Baltimore gives a Shopify store three local things that are easy to verify and easy to use in a gift box. The Baltimore Development Corporation runs Baltimore Made, a network for makers, manufacturers, artists and creative entrepreneurs. Lexington Market, which says it has operated since 1782, sits inside a city system of six public markets that calls itself the oldest in the country. And the Maryland Jockey Club has moved the 2027 Preakness to Sunday, May 23, with the Black-Eyed Susan card on Saturday, May 22. This page uses those facts, plus the county's manufacturing counts from the Census Bureau, to plan a fixed local-makers box: three products from three makers, one bundle price, and honest wording about where each one comes from. It leaves out the port, the tax-free week and the digital products tax, which the Maryland page covers.
Read what the Baltimore Made page describes: a network for makers, manufacturers, artists and creative entrepreneurs, with a partner directory and markets. Use the program to find makers, and do not describe your box as certified or endorsed by the program unless the program says so in writing, since the pages we read state no certification rule.
Choose one food or consumable, one printed or paper item and one object that lasts. The Census Bureau counts 65 food manufacturing and 34 printing establishments in the city, so the first two have local suppliers. Write down each maker's price and your landed cost per unit before you set the bundle price.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau: County Business Patterns 2023, county file (Baltimore city)
Price the box from your costs, not from the sum of the three retail prices: add the landed cost of each component, then the box and shipping, then your margin floor. If the bundle price is below the sum of the parts, say so honestly, and show each part's own price.
Name each maker and where each item is made. If you want to reference Lexington Market, attribute the claim: the market says it has operated since 1782. A claim you attribute is easier to defend than one you restate.
If you want a seasonal run, schedule the box for Preakness weekend only: Saturday, May 22 and Sunday, May 23, 2027, the dates the Maryland Jockey Club announced. End the banner on Sunday night, and do not extend the box into the week.
Source: Preakness Stakes: The Maryland Jockey Club Announces Changes to 2027 Preakness Week
A fixed box can sell only as many times as its scarcest component allows, so track stock for each maker's item separately and pause the box when the lowest one runs out, instead of swapping a component without telling the shopper.
Build it with the Classic bundle template.
Requires: Growth plan or higher, Shopify Plus may be required.
Pick three products from three Baltimore makers, sold together at one bundle price. A fixed box keeps the choice simple for the shopper and the margin math simple for you, since you know every component's cost before you set the price.
The Census Bureau lists 65 food manufacturing and 34 printing establishments in the city, so a box with a food item and a printed card or poster has local suppliers behind both. Check each maker's minimum order, lead time and shipping rules before you commit stock.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau: County Business Patterns 2023, county file (Baltimore city)
Lexington Market describes itself as the longest continually operating public market in America and gives 1782 as its start. If you mention the market on a product page, attribute the claim to the market and do not restate it as your own fact.
The 2027 Preakness is on Sunday, May 23, with the Black-Eyed Susan card on Saturday, May 22. A box for hosts and visitors can run for that weekend only, with the end date in the banner, and it can sit alongside a Mother's Day box earlier in May.
Source: Preakness Stakes: The Maryland Jockey Club Announces Changes to 2027 Preakness Week
Baltimore has a city-backed network for local makers and a public market system, so a store can source a gift box from named local makers and sell it to shoppers who care where products come from.
The Baltimore Development Corporation's Baltimore Made page describes the program as one that celebrates and grows Baltimore's community of makers, manufacturers, artists and creative entrepreneurs, and lists member benefits that include a partner directory, markets and pop-ups, and workshops.
Baltimore Development Corporation: Baltimore Made (accessed October 10, 2026)
Lexington Market's site says it has been world famous since 1782 and calls itself the longest continually operating public market in America, with its current home at 112 North Eutaw Street.
Lexington Market (the market's own claim) (accessed October 10, 2026)
Lexington Market's site says the Baltimore Public Market System is the oldest public market system in the United States and operates six city-owned markets: Avenue, Cross Street, Lexington, Broadway, Hollins and Northeast.
Lexington Market (describing the Baltimore Public Market System) (accessed October 10, 2026)
The Maryland Jockey Club announced that the 152nd Preakness Stakes will be run at Pimlico Race Course on Sunday, May 23, 2027, eight days after the traditional third Saturday in May, and that the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes card moves to Saturday, May 22.
Preakness Stakes: The Maryland Jockey Club Announces Changes to 2027 Preakness Week (accessed October 10, 2026)
Artscape's site shows a hero line for 100 Holliday Street, May 29th-30th, 11AM to 9PM, with no year, and a footer date of May 29-30, 2027; it lists Artscape 2027 with its theme still to be announced.
Artscape (accessed October 10, 2026)
The Census Bureau's 2023 County Business Patterns lists 347 manufacturing establishments in the city of Baltimore, including 65 in food manufacturing (NAICS 311) and 34 in printing (NAICS 323).
U.S. Census Bureau: County Business Patterns 2023, county file (Baltimore city) (accessed October 10, 2026)
The Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 estimate puts the population of the city of Baltimore at 569,997 on July 1, 2025.
U.S. Census Bureau: Vintage 2025 city and town population estimates (accessed October 10, 2026)
Not tax advice. Confirm current rules with the state revenue department before you rely on a date or an exemption.
Requires: Growth plan or higher, Shopify Plus may be required.
