Here are your Best of Halifax 2024 winners for Shopping + Services

Make that seven Best of Halifax gold awards for Spring Garden Road’s Bookmark. In its 35 years downtown, the indie bookstore has survived a change of ownership, two years of COVID-19 lockdowns and Jeff Bezos’s ever-expanding tentacles to bring Haligonians the latest titles from authors big and small. That’s not a small thing, says manager Michael Hamm.

“People can buy certain books elsewhere, but it’s the relationship that we have with people and the friends we make that really counts,” he tells The Coast.

Bookmark’s victory—its first gold since 2016—is just one of the many stories you’ll find in this year’s crop of BOH winners, which saw titles defended (Cedric Dechamp, Malyssa Burns and Demetrius Ferguson each picked up their third straight gold awards, for Best Barber, Best Hairstylist and Best Fitness Instructor, respectively), dominant reigns continue (a sixth-straight gold in Best Clothing Store for Sweet Pea Boutique) and new winners emerge (a first gold for Lucky Cat Barbershop).

This year also brought new bragging rights to some familiar faces of old, including Atlantic News—winning its first gold for Best Corner Store since 2019, and its first under new owners—as well as Strange Adventures Halifax—which, after much consideration on our part, re-entered the Best Comic Shop category from its hallowed Hall of Fame status so that we could continue to run the category and highlight all the other wonderful comic stores as well.

Check out all the Shopping + Services winners below. Want early access to all the Best of Halifax winners, from Food + Drink to Public Life and Music? Become a Coast Insider today, and you’ll be the first in the city to know.

BEST BARBER
🥇 Cedric “Ceddy The Barber” DeChamp at Legends Barbershop
🥈 Jeremy Naugler at Leftside Barbershop
🥉 Jackie Cochran at Sailor Bup’s Barbershop

BEST BARBERSHOP
🥇 Lucky Cat Barbershop
🥈 Legends Barbershop
🥉 Leftside Barbershop

BEST BIKE STORE
🥇 Long Alley Bicycles
🥈 Halifax Cycles
🥉 Sportwheels

BEST CLOTHING STORE
🥇 Sweet Pea Boutique
🥈 Biscuit General Store
🥉 Slowly Slowly

BEST COMICS SHOP
🥇 Strange Adventures Halifax
🥈 Cape & Cowl Comics & Collectibles
🥉 Strange Adventures Dartmouth

BEST CORNER STORE
🥇 Atlantic News
🥈 Jubilee Junction
🥉 Flynn’s Dairy Bar & Convenience

BEST DOG GROOMER
🥇 Jollytails
🥈 East Coast Dog
🥉 Dapper Dogs

BEST ESTHETICIAN
🥇 Alanna Byrne at Blair Beauty Bar
🥈 Jill Stephenson at Jill Stephenson Makeup Artistry + Esthetics
🥉 Claire Crawford at The Wine Spa

BEST FASHION DESIGNER
🥇 Thief & Bandit
🥈 tREv Clothing
🥉 Lisa Drader Murphy

BEST FITNESS INSTRUCTOR
🥇 Demetrius Ferguson at Evolve Halifax
🥈 Victoria Scully at R Studios
🥉 Brittany Burke at Just Cycle

BEST FLOWER SHOP
🥇 Audrey’s Little Shop of Plants
🥈 My Mother’s Bloomers
🥉 Props Floral

BEST GYM
🥇 Evolve Fitness
🥈 R Studios
🥉 Orange Theory

BEST HAIR SALON
🥇 Spirit Spa
🥈 Solace Salon
🥉 Tidal Hair Lounge

BEST HAIRSTYLIST
🥇 Malyssa Burns at Solace Salon
🥈 Emma Bonang at Interlude Spa
🥉 Evelyn “Evie” Hill at Ivy Hair Salon

BEST HOME DECOR STORE
🥇 The Posh Pearl
🥈 The Independent Mercantile
🥉 Thornbloom

BEST INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORE
🥇 Bookmark
🥈 Agricola Street Books
🥉 Woozles

BEST JEWELLERY STORE
🥇 Fireworks Gallery
🥈 Black Market
🥉 Touch of Gold

BEST MAKEUP ARTIST
🥇 Selena Marchand
🥈 Elle Munster
🥉 Jill Stephenson

BEST MANICURE / PEDICURE
🥇 Spirit Spa
🥈 Interlude Spa
🥉 Encore Nail Bar

BEST MECHANIC SHOP
🥇 Todd’s Southend Car Care
🥈 Yuille Auto Works
🥉 Chad Kennedy’s Autopro

BEST NAIL TECHNICIAN
🥇 Emma Zinck at The Ten Spot
🥈 Stevie at Snake Belly Nails
🥉 Megan Hatchette at YOLOve Beauty

BEST NEW BUSINESS
🥇 Halifax Vintage Co-op
🥈 The Wine Spa
🥉 Solace Salon

BEST PERSONAL TRAINER
🥇 Mitch Benvie at Evolve Fitness
🥈 Rick Horsman at Rick My Trainer
🥉 Stephanie Peters at Ironstone

BEST PET SUPPLY STORE
🥇 Ren’s Pets
🥈 Jollytails
🥉 East Coast Dog

BEST REAL ESTATE AGENT
🥇 Robert Scanlan at Royal LePage Atlantic
🥈 Rosie Porter at Royal LePage Atlantic
🥉 Nas Klayme at RE/MAX nova

BEST RECORD STORE
🥇 Taz Records, Dartmouth
🥈 Renegade Records
🥉 Obsolete Records

BEST SECOND-HAND CLOTHING STORE
🥇 Guy’s Frenchys
🥈 Mission Mart
🥉 The Loot

BEST SHOE STORE
🥇 John David Shoes
🥈 East Coast Kicks
🥉 Aerobics First

BEST SPA
🥇 Nature Folk
🥈 Spirit Spa
🥉 Interlude Spa

BEST TAILOR
🥇 Mic Mac Tailor
🥈 Sherzad’s Tailoring Shop
🥉 Daniel’s Tailors

BEST TATTOO / PIERCING JOINT
🥇 Darling Tattoos
🥈 Heirloom Tattoo
🥉 Adept Tattoos & Body Piercing Studio

BEST TATTOO ARTIST
🥇 Helena Darling at Darling Tattoos
🥈 Rebecca “Becky” O’Quinn at Heirloom Tattoo
🥉 Emerson Roach at their private studio

BEST TRAVEL AGENCY
🥇 Maritime Travel
🥈 Atlantic Tours & Travel
🥉 Travel Bug Travel

BEST YOGA INSTRUCTOR
🥇 Nikki Martin at various locations
🥈 Barbie Leggett at On the Mat Yoga
🥉 Kelly Wadden at East Coast Wellness Clinic

BEST YOGA STUDIO
🥇 Shanti Hot Yoga
🥈 On the Mat Yoga
🥉 Rinse (R Studios)

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This article appears in Nov 7-30, 2024.