Consumer Culture Critics’ Pick Winners: Best in the Nest 2025

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BEST LOCAL PRODUCT: Sorce Perfume

Sorcellerie Apothecary, or Sorce, is a local artisan-owned business based in the Elizabeth neighborhood with a mission to “create ethically made perfume as a form of accessible, wearable art and self-expression.”

Sorce carries a number of its own scents along with other artisanal brands like Imaginary Authors, Pineward, Libertine/Paraphrase, Deconstructing Eden, Amphore Parfum, Anjali Perfumes, Apoteker Tepe, Syd Botanical and Mizo.

Each Sorce scent is hand-blended in small batches by Sorce’s team and formulated by founder and self-taught perfumer Caitlin Hayes.

“Handling our own production means more fun, for us and for you,” she writes on the website, “a wide variety of sizes and scents that push boundaries beyond what would be considered safely ‘marketable’ at a larger scale, crafted and packaged in an environment that deeply values our team and fosters their creativity and development.”

Sorce’s most popular scents include Snow Moon Magic, English Major, In Dreams and Fairytales and more.

BEST MARKETING CAMPAIGN: Don Gato Tequila

In a video dropped on social media, actor, comedian and writer Danny McBride (The Righteous Gemstones) joins Mexican workers in a field, each with a long knife called a “coa,” harvesting agave. McBride nods to his gringo companion Steve Little, who promptly slices open his foot with the razor-sharp tool.

The vignette is just one in a series of surreal comedy videos that comprise the advertising campaign for McBride’s brand of top-shelf tequila, available in Charlotte, that is named for fictitious masked Mexican wrestler Don Gato.

McBride’s friend, local musician, composer and film editor Chris Walldorf, worked on the series of short films, shot in the heart of Mexico’s tequila country.

Walldorf joined McBride, Green, actor Steve Little and the mysterious Don Gato plus a crew of 40 on a trip to Jalisco, Mexico in March 2024 to shoot footage for the campaign over 18 vignettes in the lead-up to the brand’s September 2024 release, rolling the videos out well into summer 2025.

Acting as editor and composer on the project, Walldorf said the cast and crew were on site for five to six days, shooting for three days in an agave field, a wrestling arena and Don Gato’s mansion.

Throughout the series, McBride and Little marvel at the coolness of the cat-loving, immaculately attired luchador Don Gato, who favors a blue blazer over spandex. The surprising and original ad campaign pokes fun at the self-seriousness of other celebrity tequila ads, while celebrating Mexican cinema and culture.

BEST THRIFT SHOP: Found.

Opened this summer, Found. is a thrift shop that brings a certain chic vibe to NoDa. The store curates a wide range of styles: Y2K, modern fashion, streetwear, elevated brands, Boho, city chic and athletic-inspired pieces.

The store’s operations manager Sarah Melton told us the store was inspired by the type of consignment shops you’d stumble upon during a walk through Brooklyn, Williamsburg, or Manhattan in New York City.

With pieces ranging from $8-$100, the store aims to elevate the thrifting experience.

“We’ve created a clean, minimalistic space that allows the clothes to speak for themselves,” said Melton. “Sustainability, inclusivity and affordability are at the heart of everything we do. We believe everyone deserves to feel stylish and confident in their personal expression.”

BEST VINTAGE THRIFT SHOP: Value Village

Carolina Value Thrift — or Value Village — has provided its community with affordable products since it opened in the early nineties. The shop sells clothing, accessories, shoes, appliances, furniture and more starting at .99 cents.

Along with the store’s clothing items, Value Village also offers cheap, new home decor like silverware, plates and cups. It also offers a variety of snacks, making it basically a one-stop shop.

Finish off a nice Saturday morning after your farmers markets and coffee runs with a good pair of $4 pants that will become your new favorite pair for the next three years.

Value Village has locations along South Boulevard and Central Avenue as well as Gastonia, Kannapolis and Mooresville.

BEST FASHION DESIGNER: Joseph McRae

The newly-revamped Project Runway aired on Hulu this year, and Charlotte designer Joseph McRae (say the whole name) quickly emerged as a favorite contestant with his iconic hats, bold silhouettes and unique mix of masculine and feminine elements.

