Sowing the SEED of Love

The party is tonight. And you STILL don’t have a cool gift. Or even a card. You’ve got nothing. What do you do?

Don’t panic. I know just the place.

SEED Peoples Market.

No question, every time, I can find something for anyone on my list. And probably discover a couple of things I can’t live without, too.

All You Could Need, at SEED: Prepare to Get Lost in The Carefully Curated Collection of Goods.

“It’s like a combination of REI, World Market and Urban Outfitters—the best parts of all three!” says Jeff Markling, store manager of SEED. “You can get a Patagonia jacket, some handmade pottery or earrings, a vintage jewelers table from Antwerp and a waterproof rucksack, all at the same place in about 15 minutes. Rather than going to a mall, you can just come see us.”

Candles, yoga gear, organic beauty products, the coolest greeting cards, and the best shoes. It’s all there. More than 285 brands are represented inside.

Located in The CAMP, SEED Peoples Market offers a highly curated collection of responsibly-made goods. As you wander through the store, you’ll find outdoor gear and footwear, clothing and jewelry, unique stationery, and all kinds of home décor and accessories. There’s even a little baby section, and one for pets too.

Every single thing they sell has a story; some are made by bigger brands like Patagonia or Olukai, but most are smaller brands made by local makers or hand-crafted by artisans from halfway around the world.

SEEDlings: Manager, Jeff Markling, and Marketing Coordinator, Jess Tonti, at SEED Peoples Market.

SEED is all about products with a purpose (yes, that’s a #hashtag, in case you were wondering), and Jeff says they care more about how their products are made and where they come from than they do about how on-trend or fashionable they are.

While of course they consider the quality of the goods they carry, they really care about the footprint. “Those things are secondary to what are the company is doing for the planet,” Jeff says. They often work with brands who are part of 1% for the planet or companies who want to partner on a commitment to sustainability.

This idea of conscious consumerism is right at home here in Costa Mesa, where so many do care about who is making what we’re buying.

They call it “conscious storytelling” according to Jess Tonti, marketing coordinator for SEED. Jess discovered the concept of slow fashion a while ago, and fell in love, but couldn’t figure out where to shop, other than local thrift stores. Until a friend told her about SEED. “It gave me peace of mind; I can know where things are coming from, I can know the stories behind them, I can ask questions and they know the answers. It’s not just a blind buy—I know where it’s coming from.”

(Side note: If you’re not familiar with the concept of about slow fashion, you should check out the podcast episode with Derek Sabori of KOZM—that’s where I learned all about it.)

Brands Big and Small, Sustainability in Every Story. (SEED Peoples Market, Costa Mesa)

SEED Peoples Market is the creation of Shaheen Sadeghi, another recent podcast guest and the innovator who created the LAB, The CAMP, and Anaheim Packing House. If you listened to the episode, you already know that LAB stands for Little American Businesses—it’s a platform for small businesses to grow.

As you wander through the colorful displays and stories of SEED Peoples Market, that the same concept is here too, on a micro-scale. Local makers, third-world artisans and well-name brands like Patagonia are presented side-by-side, on gorgeous hands-on display.

They’re not just fun to look at either. Buying one shirt from Patagonia, made of organic cotton (using non-GMO seeds and no pesticides) can save 60 gallons of water compared to a conventional cotton T-shirt.

Which is probably why locals like me like to shop here—we can feel really good about what we’re buying. Some of the goods are made by our neighbors, like pottery from Luna Reece ceramics, now featured in the Home section.

But SEED also draws customers from all over: Echo Park, Riverside, even New York shoppers are not that unusual. There’s just not another store like this around.

Jeff and Jess tell me that the airport-adjacent location of SEED translates to a lot of travelers who become customers. They make it a point to come back the next time they come traveling through our fair city, too.

So Much To See At SEED: The Camp, SoBeCa District in Costa Mesa, California.

It must be the cool California vibe of the place. It kind of oozes through everything you pick up. But as cool as it is, I never feel out of place when I come here.

The staff is über friendly, and the management encourages that.

Don’t expect to be rushed here; sales associates are welcome to have friendly conversations with the customers. You can often overhear them giving travel advice about locales they have personally experienced, or equipment that makes the most sense for the customer’s upcoming adventure.

And the music you hear? That’s the staff too. They get to pick what they play in the store—no corporate elevator music here.

Bottom line? These are your cooler, hipper, slightly-younger neighbors. And they’re not here to sell you stuff. They just want you to have a rad adventure out in the wild, or snag the coolest gift to give to your best friend.

“We tell stories,” says Jeff. “We don’t sell ‘things’.”

SEED Peoples Market’s blend of local artisan and community support and sustainable, slow fashion just makes me want to buy everything and/or move in. (Do you think they would let me live there?)

If you can’t drop everything and run to SEED right now, check out their new online store or sign up for their newsletter to get notified of all the sales and events happening soon. You can also find them on Instagram, where they love to repost pics of their customers on a new adventure with their SEED gear.

“Anybody can give back,” says Jess, “and fast fashion doesn’t have to be the norm. There is a little bit of a stigma sometimes around fair trade—people think only really wealthy people can afford it. But we show you that you can get something for anyone here.”

“We are curators of the weird,” laughs Jeff. “We have stuff you will never find anywhere else.”

And that’s exactly why it’s my favorite place to shop, in Costa Mesa or anywhere else. ♥

Thanks for reading! Ready to wear that Costa Mesa love? Check out our store!