All Shopping in Sainte Genevieve

ASL Pewter Foundry – A Working Pewter Studio Where Tom and Pat Hooper Keep Colonial Metalworking Alive A working pewter foundry in Missouri’s oldest town sounds improbable until you remember that Sainte Geneviève has always been a place where history isn’t just preserved but practiced. At 183 South 3rd Street, Tom and Patricia Hooper have spent nearly 40 years creating museum-quality pewter pieces using techniques that colonial craftspeople would recognize—casting molten tin alloy into antique molds, spinning flat pewter discs on an 1873 water-powered lathe (now electrified), and welding handles onto tankards with micro-torch precision. This isn’t a demonstration for tourists watching behind ropes. This is an active studio where you can commission custom pieces, watch the Hoopers work, learn the chemistry and history of the tin-based alloy that graced America’s founding families’ tables, and leave with functional heirlooms made by hands that understand centuries-old craft traditions. The work has earned White House recognition (Pat and Tom visited during George W. Bush’s administration, meeting First Lady Laura Bush), appeared in HBO’s John Adams miniseries starring Paul Giamatti, and attracted collectors who recognize that genuinely handcrafted American pewter—100% lead-free, made using antique tools and traditional methods—has become exceptionally rare in an Read more…

Belle Ever After Boutique LLC – Where a Mother-Daughter Passion for Fashion Builds Women Up, One Outfit at a Time “Belle Ever After is a family-owned boutique, bringing a little fun and fashion to downtown Ste. Genevieve, MO. We’re all about cute clothes, great gifts, and helping women feel their best. Stop by, say hi, and see what’s new — we can’t wait to help you find something you love!” At 1 South Main Street in the heart of historic downtown Ste. Genevieve, Belle Ever After Boutique represents what happens when a “crazy idea” born from mother-daughter love for fashion transforms into thriving family business dedicated to helping women feel confident and beautiful. Established in 2017, this family-owned boutique now operates two locations—Ste. Genevieve and downtown Old Town Cape Girardeau—plus a robust online presence, all focused on a mission that transcends mere retail: “We LOVE helping build women up! We’re all beautiful in our own way, sometimes we just lack confidence and need a little help showing our inner beauty.” Carrying hand-selected clothing (sizes Small to 3XL for women, various sizes for girls), jewelry, shoes, athleisure, dresses, jeans, sweaters, tops, sunglasses, belts, candles, handmade soaps, and gifts, Belle Ever After Read more…

The Bossier-Shaw House Site Office and Interpretive Center – Missouri Department of Natural Resources’ Gateway to Sainte Geneviève’s Layered History Most historic site visitor centers occupy modern buildings constructed specifically for administrative functions—climate-controlled boxes with exhibit spaces designed from the beginning for interpretive displays. The Bossier-Shaw House operates differently. This is a genuine 1819 building constructed by Jean-Baptiste Bossier as a storehouse for his mercantile business, later expanded by Dr. Benjamin Shaw into a residence, and transformed in the 1930s into the headquarters for the Ste. Genevieve Art Colony—a radical gathering of Depression-era artists including Thomas Hart Benton, Joe Jones, Jessie Beard Rickly, and Aimee Schweig who captured tenant farmers’ encampments, lime kiln workers, sharecroppers, and the human condition in ways that established this small Missouri river town as “the Mecca of Midwestern art.” Today, operated by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources as the site office and interpretive center for the Felix Vallé State Historic Site complex, the Bossier-Shaw House hosts rotating exhibits throughout the year that explore the area’s history in the context of broader Missouri heritage, maintains a small gift shop featuring books on French Colonial history and colonial period items, and presides over the coolest feature Read more…

EKlekTix – Jean Rissover Became a Painter at 70 and Now Creates Narrative Art While You Watch At 130 North Main Street in an 1860s building, Jean Rissover paints during the hours her gallery is open—not as demonstration or performance but as working artist fully engaged in creating the figurative paintings that crowd her studio walls. About 75 original oil paintings, most 11×14 inches or smaller, fill the space alongside eclectic giftware sourced from artisans around the world. The paintings tell stories, primarily of women—their activities, experiences, relationships, joys, sorrows, and moods—drawn from Rissover’s imagination populated by characters who “live in her head” and demand to be painted. Some focus on Sainte Geneviève’s French colonial history. Others explore universal experiences of being female across time and culture. All are narrative in nature, inviting viewers to construct stories around the figures Rissover portrays with loose, impressionistic brushwork that suggests rather than defines, leaving space for interpretation. The remarkable part isn’t just the art—it’s the journey. Jean Rissover started painting in 2011 at age 70, after retiring from a career spanning teaching, social work, event organization, antique shop ownership, and managing editor of the Ste. Genevieve Herald. It was her first serious Read more…

102 South Main St. Ste. Geneviève, MO, 63670 Call us at 573-883-8233 Hours Open Daily from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Closed Wednesday This specialty shop sells fine European home décor and garden items made and manufactured only in Europe. Discover French linens, Scottish jewelry, Italian and German porcelain, English creamware, Swedish linens, Irish wools, and French and Italian soaps. In addition, many of these products come from companies that have been in business for well over a century. Read more…