Half Hitch Goods
On any given weekend morning in San Francisco, you can find Carrie Caillouette driving Doka, her vintage Volkswagen Vanagon, across bay bridges. This is no ordinary Volkswagen—it doubles as rolling shoppe Half Hitch Goods, a boutique on wheels, possibly the tiniest and coolest shop we’ve ever seen. Carrie is that awesome, low-key, super grounded and uber talented girl that had an idea and made it happen. Her thoughtfully curated online shop inspired her to create a space where people can experience the meaning behind gifting. She dreamt up and built the rolling shoppe, and within a year she was cruising SF in her Volkswagen.We met Carrie for tea at Réveille Coffee Co. to learn more about her shop. We couldn’t help but notice she is authentically herself—honest, innovative, creative, and open (there was nothing she was afraid to talk about).
Half Hitch Goods only has 38 square feet of selling space, so room can’t be wasted on anything, emphasizing the dynamic of choosing products with meaning. Carrie is the ultimate gift giver and she also knows how to pass down the talent to others—a true sign she's in her element.“People say they’re terrible gift-givers, but they're just not thinking or looking or taking the time. So I help do the dirty work for people, finding things that people will actually love and use and are in that price range that you feel it’s of good value. You're not gonna freak out and think ‘oh shoot I can’t afford it.’ There should be enough items here that are under 30 bucks that you feel hit the nail on the head.”
We can’t tell you how often we walk into well-curated stores and leave with nothing because we couldn’t find any use or justify the price for all the things we liked! That's not the case at Half Hitch Goods—there's a good mix of vintage and modern, super functional, local and global products. We're total suckers for anything artisanal and locally made—and Carrie does a great job of telling the story, connecting you to the artist, and we’re all about supporting small businesses!“I kind of realized the biggest secret of gifting is that there’s a connection there. There’s sort of a process of thinking about this person when you're approaching a gift and thinking about the story and that person, and waiting for something to stand out. It has to do with how they live and what they would use, what they would wear and love.”Carrie doesn’t hold the western mindset of scale defining success—she doesn’t need or want a fleet of rolling shoppes. She’s content with what she has and this is just one of our favorite things about her.
We love Half Hitch Goods—what it represents, what it brings to the community, but most importantly all the gifts Carrie shares with us. Her items are one of a kind, just like her.Check them out here.
