.
Tattersall says another vendor will have do-it-yourself kits to decorate cookies at a new store called Craft that will specialize in children’s arts and crafts.
As shoppers go from shop to shop, they can get their maps hole-punched for the chance to win raffle prizes.
Tattersall says the idea of a curated, mapped out shopping day with fun events mixed in could be a way to bring people back to shopping districts.
“Mainstream USA retail has had a tough time,” she says, adding that the decline in shopping started before the pandemic as people bought things online. “I think it [COVID-19] was a Death Punch to all these all these sweet shops and boutiques.”
Here are some of the participating businesses and the vendors that will be in their stores:
Cowbell Kitchen/King Street Collective
26 N. King St.
Paired with Apiary Market
Range Global Goods
18 W. Market St.
Paired with Loudoun Craft Co.
Birch Tree Bookstore/Foliage Plant Shop
11 W. Market St.
Paired with Jubilee Flea
Craft
3 W. Market St.
Paired with Tidy Paws
Mocatinas
3 E. Market St.
Paired with Hatpin by Angie
Misguided Angels
14 S. King St.
Paired with Ransom Jewelry and Great Maier Mercantile
The Global Local
102 Loudoun St. SW
Paired with Berkley’s for the Birds
Wldwst
2B Loudoun St. SW
Paired with Vas& Lux Candles
Zest Clothing & Co.
9 Loudoun St. SW
Paired with Winter B Coterie
Muz & Rose
3 Loudoun St. SW
Paired with Helen’s Fascinators
Madisonbelle
5 Loudoun St. SE
Paired with Zia Design
As Friday’s shopping event winds down, Leesburg will have its First Friday event going on in the evening so you be able to have dinner, hear some music, and visit galleries.
Feature image courtesy Hillary Tattersall
For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine’s Shopping newsletter.
