Shopping LOCAL in Fort Collins: Old Town, the River District and the markets in between

Most Fort Collins shopping trips that end with something nobody else has start in the same few blocks. Old Town and the River District just north of it make up downtown, where the Downtown Development Authority counts more than 700 local businesses. Add a monthly evening of open galleries, and there is enough here to do a whole season's gift shopping without a trip down the interstate.

In winter, downtown's holiday lights, about 65,000 of them across 22 block faces, stay up from November into mid-February, so an afternoon of browsing can roll straight into an evening walk.

Old Town: College Avenue, the side streets and the alleys

Old Town's shops spill well past College Avenue into Walnut, Pine, Mountain and the small courts between them, and the best way to see them is on foot.

Trimble Court Artisans has been tucked into Trimble Court, the little lane off the square, since 1971. It is a cooperative gallery of art and craft by more than 50 Colorado artists, and the shelves change with a featured show each month.

Around the corner on East Mountain Avenue, Cherry On Top Bookshop is one of the newest names downtown. Friends and neighbors Meredith Glover and Devon Beuret opened it around Valentine's Day weekend in 2026 as a romance-only bookshop, which the Collegian reported is the first of its kind in Fort Collins. It stocks love stories in many forms, including Black, Indigenous and LGBTQIA+ stories, with a section for younger readers, and it keeps a busy calendar of book clubs, release parties and author signings.

Families tend to find their way to Clothes Pony & Dandelion Toys on North College Avenue, a children's clothing and toy shop that also carries books, art supplies, puzzles, building and science kits, baby things and Colorado-made souvenirs.

On Pine Street, Driver 8 Records is a used-record store that buys collections of every size and keeps its bins full of rock, Americana, jazz, blues, soul, country and hip-hop, which makes it a good place to lose an hour flipping through crates.

Back on South College, The Cupboard has been a family-owned kitchen store since 1972. It is the place for cutlery, kitchen tools, specialty food and home décor, and it also sharpens knives, wraps gifts and builds custom gift baskets.

The River District: Linden and Willow

Cross Jefferson Street heading toward the Poudre and Old Town gives way to the River District, the area around Linden and Willow streets where Fort Collins began. The city's downtown guide traces it to August 1864, when the military post moved near Willow Street after a flood washed out the earlier camp. Today working industry sits beside galleries, music venues, restaurants and shops, with murals, painted transformer boxes and granite pavers on Linden and Willow marking the district's history.

Wolverine Farm, at 316 Willow Street, is part bookshop, part café and part community hall. It sells work from local makers, houses Perelandra Books, serves coffee, tea, beer and wine, and hosts readings, workshops and concerts; its profits support Wolverine Farm Publishing, a local nonprofit press. On Linden Street, the market at Ginger and Baker sells pies, coffee and Colorado-made gifts inside the restored Northern Colorado Feeders Supply building.

Art walks and the Saturday after Thanksgiving

Downtown's First Friday Art Walk happens on the first Friday of every month in the evening. Presented by the Downtown Development Authority, it is a free, self-guided walk through galleries and shops that host artists, live music, open studios and demonstrations; Trimble Court Artisans is among the participating stops.

Downtown promotes Small Business Saturday, the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and the Downtown Development Authority pairs the holiday season with Old Town Spree, in which shopping or dining at participating downtown businesses earns entry cards for weekly drawings of Downtown Gift Cards; its site posts each year's dates. The Downtown Gift Card itself is accepted at more than 160 downtown restaurants and retailers, which makes it an easy present that keeps the money on these streets.

Why it matters here

The case for shopping local in Fort Collins is easy to see on a walk through Old Town. An artists' co-op, a bookshop opened by two neighbors and a family kitchen store in its sixth decade are the kind of places a chain can't copy. The downtown association puts it plainly: what you spend at a local shop helps its owner make payroll, keep people employed and support the community efforts that make downtown a place people want to be. Pick up a gift card, take the long way down Walnut Street, and finish under the lights.