Maybe you’re visiting Madison and want to buy a souvenir to take home. Maybe you moved to Madison and want something to celebrate your new home. Or maybe you’re traveling and want to represent your home base wherever you go.
Whatever the reason, Madison swag is big business. Here’s some places where you can buy merch to celebrate your love of Madison, be it sporty, quirky, or outdoorsy.
I mean, obviously. Both the State Street and Hilldale locations are packed with University of Wisconsin swag for literally every fashion sense, plus Madison-focused gear, and other Wisconsin sports teams.
This playful Midwest clothing brand opened a location on State Street last summer, featuring many Madison-themed T-shirts like “I Put the ‘Sin’ in Wisconsin” and a shirt bearing the storefront of Paul’s Books, the beloved bookstore that used to exist in the same location.
This cozy State Street spot is full of cutesy and clever Madison-themed arts and crafts, including a lot of stickers, greeting cards, and witty posters, like an astrological chart for “Madison Wisconstellations.” It’s also the place to get progressive-themed merch for the #resistance-minded friend on your list.
This gourmet and specialty store on Monroe Street is a Madison institution. It has a bunch of gifts celebrating Madison that are made locally, including tree ornaments, dish towels featuring Madison zip codes, and candles decorated with sand scooped up from Madison’s lakes.
If you’re visiting Wisconsin, you’re coming home with some cheese. Not only does this shop offer a wide variety of top-flight Wisconsin cheese (and fresh cheese curds), but you can take home some Badger State merch as well, including cheese boards shaped like the state and Madison-themed iced cookies.
The boutique on Willy Street has all sorts of cute stuff for the Madisonian in your life, from a baby onesie to a beautiful print of Tenney Park. I think I want the rocks glass with the Madison biking logo on it.
The convention center sees a lot of out-of-towners, obviously, so the gift shop has lots of innovative keepsakes to take home. You can buy miniature versions of the iconic cows found throughout the city, handmade ceramic mugs featuring the city skyline, and a musical snow globe of the Capitol Square.
Just visiting the resale shop is an essential part of the Madison experience in itself. But dig through the racks and you might find relics of bygone Madison, such as T-shirts advertising old festivals and long-gone taverns.
