The Bug Store

This is the best place to go for gifts for friends, family and yourself. If you can’t find something you love in this store and absolutely have to have, then I feel sorry for you. Perched on the corner of Shaw and Vandeventer is the Bug Store. Items for your yard and house are throughout the store. When you first walk in, it appears to be a small store but there is an upper floor and a bargain basement.
Would I come here again? Oh yes, over and over again.

I went to The Bug Store today to get a Mother’s Day gift, and I couldn’t have picked a better place to shop for my mom! It was difficult to pick just one thing because there were so many fun, really unique items I wanted to buy! They have a huge variety of home and garden décor and furniture, a bunch of beautiful sterling silver jewelry that you won’t find other places, amazing planted terrariums and fairy gardens and SO MUCH MORE!
One of my favorite parts of the store is the area with all the terrariums. They come in a variety of sizes, shapes, designs and you can choose from hanging, wall mounted or table terrariums. Not only do they have beautiful planted ones, but they also have absolutely everything you need to make one yourself: tons of plants, moss, stones, empty terrariums/​wall hangers/​wood bowls and even cute little fairy garden items if you want that extra something to jazz it up. I decided to make my mom a fun little planter in a wood bowl and added moss and air plants in the outside crevasses of the wood. It turned out amazing, especially since they gave me great advice on which plants would work best for what I wanted. I think the fact that I made the gift makes it even that much better, but it still would have been great if I got one of their already made ones.

Whenever I am on vacation, I like to shop local and pick up something unique for myself to bring back home. This is what The Bug Store is to me… I truly love this gem near the Botanical Garden. Level on top of level of creative finds for the home or garden. I was able to purchase a brightly colored dish and an owl piece to add to my collection. In the basement, I found a true piece of great art work for $ 10.00!!! I was truly floored at this special piece of metal I found to hang up in my condo. I could not stop talking about it. The employees and owners are so happy to help their customers. This store is always on my list to visit when I am in St Louis. I can not wait to go back and see what new inventory they will have upon my return.

I wish I lived in St. Louis so I could acquire all sorts of nifty home décor from this little store. Need a giant iron garden gazebo? A hanging swing that’s essentially a nest? Classy yard flamingos? Great smelling candles? It is all here, in one of those magically jumbled arrays that a motivated shopper can poke through for a long time without getting bored.

No stop to the Botanical Gardens would be complete without stopping at The Bug Store. The atmosphere here is open and organized with each item displayed tastefully and not cluttered, unlike their neighbor Gringo Jones. However much like with Gringo Jones you can find a unique gift here for anyone on your list. The selection here is focused mostly on items for your home and garden, however they have a large selection of various knick knacks ranging from jewelry, pottery, Christmas ornaments, etc.
Parking is available on the street or across the street in the botanical garden lot. I highly recommend stopping by.

Neat, eccentric shop! They have air plants with many shapes of reasonably priced hanging terrariums to chose from. They have a nice assortment of art, garden items and more.

A treasure trove of stuff. Garden stuff, home stuff, knick knacks, Christmas ornaments — you name it there’s stuff here. It’s a really fun place to stop in on a weekend adventure. I’d recommend going here particularly if you’re gift shopping for someone and you’re not quite sure what to pick up — if you dont’ find it here you’ll at least get some great ideas here. There’s plenty of easy-​to-​find street parking in the area.

I am a tourguide, and the manager invited me to bring my 36-​person tour to the Bug Store.
The group found lots of interesting things to look at… I told them to come back after the tour to really take a look around. (There is a second floor, and a bargain basement).
The manager gave each person on the tour a little gift. Very thoughtful!

Dumbfounded.
So I’ve been searching endlessly for a ceramic frog to send my mom for her garden. I hate all things gardening, and want to puke in my mouth at pretty much every lawn ornament I’ve ever seen.
Just about at the end of my lawn ornament shopping rope, we came here. It looked like a tiny store, and their patio looked pretty standard. Lots of expensive fountains and hideous granite statues of ducks and shit.
Then we… went in. It was like we entered the Magical Land of Narnia. Soooo much cool shit I can’t even tell you. Jewelry. Coffee mugs. Magnets. Greeting Cards. Ugly wind chimes. Cute wind chimes. Glass art. Candles. Soap. Flags. Gay flags. St. Louis flags.
And then, just when I was about to give up on finding a present for my mom and surrender to just buying stuff for myself, the friendly dude working pointed out that there was a) a back room, b) and upstairs, and c) a basement. WTF!!! DECEPTIVELY large store. Like whoa! Always nice to get THAT surprise! The back room was my favorite. Stone mermaids, and an iron frog sprawled out with a crown on its head. Love!
Upstairs were a lot of decorative items, including an Alien V Predator table and a lot of shit Paris Hilton would probably jizz over. The basement was all bargain stuff that was equally as cool as the upstairs stuff, and Christmas stuff. Yaaay.
This is one of those amazing stores that is so amazing it immediately gets added to your store blacklist because you know Suzie Orman would puke all over herself if you went here again.
I think my lawn ornament shopping days are over, but I will DEFINITELY be back. This place calls to me…

I think you can buy just about anything here. This and the place next door are two must-​go places after a trip to the Missouri Botanical Garden.
If you go a little later on Saturday you can re-​park your car close.

This place will drive you buggy! OK someone had to say it! I am serious! I was just buzzing around here as everywhere I looked there was something else just wonderful, and delightful hanging over here or posed over there.
There are glass butterflies of many sizes and shapes and colors, to windchimes, to funny magnets, etc. This is a go to place for folks that want to get a few stocking stuffers, or garden decorations that won’t break the bank.
A lot of the items however are from China, just as a reference, but at same time lovely to look at and very affordable.

I love the Bug Store and go here ALL THE TIME.
This is a great place to find a cool, unique gift for someone, a card, some sort of garden accessory.
They have fountains, hummingbird feeders, jewelry, sun catchers, soap, giant clay pots, cast iron planters, bird baths, benches and that’s not even scratching the surface.
They are right next door to Gringo Jones and I normally check out both stores while I’m there.
There is PLENTY of parking now that they put in a brand new parking lot directly across the street.
If you’re planning a trip to the Botanical Garden… this place is a must see!

Jennifer H up there does a pretty good review of Bug Store, I’d just like to add a few oddities /​observations from The Bug Store:
A) if you ever felt the need for a gay mermaid ornament, this is your place
B) if you’ve searched Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrel & Restoration Hardware but have to find the illusive «table made from a metal sculpture of the Predator», then this is your place.
C) if you’ve yet to experience unabashed seething between owner & staff, this is your place.
that being said, the staff was really friendly and we ended up getting a neat retro glider for the porch. Because we’re old, but can’t sit still.

The Bug Store is a home goods store located just down the street from The Missouri Botanical Garden in South City. Much like its neighbor, Gringo Jones Imports, this store has unique gifts for everyone you know. I love going to the bug store because it’s always changing its selection and you never know what you might find. One issue with this place is that it is almost always crowded and parking on the weekend can be an issue. Please take this into consideration before you visit. No one likes a crab at The Bug Store!
Another great reason to visit The Bug Store, Missouri Botanical Garden members and volunteers get a discount there!