Coast Hwy Traders

Such a cute little store stocked to the brim with fun gifts for others or yourself!
Service was very nice, we spent quite some time browsing and found a few fun décor items for the home as well as some seashells, all very unique and fun.
Prices are fair, they have sales going on, several sections are half off.
This is a great place to stroll while in the area, we stop here every time and always find something to take home.

I’ve never felt more unwelcome. First let me say that I am an Encinitas native who moved to CO 15 yrs ago. Every summer we come home for a couple of weeks, I always like to stop in Queen Eileen’s to visit and maybe pick up an item or two for my friends in Denver, The past several visits, I’ve poked around in Coast Hwy Traders and this year I noticed a consistent pattern, they never acknowledge me, never a hello or anything. They have a lot of oddities, stuff that you can find all over San Diego but nothing unique to the area. Their prices are very odd, cheap knickknacks and insanely priced frocks, Their inventory never really changes and is mostly skull themed. They do have some shells but they are basic and you can find the same shells in any state that has a beach or a Michael’s without knowing where it came from but here’s my recent experience that had me never wanting to go in there again, I was ready to make my purchase and asked about a plain blue cotton shirt and why it was $ 95.00? I thought it was a pricing error and thought it would make for a comfy night shirt, The shop keep explained to me that it was because it was of it’s quality, I then went on joking with her that I had seen the same thing at Old Navy to which she then suggested to me that maybe I should go shop there instead following with a speech on supporting local business (Encinitas is my home, I support local businesses right down to Jupiter coffee and local farmers throughout Carlsbad, Leucadia and Encinitas). I kept trying to get the woman to lighten up but no such luck. I requested that she please remove the price tag from my gift before she wrapped it but she said not a word (I later found out that she left the price sticker on, after giving my gift!) and the last conversation I had with the woman was asking for a bag for my gift which was made from paper, The woman then told me I was ruining the environment! She obviously did not know whom she was talking to, I’m a hardcore environmentalist who cleans the litter off the beaches every beach day I spend there while looking for shells and recycles the litter after I document the cleanups on social media in hopes to get through to the massive amounts of tourism that has evolved since the birth of LEGOLAND. I walked away upset, insulted and I will never do business with them again. There are several other places much better than this shop even though it’s been there for forever, I highly recommend Queen Eileen’s, who’s staff are always as fun as their whimsical finds! The Seaside Bazaar is great too for a wide variety of local crafts as well as Hansen’s which has a beautiful layout of high quality beach brand apparel and shoes, affordable local shirts and souvenirs and a great selection of books on Encinitas history, local beach life and surfing. If you decide to not take my advice and want to stop in Coast Hwy. Traders, don’t expect them to roll out the welcome mat or find anything that has to do with your stay and if you see an older woman with brown hair and glasses at the register, do yourself a favor and don’t ask her a thing! This kind of hospitality is not common amongst the locals and you’ll be treated like family just about everywhere else,

Thisis one of those places where you love everything they have and want to take it all home with you hahaha. A bit pricey because it is all cool hipster, art deco type stuff… couldn’t afford much, but, bought a crystal for my son as a gift. Wish I could afford to shop here… I’d fill my car! Definitely cool stuff… check it out.

A great place to look for (and find!) all sorts of interesting things. Dia de los Muertos. Handblown glass. Recycled items. Mermaids (yes, an entire section). Scarves. Totes. Jewelry. Things from local artists. Things you never knew you needed until you saw them at Coast Highway Traders — and now you’re wondering how you ever lived without them. Atmosphere in the store is friendly, helpful, laid back. Most items are reasonably priced. A real treat.

Great place for Dia de los Muertos. Art and items.
Awesome location and store front, has been in business for 20 years here. Support the local small economy before the coffee shops and gentrification squad of Encinitas eat up all unique, kitschy places like this!
Owner is cool. Unique woman… a character for sure

Love this store! LOTS of Dia de Los Muertos stuff. Beautiful old pieces straight from Mexico and newer pieces by local artists. But this store really has all kinds of great things. Sea shells, Indian clothing, high end to low end jewelry — all at great prices!
My husband and I even did a ceramic skull painting class there that was SOOOOO fun!
The owner and staff are all great. Helpful but never «in your face». It is a store to get lost in, for sure. Plan on spending at least one hour in there! We live in Laguna Beach and visit San Diego frequently. Never without a stop to CHT!

Great store! Bev, the owner, is very friendly and knowledgeable. Unique items, a must see if traveling to Encinitas.

