This Weed Boutique Offers a Head Shop Alternative

Austin's Catchtilly is carefully curated and designed to offer a fun and welcoming experience for weed lovers—especially women.

by Eva Recinos

April 20, 2016, 12:25pm

Allhotos courtesy of Catchtilly.

Shopping for weed paraphernalia can sometimes feel like a covert mission. Even while some cities are open to marijuana use, their shops still signify their existence with a sneaky signage. Once you enter a shop, not many seem too welcoming to female shoppers.

At least, that's the experience that Amanda Farris and Laura Uhlir are most familiar with—and what ultimately inspired them to open their shop, Catchtilly. The Austin-based boutique offers everything from pipes to lighters to weed-related accessories. But it looks much different from your average smoke shop. The store, opened in 2015, offers pieces from makers like Lilah Shepherd, Sara M. Lyons, Manal Kara, and more.

“All the head shops I’ve frequented in the past had a very strong male vibe,” Uhlir tells The Creators Project. “Nudie lady paraphernalia, pipes shaped like dragons, rasta flags, stinky incense—none of those things appealed to me. Not to mention getting the ‘Are you sure you’re not lost, miss?’ looks, or having male friends addressed when I was the one shopping, got tiresome.”

The duo found artists through Instagram and blogs. Customers also often recommend creators to the shop owners. The Catchtilly now boasts an especially quirky range of pipes; you can find everything from a cactus, to a peach, to Garfield in the shape of a pipe. Each product comes with a description about where the piece was created and instructions on how to care for them.

“I remember in the beginning before Catchtilly opened we would find really, really wonderful pieces and just wished that there was an environment that had them all together,” says Farris. “For a while we just kept saying ‘someone needs to open this so we can shop there.’ Then, it clicked: we were those people!”

Catchtilly serves as a space for weed enthusiasts that want a casual place to browse unique (and often humorous) items. Farris ultimately wants the shop to be welcoming to all visitors. She says, “For me it's a lot like a coffee shop, I want to spend my time and money in a place that is designed well, highly curated, and only offers what they can stand behind.”