While he ultimately did not win Project Runway, he did get to show at NY Fashion Week. He subsequently released a spring collection inspired by The Wiz with a bright palette and mix of patterns that are true to his signature tightrope walk on the line between genius and insanity.

He has since moved to NYC to continue pursuing his dreams, but Charlotte is where it all began, so we will continue to claim him.

BEST STREETWEAR: Jaide

There was a time when Charlotte women who loved streetwear only had the option of shopping online and returning what doesn’t fit, or searching through racks of clothing that doesn’t fit their aesthetic in hopes of finding one or two pieces that did. Those days are over.

Enter Jaide, a Black-owned women’s streetwear boutique where the selections are beautifully curated and the sneaker drops don’t start at men’s size 9.

Their prices definitely land in splurge territory, but even if you’re balling on a budget, the lounge area and immaculate vibes are worth a window-shop stop. Jaide is located in the old Reggae Central space on Central Avenue, across from its sister (brother?) store, Social Status.

BEST BOUNCE BACK: The Village Collective

Charlotte Collective opened in 2019 as a retail community of local small businesses that sold clothes, jewelry, books and gifts opened in 2019. In March of this year, owner Amy Crowe announced the imminent and abrupt closure of her South End boutique, notifying vendors via email just nine minutes before announcing it on Instagram. The local vendors who relied on the shop to sell their wares were left without an outlet for their respective businesses.

Left to pick up the pieces after Charlotte Collective’s closing, Ashley Faldmo Bayles formed The Village Collective, a boutique and retail collective.

Bayles was a vendor with Charlotte Collective for five years and is using that experience to influence this new collective. Several fellow vendors at the Charlotte Collective have joined her at The Village Collective, including Olive Street Collective founder Michelle Deuink.

“It’s a really full circle story and truly shows how strong and resilient Charlotte businesswomen are,” Deuink told Queen City Nerve. “The small business community who rallied around all of us impacted vendors from the Charlotte Collective closing has now seriously rallied around Ashley and her new collective.”

The Village Collective officially opened its doors on June 28 at 2117 Commonwealth Avenue.

BEST GIFT SHOP: The Village Collective

Located in the Arboretum Shopping Center, Eliza B’s has everything from in-house embroidery to candles to baby items. They have gifts for everyone year-round, but they get a rush during the Christmas season.

The shop was originally owned by its namesake, Eliza B. In 2007, Eliza sold the shop to Charlotte native, Amber, who used to work at the store during breaks from college. The shop boasts plenty of wares from local craft makers. When the holiday season hits, the store transforms into a bit of a wonderland and, in years past, has featured appearances from Charlotte Ballet’s Averie, the Snow Queen.

BEST POP-UP: NoDaHood Market

Tucked into the creative heart of NoDa, the NoDaHood Market has become a cornerstone of Charlotte’s maker community. Founded in 2020, this quarterly event is hosted by Divine Barrel Brewing in collaboration with Crown Station and Great Wagon Road Distilling.

Described by Divine Barrel’s programming director Jake Bock as “the brewery of the arts,” the team’s mission is to foster and celebrate local creativity, and the NoDaHood Market does just that.

Each market transforms that section of the neighborhood into a lively hub of small businesses, emerging brands and artisans selling everything from handcrafted jewelry and pottery to apparel, vintage finds and original art.

With events ranging from a few dozen to more than 80 vendors, plus food trucks and local eats, NoDaHood Market reflects the spirit of community and collaboration that defines NoDa — and the organizers’ vision for that pocket of the neighborhood to proudly be known as “The NoDaHood.”

BEST NEW BUSINESS: CELL THERAPY

There were days when, despite their status as one of Charlotte’s most fashion-forward and intriguing brands, DUPP&SWAT was finding it hard to find a space that fully appreciated them enough to value them as tenants.

That’s why it’s been such a beautiful thing to watch them settle in at Camp North End and let everyone else build around them, all while expanding whenever they get a chance.

In January, sibling founder pair Davita and Dion Galloway announced the coming opening of their collective’s third Camp North End location, a salon and barbershop called CELL THERAPY.

