About The Lad

Hi, I'm Gary — but around here, I'm The Lad.

Shop With The Lad didn't start with a perfectly mapped-out business plan. It started during a difficult chapter of my life when I needed a creative outlet, something that was mine, and honestly, something that made life feel a little lighter.

Back then, this business was Plaid Lad Wreath Design & More.

And yes, there was a LOT of plaid.

What started with handmade wreaths eventually became something I never could have planned. I kept finding new things I wanted to make, products I wanted to offer, and things I thought my customers would love. Before long, "Wreath Design & More" wasn't quite enough to describe what this place had become.

So, Shop With The Lad was born.

So... What Exactly Does The Lad Sell?

That's a fair question.

You'll find bags and pouches, accessories, gifts, squishy things, 3D printed creations, handmade goods, seasonal finds and occasionally something that makes absolutely no sense sitting next to everything else — except that I liked it and thought you might too.

I've never wanted this store to be about everyone liking the same thing.

One person's buffalo plaid might actually be sunflowers. Or checkered print. Or camo. Or dogs. Or Halloween. Or something wonderfully weird that I haven't found yet.

That's the idea behind Find Your Buffalo Plaid.

Find the thing that's you.

More Than An Online Store

A lot of Shop With The Lad has been built face-to-face.

I've spent years setting up at vendor events, talking with customers, learning what people actually use the things I sell for, hearing requests for products I don't have yet and occasionally discovering uses for my own products that I never would have thought of myself.

Those conversations have shaped this business just as much as I have.

They've also given me a pretty simple philosophy about running it: I want to sell things I feel good about putting my name behind, be straightforward with you about what you're buying, and treat people like people rather than order numbers.

Shop With The Lad will probably keep changing. I'll find something new. I'll make something different. I'll get distracted by a shiny object and suddenly there will be an entirely new category on the website.

At this point, I've accepted it.

But underneath all of it is the same thing that started this business in the first place: finding little things that can make life a bit more useful, a little more fun, or simply more you.

I hope you leave the Lad Loft a little happier than when you arrived.

— The Lad