Nature Connection

This is a great little local shop on the Kalamazoo Mall. You will find a large range of products for people of all ages. The store carries stuffed animals, books and educational toys for kids. You can find many made-​in-​Michigan products. There is a good selection of art work, home décor, books, jewelry, specialty foods and outdoor décor. Give yourself some time to browse all the treasures in this store.
Also, this store frequently wins Downtown Kalamazoo’s chili cook-​off with their chili that features Michigan made cherry salsa in the recipe. Pick up a jar of the salsa here. If you are lucky, they might have a copy of the recipe for you too!

When visiting a friend in Kalamazoo, we were walking around town and were drawn in by the cute window displays of the Nature Connection. Luckily, the inside was just as cute! The store is split into different sections– gardening, ceramics, science, stuffed animals, dinosaurs, musical instruments, etc. We spent almost 20 minutes just wandering around happily. The salespeople are friendly and helpful, but not pushy. They didn’t even seem annoyed that after browsing for so long, we only bought a little hedgehog puppet (which is adorable). This is the place to go if you need to buy a gift! Buy some cute lawn decorations for the nature buff, a cute stuffed animal for a little niece, a fun science experiment for a nephew, some edible bugs for that weird relative, or a nice mug for your grandma. They’ve got everything, and it’s all unique! Only reason for 4 stars is that prices aren’t super cheap, but they’re reasonable. Check it out!

What a cute little shop! I don’t know how many times I’ve passed by it and skipped going in, but I’m glad I finally broke that pattern.
Nature Connection’s merchandise seems to fall into a few categories: educational and science-​related toys, local and Michigan crafts and gifts, and nature-​themed gift products.
I’ve often found myself at a loss for local goodies to bring to bring as hostess gifts. I tend to think of cherries as Michigan’s tastiest produce, and I usually forget to order something from Cherry Republic in time to bring it with me. Now I know Nature Connection has not only cherry products (salsas, dried cherries, chocolate cherries, etc), but other Michigan made goodies. They carry chocolates from Confections with Convictions.
They had some cute oven mitts with a map of Michigan on them, Michigan-​shaped fridge magnets, Michigan shaped coasters, locally carved walking sticks, artisan pottery, eco-​friendly greeting cards, and lots more.
If you need to bring someone a souvenir from a trip to Kalamazoo, Nature Connection surely has something appropriate.