I ADORE this store! They have a wonderful eclectic mix of goods from jewelry to clothes to handmade items. They also have the best selection of day of the dead stuff that I have ever seen. Every time I have gone in there, the staff have been very friendly and helpful. This is a great place to shop for a gift for the person who has everything (or just shop for yourself).

Very disappointed. I purchased Christmas presents on Dec. 14, not knowing they have a strict return policy of seven days making my gifts already unreturnable! Their policy is at the bottom of the receipt but not in bold. No one mentioned the return policy at the counter or I would not have bought anything! When my unsuspecting daughter went to exchange her gift she was treated rudely. It didn’t help that another sales person made a snarky remark within hearing distance either. So now she has a gift she can’t use. By the way most items are very over priced & adding in the horrible service I will never shop in there again.

Cool little store with a bunch of random stuff. It was kind of fun to look around there. Most of it is souvenir and cheap or gaudy, but I mean, whatever floats people’s boats, right? It’s a good place to get some mementos of your trip for sure though.
I even got myself some prayer flags and a cool tie dye head band (don’t judge me, i use it all the time now!)
:)

Great example of the quirky arts and crafts/​local good stores along the downtown Encinitas strip with a diverse number of items at a wide range of costs, featuring local artists. Found a little painting of the beach that I like to frequent for a very low cost. Fun to browse and nice service, light and breezy atmosphere

The owner is rude and offensive. It is a shame that so many nice people have booths here. I contact the booth owners directly if I want something they are selling. Take your $$$ to Pangea in Del Mar or PB, or Leaping Lotus in Solana Beach instead.

This is a delicious store for your inner-​magpie.
Jewelry, crafts, schlock, tchotkes, art, hats, fun fun fun!
This is my favorite kind of store. Well priced, local artists, easy to wander through, non-​pushy staff… what’s not to like!
This place reminds me of Pangea in Pacific Beach, but a smaller scale. Very fun stuff.

Coast Highway Traders is a great place for everything from souvenir trinkets to objet d’art. I can spend hours getting lost in its collections – one area for local painters, one area for international art, another for clothing, purses and SHOES! Oh and did I mention fabulous jewelry. Inventory is always changing, so make CHT a bi-​weekly stop for yourselves.

Best on the stretch and worth traveling to get too!
Coast Highway Traders has a great selection of eclectic gifts, amazing cards, and the best collection of Day of the Dead items anywhere. Bev the owner is friendly and attentive. They also have unique dresses and cool bohemian clothing… this store is
full of treasures and definitely worth the trip.

This store is full of some cool, unique stuff but unfortunately it is all over priced. I was happy to pay a little more to decorate my condo, that is until the day I actually had to return something. The owner gave me an attitude, and a hard time, which I do not appreciate. Its unfortunate they don’t threat their customers better.

Great Inexpensive Handcrafted Jewelery
My husband buys something for me here for almost every holiday and occasion. I have jewelery boxes, picture frames, jewelery, cards all sorts of things from this place. Pretty, unique, natural jewelery. If you like beachy décor or eclectic décor this is a good place to find things. I have also purchased lots of gifts for others here. I think there prices are very reasonable for most things. Fun shop to look around in and things you wont find everywhere else.

Cool store with hats, clothes and jewelry and tons of mexican/​latin artwork and gifts. Clothing and hats a bit pricey.

I can get lost in this store and shop for hours here. Coast Hwy Traders is the coolest store in Encinitas. They have beautiful home decorative items, unique gift items and funky cool jewelery. Everything is at a fair price too.
I am so into the Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos) shadow boxes, skeletons and sugar skulls, and Coast Hwy Traders sells all of that. I found a nice Mexican mercado mesh bag with my favorite lotteria character here, «la serena» (the mermaid), which completes my collection for funky reusable market bags.
Coast Highway sells everything from Mexican folk art, Hindi bags, meditative bowls and beads, to Buddhist statues and Tibetan flags. You will find gorgeous Mexican clay dishes, crystals, to handmade gift items made from local artists and indigenous craftsman. I love this store. It’s a one stop shop for folk art, home décor, and craft items.

Coast Hwy Traders is a gallery featuring art and artists from around the world. Also considered a indoor world shopping bazaar of sorts it houses a variety of specialty items including antique-​style clothing, sea-​shell ornaments and beautiful hand-​carved wooden Buddhas from Bali to name a few. One of their featured artists creates art from recycled finds from old 50 year-​old landfills in New Mexico.
However it is an amazing resource of Mexican Day of the Dead icons.
A fabulous place to buy gifts and shop for unique artifacts!