“Purposeful in sharing the value of Black artists and creatives, all DUPP&SWAT brand entities marry art and entrepreneurship through the real life application of talent, interest and skill for the culture and community,” a release read.

Named after a 1995 Goodie Mob track that is one of Davita’s favorites, the establishment features multiple chairs and stations for services including haircuts, hairstyling and braids, facials, makeup, brow waxing and nail offerings.

“Visitors can expect the shop to feel otherworldly and quirky, filled with plants, greenery and a fun vending machine selling items such as lashes, press-ons, beard oil, a variety of brushes and more,” the release read.

BEST CAR CLUB: ClubHaus 704

Long before MTV’s hit show Pimp My Ride brought all the possibilities of custom car fitting to screens across America in the mid-2000s, Damian Peters has been building cars up and fitting them with game systems, TVs, beautiful interiors and stunning paint jobs.

He was inspired to get into the field of automotive repair and maintenance not by Xzibit but by the people he had grown up around, watching them carry out DIY car projects on their own rides rather than pay other people to maintain or upfit them.

“All my OGs had dope cars and the cool thing about that, they like to work on their own cars,” he said. “It wasn’t like they just had money and they were dropping it off to the shop and getting [work] done. [They would be] working on the engine, painting parts, doing a lot of accessories, car stereo and stuff like that. I saw them do that and I was like, ‘Man, these dudes got money, but they still like to do this stuff with their hands.’”

Opened in 2022, ClubHaus 704 is a car garage unlike any other you may have visited. Part mechanic shop, part showroom and part speakeasy, the shop is the perfect place for custom car aficionados to relax, talk shop and work on their cars.

Peters’ Paid N Full club has about 30 members, allowing members to participate in car shows and other events for a yearly fee. As a nod to the 2002 movie, European cars of a certain age are the focus — ‘80s and ‘90s cars only.

“I always say before the CD changer,” Peters explained, “and if your car got navigation, then it’s too new.”

BEST BOOKSTORE: Troubadour Booksellers

Scott Tynes-Miller’s Troubadour Books is a haven for book lovers in a corner of town that desperately needed it. It’s also the realization of a life-long dream for the actor and arts administrator, who opened the shop after the soul searching that comes with a good old fashioned COVID lockdown.

The curation of the small shop is excellent, minding the demands of the market (You will definitely find romantasy and YA on the shelves) while heeding the taste and conscience of a legit bibliophile (lovers of contemporary literary fiction rejoice!).

Hopefully the excellent selection, packed schedule of community events, and proximity to New Zealand Cafe’s excellent sushi will keep Troubadour’s comfy couches full and the cash registers ringing. If that isn’t enough, it seems certain that the shop’s team of knowledgeable and charmingly weird book sellers will do the trick.

BEST EXPERIENTIAL BRAND: How Sanguine

Originally launched in 2024, How Sanguine is a curated, food-centered, experiential brand that operates under the premise that food is a gateway to connection, creativity and community, according to its owners Chann Daily and husband Montrel “Monny” Little.

One of the live/work retail units leased inside the Kinship development at Camp North End, How Sanguine’s newly-opened storefront hosts intimate culinary events, private dining experiences and hands-on cooking classes that celebrate food, culture and community.

After the couple gained a following on TikTok thanks in part to Chef Little’s cooking clips, they capitalized on the number of interested folks to launch the full-fledged business.

Little heads the culinary vision for the space while Daily helms operations and content, generating revenue from memberships, meal prep services, private events, chef-led experiences and creative rentals.

The How Sanguine Studio offers two dining rooms, a full kitchen, a flex-use podcast studio and a private patio, operating as a members-only space with weekly programming open to the public.

BEST YOGA SPACE: Survivor Sanctuary

After being kidnapped and trafficked as a child, Desiree Eatmon spent years struggling in the sex trade, then decades recovering from that. She now helps people who have suffered through similar experiences with her Charlotte-based nonprofit Survivor Sanctuary, utilizing yoga and trauma coaching to offer answers that traditional therapy can’t.

After finding a Facebook group for survivors of sex trafficking in 2024, Eatmon realized that survivors like herself were constantly having to censor their extreme stories to their traditional therapists. Since Eatmon had been leading yoga sessions for 20 years, she found that trauma coaching helped her process her childhood abuse and sex trafficking experience and wanted the folks she found in the Facebook group to get the same help.

