Kids a Focus as San Francisco’s Otherworldly Paxton Gate’s Debuts New Online Store

Photos: From left to right: taxidermy weasel; knit frog dissection; custom water feature designed and built for popular SF restaurant Central Kitchen.

Paxton Gate, which for years has been a sought after destination for those living in and around the city as well as to tourists eager to sample their unique and wonderfully eccentric inventory, has completely rebuilt its website/e-commerce site into an easy to browse and easy to use online store. The former site was originally deployed in 2002.
 
“As someone who has loved science, history and the printed page since I was young—and put together a career based on those things—we built our original site so it resembled a book, with the idea that users could flip through to see what we had to offer,” says Paxton Gate founder, Sean Quigley. “It didn’t take too long to figure out this Internet thing was not only different, but here to stay, so we decided to fully embrace its capabilities. We wanted something that would approximate the experience of the store itself, so we built it.”

The new website encompasses the original store Paxton Gate, Paxton Gate’s Curiosities for Kids, and its Design/Build arm as well as Paxton Gate Portland, owned and operated by Andrew and Susan Brown who call the Pacific Northwest home.  Paxton Gate Portland was featured featured on the show Portlandia, in an episode featuring Jeff Goldblum as the owner of an artisanal knot store.

The new site uses larger, higher resolution images, a much bolder look, plus a much more intuitive interface for browing as well as arranging for payment and delivery. Zoom in functionality that will allow detail and intrciacies to pop even further is currently being integrated and will be completed by the end of October in time for the holiday season.

Paxton Gate delivers direct from San Francisco (and Portland) throughout the USA, Europe and Asia.

What I really love about this website is that there are great products for children besides technology! Nothing against technology, I love my laptop and Smartphone with all the apps and so does my 10 year old son! But, sometimes it’s just good to get away from all that and use your imagination and creativity without technology. There are so many wonderful products in the Paxton Gate’s Curiosities for Kids!

I received a few really cool products from are new friends at Paxton Gate. A really awesome Snowy Owl Puppet! We love this one! It is super soft and his head even turns! This is the best for creating fun puppet shows! We have had hours of fun with this one! I think it must be the softest puppet I have ever seen!

Are you looking for other fun items for your Kids? We also received  Sands Alive which is so much fun for creating without the mess of beach sand. This one is also sure to keep the kids entertained for hours! The sand really isn’t alive but is tons of fun and this one would be great for a rainy day! The set comes with a tray, roller, shovel,and 1.5 lbs. of sand, which really is a malleable compound that is like damp sand. It really sticks together quite well.

We also received the Robo Future Magnetic Blocks  which are really fun mostly because they are magnetic but they also can be used with the whole set..they are compatible so that would mean hours of fun! Click on the link above to find out more! One of our favorites about the website is all the Science fun products for kids! We received the Sunlight Print Kit and had so much fun learning and making prints with sunlight and water. It is available in 12 or 15 sheets so prices vary from $7.50-$18.00.

So, if you are looking for something creative, fun and different, this really is a website to check out! You will find something for every child on your holiday shopping list and so many of these products would make great birthday gifts too!

To find out more, check out the website!

Self Disclosure: I received free products to facilitate this feature review. Photo Credit: Paxton Gate.