Strapping founder and owner Susan Stewart wears her heart on her sleeve and her storefront
Susan Stewart, owner and founder of Strapping gift store (photo by Ellie Appleby)
For Susan Stewart, owner and founder of Sacramento’s original Strapping gift shop, retail is more than just a business – it’s community.
The now-renowned Oak Park institution began in 2015 as simply an online clothing boutique offering masculine and gender-nonconforming wear for female customers. Stewart moved to Sacramento and set up shop in 2017 with her then- partner Rachel, initially planning to continue as a specialized clothing retailer. This arrangement did not last for very long.
“People were not really interested in what I was doing. They didn’t quite understand gender neutrality at the time.”
“People were not really interested in what I was doing. They didn’t quite understand gender neutrality at the time,” Stewart remarked. “People did not get the concept. So I slowly started bringing in giftfts, and it became what it is today, which is basically a general giftft shop with a little bit of everything for everybody.”
Despite a somewhat tenuous beginning, the store quickly became a rousing success. Just six months aftfter opening its doors, Stewart said Strapping was ranked the number one giftft shop in Sacramento.
In the years since, “the brain-child of Susan Stewart” has only grown in notoriety. In December 2021, the store was promoted by Governor Gavin Newsom in part of a push for small business shopping for the holidays, and it was ranked ninth on Yelp’s top 50 holiday giftft shops in the U.S. just last year. Stewart’s pivot to broader product offfferings was not, however, a pivot in culture. She knew from the beginning that she wanted her store to serve as a haven for marginalized identities within Sacramento.
“I am queer – very openly queer – and I always wanted to have a safe space somewhere in Sacramento,” she said, noting a distinct lack of LGBTQ-friendly third places in the Sacramento region. “I don’t think there’s really any out queer shops or businesses other than bars, you know?”
Gradually, Stewart began introducing a variety of products to the shop’s inventory; men’s and women’s wear, homewares, toys and specialty snacks started to fifill the walls and shelves of the South Sacramento storefront. Many of Strapping’s offfferings come from within the community, with greeting cards and ceramics by local artisans being a mainstay among their products.
With its personalized charm and unique selection of goods, Strapping was a giftft-giver’s paradise and a fast-growing favorite among locals. Stewart expanded operations, opening a second location in Midtown in early 2020 and a third at the Ice Blocks in the spring of 2022.
While both extraneous stores fared well, the Oak Park location remained Stewart’s favorite – and the one with the most engagement from
its local neighborhood. Even the staffff is tight- knit, embodying more of a family than a group of coworkers. During our interview, Stewart acknowledged the loyalty and dedication of her salesperson Baye Canty and her partner Darcie Weinberg, who have both spent years helping keep Strapping afloat.
Baye Canty
Strapping’s longest-serving sales employee
Aftfter in-person sales started to dip following the COVID-19 pandemic, Stewart decided to downsize operations to just one shop. The decision of which store to keep open was a no-brainer to her.
“I was just really struggling to keep them all aflfloat,” she recalled. “Oak Park’s always been the place where we’ve done all of our outreach, and that is a big deal for me. I love taking care of my community.”
The Oak Park community, in turn, loves taking care of Strapping and its employees; the surrounding neighborhood and small businesses have shown up time and time again for Stewart to keep operations running.
Stewart recounted a particularly harrowing experience in 2020, amid the peak of the Black Lives Matter movement following George Floyd’s murder, when the store became a target of political violence. She had put a Black Lives Matter flflag and rainbow Pride flflag next to each other in the flflagship shop’s windows, and an unidentifified assailant shot through all of the windows.
“When that happened, we had all of our windows shot out in Oak Park, and we had them replaced. Luckily, one of our neighbors started a GoFundMe and helped us with that effffort,” Stewart said.
But Stewart has zero regrets about identifying Strapping with social justice movements. In fact, she said she would do the same again if given the chance.
“I think being out with your political views can make you a target, but I also think it’s really important because I think people need to see
that I have their back, as a business owner and a community leader,” she continued. “I just feel like you should double down.”
Stewart spoke of this violent incident with an almost cavalier confifidence. Her steadfastness in her values is admirable – if not a little risky.
“The absolute worst thing someone could do is kill me.”
“The absolute worst thing someone could do is kill me,” she said of the store’s targeting. “If somebody were to kill me for a cause that I believed in, well, [...] I’m getting some sort of word out to people that it’s important.”
This “doubling down” is clear to anyone who broaches the glass doors of this Broadway Street locale. Before even entering the store, shoppers are greeted by an arrestingly large rainbow ribbon that continues across the glass panes of the entire exterior. The interior continues this motif of brazenly proud queer and social justice symbols. The inside is adorned with numerous Pride flflags, Black Lives Matter memorabilia and the occasional anti- Trump gag giftft.
Stewart’s advocacy doesn’t stop at the decorations, however. She works closely with the surrounding community and small businesses
to advocate for LGBTQ rights, women’s rights, the unhoused community and other minorities or marginalized communities. To her, being an advocate for equality isn’t just a business strategy; it’s personal.
“I’m 46 years old, and I’ve had my rights challenged almost every single decade of my life. And in 2025, the fact that it’s gotten worse is horrifying,” Stewart lamented.
In October, Stewart added a refrigerator and food pantry to the store to solicit food donations for locals who were facing food insecurity amid
the pausing of SNAP benefifits during the federal government shutdown.
“We’ve had our snack bin outside for the last year and a half, where we just provide free snacks, drinks, things like that for our unhoused neighbors and also for just a lot of school children,” Stewart explained. “We added the refrigerator and the larger pantry because of SNAP benefifits going away. Oak Park is a neighborhood that is going to feel it pretty hard. They rely on benefifits.”
The pantry proved to be a rousing success in its call to action. In the time of our interview with Stewart, fifive people came in to donate food.
A patron brings food donations to the store’s food pantry
Although a New York native herself, Stewart is bursting with Oak Park pride. She reiterated
her dedication to the neighboring community, emphasizing frequent collaborations with nearby small businesses.
“I’m always a small business owner, and I am a big advocate for other small business owners. I think we’re gonna lose our culture if we lose our small businesses,” she continues. “We’re gonna lose what’s important and exciting about Sacramento if we have no small business.”
Despite downsizing and safety threats, Stewart remains steadfast in her commitment to advocacy and community service. And it’s clear she has no plans of slowing down her efffforts, either.
“It’s very important for me to be someone who stands up for my community,” she declared. “I think people want our small businesses to survive, and that’s kind of how I live my life. I know that the community here, if I show up for them, they show up for me.”
