Shelter Home

A gift store that manages to be both unique and classy. Very nicely designed layout of home décor and Asbury Park memorabilia (Tillie pillows, coasters, etc). They have cute little postcards and have very thoughtfully stocked some stamps (international postage as well) so you can get an Asbury Park postmark when you send from the corner box.

I was in a pinch and needed a last minute gift for a girl who has everything. I googled «gift» and this store came up. Imagine my horror when I headed over and they weren’t open yet.
Fear not! The owners were kind enough to open the store early for me! They were full of great ideas for me and stayed within my designated price range. I ended up with a darling set of heart shaped dessert spoons and a set of ice cream bowls. I even found something for my toddler.
As they beautifully wrapped the gifts for me, the owners gave me a book of coupons good all over Asbury park and let me know about the events in AP that weekend. I joked and told them they should be my life coaches. Thanks so much for a great experience!

This store is seriously addicting. If you’re looking for a unique gift, a gadget to add to your ever growing collection of spatulas, bottle openers and the like or some quirky AP merch, this is your place.
There are 2 versions of this store. An outpost in Convention Hall and the main store here on Cookman. This store has a much bigger variety (naturally) and runs the gamut from housewares, collectibles (like Kid Robot) and branded Asbury Park merchandise like Tilly pillows and shirts.
What I like most about this place is Scott (I hope that’s his name!). It seems to me he’s been here since the beginning. When AP was «on the verge» of becoming a place to visit. Slugging it out during those slow summers and long winters while everyone waited for AP to be reborn for the 9^th time.
It’s rare these days to find local businesses that care about service, you recognize the owner and have a unique selection of items but Shelter Home is one of those places.
I moved to Chicago about a year and half ago and when I recently returned to NJ, I made Shelter Home a «must visit» stop on my homecoming. That’s how fun this place is.
If you’re looking for a unique gift or a nice treat for yourself while in AP, stop by and say hi to Scott.

Let’s just say you know you’re all grown up when you’re excited about purchasing a cutting board. This store has great, functional items that you never knew you needed. Some items you can buy in sets, which will offset the cost. The owners seems to find designers that they have an affinity for. I could have spent another hour in this store.
I purchased a cutting board in which the sides bend upward in order to funnel your chopped goods into a container. Just what I had needed after sending chopped onions everywhere. I also bought a serving spoon that acts like a mini strainer. Perfect for me as I’m usually cooking for one.
I was visiting a friend for the weekend, but I’ll definitely be back!

When we think of shopping locally, we shop in Asbury Park. Shelter Home has been there, on Cookman St., for a number of years and it is just fun to walk in and look around.
In addition to buying small gifts on occasion, we chose to buy our new flatware at Shelter Home. We had decided on Alessi flatware and had actually picked out the pattern we wanted but saw some others of interest in the catalog. The store was nice enough to ask the warehouse to ship two different patterns to look at and we decided on one of those. Add in a nice discount on our order and it is just another reason to return.

This is one of those stores that you get excited to visit when you leave for your beach-​weekend.
My best advice would be to check the website or pop in, where I can’t really describe all the cool thingamajigs and hoozamawhatsits you will find in there, but I can guarantee you will want at least one, if not all, of the very cool items they carry.
My last few purchases:
A bottle opener that looks like an old-​fashioned key, a Baggu, 2 necklaces (one a gift, one not), a postcard printed on veneer, and a cell-​phone holder that loops around the charger when it’s hanging on the wall.
They have tons of home-​goods: everything from furniture to pens.