Welk’s

Came here for tillandsia air plants after searching for flower shops in south Van. Not only did Welk’s have my airplants, they have Christmas bows, yoga mats, gifts, cooking supplies, stationary, little erasers shaped like corn… List goes on and on! What a neat store!

Welk’s is disorienting. At first glance it looks a bit like a dollar store style establishment which brings to mind generic, cheaply made, single-​use type items. Welk’s, actually, is on the other end of the spectrum: high quality, thoughtful and interesting items. Plant food, board games, high end men’s skin care, bodums, and an owl mug all in the same spot. I’m always spotting something new that catches my eye whenever I go– top notch store.
And like someone else said, this place is a gold mine for stocking stuffers.

Awesome general store with nice home décor and unique eco-​friendly products. Great place to get gifts. Good prices as well.

This place is so cool. At first we almost didn’t go in because it just looked like a regular convenient store. Then we went to the record store a few shops over and they were eating delicious some delicious snacks they purchased here. Needless to say we went back and were shocked by the high-​quality and will curated goods at the store/​grocery.

I love this place! What a surprise to come into this store with such an unusual collection of unique household items. I wasn’t expecting this when I walked in. The name doesn’t give it away. Prices are also great!

I love this store! I have the hardest time walking by without going in. You can buy pretty much everything except for clothing here. Welk’s is often my go-​to for gifts for those hard to shop for folks in my life because they have so much stuff and a lot of it is good quality and not as expensive as at other places.

No matter what I buy from Welk’s (my water bottle, luggage tags, nori, air plants, jars, garden nome, etc…) people always want to know where I got it. I love this place!

Why have I not heard of Welks before? I practically stumbled into this place while walking down Main Street. I didn’t expect much when going in but wow. The store is big and they it really is quite general, in a good way. They have everything you’d ever need for your house from food to plants to kitchenware to tools to light bulbs to board games! A lot of common household items plus many other unique knick knacks at very reasonable prices. It’s fun just to walk around the store and even if you aren’t looking for anything, you’ll be sure to walk out with something.

My husband and I were strolling down Main one afternoon when we stumbled upon Welk’s. It was then I remember I had this store bookmarked as a place to check out because I was looking for some plants and succulents and sure enough, this store has a nice selection of starter plants, herbs, seeds and gardening supplies. We proceeded to spend probably over half an hour in this store browsing the aisles. I loved the selection of organic products, kitchen/​household items, board games, beauty products, and food items. I liked that there were a lot of items you’d find at a dollar store (garbage bins, light switches) mixed with nice stationery, candles, and thank-​you cards you would find at nicer-​end gift stores. You could probably spend hours in here checking out all the neat knick knacks. there’s something for everyone in this store! I ended up walking away with a tea ball infuser and bottle of Thayer’s Witch Hazel. Random, I know. All in all a great store to check out!

This place is just rad.
Useful products, novelties, stuff I end up realizing I need (having become emotionally attached because I’ve been nursing the thing in my arms for half an hour while browsing). I recommend you take a look, and give Wonderbucks on the Drive a try as well.

Shiny, wonderful things everywhere! I love this place and can spend hours in this small shop. Everything is well priced, but of great quality. Lots of funky home stuff. Buy everything from toothpaste, to dishes to plants and gifts!

Fun place to shop for stuff for the kitchen, bathroom and garden. Lots of organic and natural products. Check it out.

I love this General store! So many great things. The staff is great and accommodating. I love all that they have stuff not many stores carry. I bought the original common good dish soap and hand soap and lavender spray! All in the glass bottles! Such a great price too!

Welk’s is a bit of an amusement park. The variety is the most exciting part and you never know what you’re going to find here. It’s a bit of a hodgepodge of craft store, novelties and games store, and grocery convenience store.
Last time I was here, I walked away with an armload of random but fun things, and was able to find some interesting Christmas gifts.
It’s also the cheapest place in town to buy Settlers of Catan.

A local treasure!
Every time I think I need one odd thing that I don’t know where to get, I try Welk’s. Chances are they have something you need for every room in the house, seriously!
Like a General Store in a small superhip town, you can buy pots and pans, cutting boards, cookbooks, EVERY kind of kitchen gadget in one aisle, really well priced natural, organic, gourmet food in another, any kind of shampoo, moisturizer in every price range from high-​end to crest toothpaste in another, and then you keep moving through the aisles for everything from a dog leash, shower curtain, towels, bathmats, lightbulbs, closet accessories, extension cords, crafting supplies, batteries, seasonal stuff, fresh eggs and hummus and even kombucha and cold-​pressed organic juices!
You can tell they buy volume at a good price and pass it on so the prices are great but that does mean they don’t always have the same thing all the time so if you like it, buy it!
The staff are always friendly and outgoing. In the spring and summer they have lots of plants outside on the street and they have some indoor plants and seeds year round.
Whether you just need some ziplock freezer bags or just moved to town and need pretty much every basic household item, start at Welk’s. I dare you to leave empty handed or feel like you didn’t get a bargain!

I never thought I would be the kind of person who would swoon over a «general variety store», and yet, here I am.
You can find anything at Welk’s — anything — and it will be exactly what you didn’t even know you needed.

This is my kind of general store. It has great baking utensils and what not. Everything right up my alley. Organics of all sorts and options for my liking. I was surprised to find what I did here and I’m glad I had some time to check it out. It’s not the cheapest place but it sure is definitely a place you want to just browse.
I have bought 2 bodum French presses here which are really cool and colorful. And the organic peanut butter is pretty good and the price is sure a bargain.
I really like this place… If it wasn’t the fact that I get discounts for a different place for my organic things I would likely shop here more.

Can’t say much more than what’s already been said– Welk’s is like the best stocked dollar store you’ve ever been in, except everything is actually good quality. Kitchen equipment, bedding plants, Halloween and Christmas décor, dog poop bags, hair accessories, craft supplies, and stationery, this place has everything. Prices are always fair– you’re not paying a premium for the convenience and location.

There’s this parallel universe where instead of whatever you do now, you’ve opened a general store. You’ve curated the items to cater exactly to your desires of everything mercantile.
Then, as a stroke of genius, you hire a team of mind-​reading retail experts to suggest additional items — things exactly up your alley — but outside of your awareness. Things which suddenly become your new favourite things.
This is what Welk’s is. It’s that pair of jeans which fit so perfectly that you can’t remember life before those jeans. It’s that store you’ve seen on Main for years and after you wander the halls — your halls — you wonder how you’ve not been there sooner.
All this is absolutely true, you know, unless you don’t like organic healthy kind of hippie natural stuff.

This place is exactly the kinda place you need to make sure you have a list before you enter. Particularly if you are, like myself, a newly re-​transplanted city person easily distracted by selection like a baby to sparkly objects.
Not only did I get the stuff i needed (shower curtain and rings) I also picked up a few other things i didn’t think i’d find here (cheap rug to put under kitty litter box). But I had to be very careful not to get too distracted by all the sundry items like Meyers cleaning products that I didn’t really need but were so lovely!!! What great label design!
I did not, however, pay close attention to the prices and am not sure if part of the appeal here is we THINK we are paying less but maybe we aren’t. So is it truly a «discount» or a discount in sheep’s clothing? Worth investigating.
Regardless, i am psyched! Psyched I say! That this store is in my hood. Definitely miles above a regular dollar store and a great one stop shop for pretty much anything you can need at home… without having to blow the dust off the products or expose yourself to that $ store smell (seriously, what is that??).