Gold Bug, Pasadena CA

Saw you on LA Unscripted. Looks like a great shop. Can’t wait to visit next time I’m in the LA area.

I can go on and on, on and on…and again on and on about how cool this place is!

I don’t live in Pasadena, or even Los Angeles, but I make sure to stop by every time I am in Southern California. I can say without hesitation that you would be hard-pressed to find a store as unique, diverse, and cool as Gold Bug. It is the perfect stop for incredibly unique gifts and in my case, incredibly cool collectibles. One can easily spend a few hours taking in all the unique pieces that Theodora sells. She has the eye of a fine gallerist and the depth of a great collector. She knows cool and unique when she sees it. I have traveled across the US for many years for work and I have yet to find a store as cool as Gold Bug. If you are in the market for a special gift that the recipient won’t soon forget…there is no better destination than Gold Bug, truly.

By all means, carve out some time to visit, take your time in there, explore and indulge in the beautiful little treasures that she has curated!

Please do not shop here!
I own a tour company and take groups to Pasadena. I always recommend this unusual store … During a recent tour in Pasadena, some of my customers visited Gold Bug store where they encountered a hostile experience with the owner. They reported that the owner was rude, even raising his voice, which made them uncomfortable. One customer was able to make a purchase despite the unpleasant encounter. As a tour company owner, I approached the owner to address the issue, but he insinuated that my customers were old and didn't spend enough money, and asked too many questions. What a horrible man!

This is the coolest store I’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting! If you like beautiful and bizarre trinkets and art for your home, this is the place to get it! Also an amazing assortment of unique jewelry! Would highly recommend a visit

We stopped in this gift shop while waiting for an appointment- what a wonderful place! The items are unique and eclectic. The owner, Theodora was charming to talk with and their enthusiasm was delightful. I highly recommend stopping in with the intent to spend a bit of time to truly enjoy the browsing experience, you won’t regret it!

Was visiting a friend in Pasadena and we stopped by Goldbug. Thea was a warm host and there were so many cool things in every corner. This is one of those "touch and look" stores and even though I wasn't there to buy anything I felt welcome.

Any friend that's in the area, I recommend them to visit and support Gold Bug.

GOLD BUG. I love this store, I love every little thing in this store. This space is filled with amazing finds. Curiosities all over, I mean in every corner of this place, it holds something new and brilliant. That gets you excited and happy. The products are so much fun to look at and what makes it even better is the Family that runs this store. I go in happy to look and know that there are a lot of things that I should not grab, pick up, move etc.because I have common sense.there are things on the shelves with 1k price tags. I have seen people nonchalantly pick them up and gasp at the price and put them down while knocking another piece next to it.that is not right.have some common sense. IF you do, you can talk to the proprietors and they will assist you in every possible way, they will pull it off the shelf, give you the price, talk to you about the artist, tell you where it's from, what the history is behind each piece. They will even tell you what inspired them to buy it. Why they like it so, why it was purchased, how they found it and more. The amount of meaningful conversations I have had with the male owner that everyone seems to be so butt sore about (sorry I have no other adjective, I know its crass) have been so fantastic that I'm actually astounded at the reviews here. I think that the majority of the complaints are from people that were rude from the get go, and speak to the staff like they are the ones in control, instead of speaking with curiosity and kindness. I say this because I have witnessed it all in this store. I have been coming to this place since it opened its doors, I have seen people drop vases, break art pieces and not care about it. Seriously, this store is a gem and all you have to do is ask. I have been in this store so many times over the years and I have never had a bad experience in this shop. Your experience in this store starts with an attitude of curiosity, respect, and kindness. Your overall experience will be based upon your attitude and that its up to you.

I'm not sure why, but the owner seemed to have a problem with me. Others were treated kindly - jokes and fun conversation. I tried to be pleasant and asked a few questions about their unique products, but that seemed to offend them so I stopped trying. After that I was more or less followed around the store and felt like they thought I might steal something. Beautiful stuff, horrible overall experience. Plenty of other galleries with similar stuff though. Bye.

Beautiful collection of treasures.
Get in and get out as the owner and staff are a bit rude and very racist.
You have to be very careful about commenting on items within ear shot of the owner and staff who will kick you out even if you just slightly criticize anything.
I would highly recommend getting the treasures you’re looking for elsewhere if you can. Sad to see such a beautiful store run by such rude and ignorant people.

So disappointed and disheartened. I’ve shopped here quite a bit over the years, but was never treated as poorly as my partner and I were today. I’m no longer in the Pasadena area, so we drove 45 minutes specifically to shop at this store for gifts. After a short while browsing and choosing things we planned to purchase, I was yelled at from across the store because I was looking at my cell phone. When I explained that I was looking something up that I was unfamiliar with, the owner exasperatedly told me that the store has a no-cell-phone policy. Prior to that we hadn’t even been spoken to. No offer to help. Not even a greeting. The irony to this situation was I was actually on Gold Bug’s website. The interaction was so terse and disrespectful that we no longer felt comfortable and simply walked out. Confused, I decided to look at the other reviews here and it appears I’m not alone. It also appears that the owner’s motivation for being so rude is out of a fear that people may be searching for where to purchase similar items outside the store. Turns out, most of what’s in this store is readily available on Etsy and directly from the artists. This is a classic case of someone capitalizing on other artist’s works for a gross profit. Well congratulations, Gold Bug, you just chased another customer away from making a purchase with you as I’ll be purchasing online instead, when a little kindness and customer service would have kept me from ever realizing how jacked up your prices are. Save yourself the trouble of a terrible experience and just browse the artists on their website, then google them and shop directly. Also if you’re an artist considering showing your work there…maybe think twice about how you want your work represented.