On March 4, Eatmon founded Survivor Sanctuary, a yoga-based nonprofit that provides mindset coaching, trauma recovery coaching and other holistic wellness services at no cost to survivors. She relies on donations to keep survivor sessions free and only recently started asking for public donations.

It starts with having a comfortable container to be themselves, she explained. Because Eatmon is not a licensed therapist, she doesn’t have to adhere to certain rules or give textbook advice. That may not work for everybody, but she insisted it works for her people.

BEST LOCAL CANNABIS PRODUCT: Loyal Oils Live Resin Cannabis Cocktail

In a small, non-descript warehouse space in southwest Charlotte, Loyal Oils is pumping out some of the most potent and delicious edible cannabis products on the market. They’ve utilized a water-soluble fat-infusion technology called Coconano™ that ensures their drinks and cocktail syrups hit delightfully fast, making them a viable alternative to both alcohol and flower.

But where their genius really lies is in the flavor. They’ve enlisted Chef Dana “Pants” Haidar (formerly of Common Market, Earl’s Grocery, and the Flying Taco Circus pop-up) to create forward-thinking flavor combinations that sound more at home on a fine-dining dessert menu than in a weed product. What a time to be alive.

Loyal Oils’ canned cocktails can be found at dispensaries and bottle shops in flavors like watermelon-guava-serrano pepper and orange-honey-elderflower. Each is sugar-free and contains 10mg of THC derived from live resin, plus electrolytes. The can says “start slow,” and we say this is very good advice.

BEST VETERINARIAN: East Side Animal Hospital

When Dr. Natalie McShane opened East Side Animal Hospital in fall 2024, she did so with the intent to push back on the corporate monopolization that she has seen spreading throughout the veterinary care industry in recent years.

Located in the Meridian Place shopping center that’s home to Hawthorne’s Pizza and Edge City Brewery on Monroe Road, East Side Animal Hospital is a private practice that aims to offer a stress-free environment for staff, customers and pets.

“I really feel like our hospital is trying to bring back a different type of care that you don’t really find in many places,” McShane told Queen City Nerve. “Where the staff knows your pet, the doctor knows your pet. We spend 30 to 45 minutes with you. You’re not rushed. You’re not just another number. A lot of our clients, we get to know very closely. We know their families, they know our family.

“We’re trying to make a relationship with people versus just a number,” she continued, “and just make it feel like a different type of place than just a stinking animal hospital that smells like pee.”

BEST PET FOOD: CORE K9

CORE K9 repurposes unused ingredients and food scraps from owners Felicia and Manuel Cordray’s catering company, Catering by Cordrè, into gently cooked dog food. The food reduces waste from the catering company while providing their canine companions with the best possible diet they can get.

Felicia and Manuel came up with the idea to repurpose ingredients when they began gently cooking meals of chicken and rice for their dog, Dutchess, often using unused ingredients from their company. They noticed a transformation in the dog’s fur, how much she shed, how she smelled and other changes.

Gently cooked dog food provides an alternative for those worried about the health detriments of kibble or the possibility of pathogens and salmonella in a raw diet. It’s gently cooked at low temperatures to maintain those nutrients that are needed for our fur babies while providing a better option than kibble, Felicia insists.

BEST SANCTUARY/RESET: Salt & Souls Salt Cave

Spanning nine levels to the depth of 1,073 feet, the Wieliczka Salt Mine in Poland has been worked for 800 years and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. When a Polish physician noticed that salt mine workers did not experience respiratory issues or lung disease versus other miners, he founded and opened the first health resort and facility at the mine in 1839.

Since then, several countries have recreated these salt rooms so that people can experience the benefits of salt therapy — and there’s one here in Charlotte.

Salt & Souls Salt Cave in Plaza Midwood offers halotherapy, a holistic and drug-free alternative treatment that may benefit lungs, skin and overall well-being, in three salt rooms. Some studies tout the benefits of salt therapy while other researchers remain skeptical, but many find a stint in the salt cave relaxing and rejuvenating.
Salt & Souls also offers facials, therapeutic massage and energy work.