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The Bryant family: (from left) Nora, Myka, Anthony and Devan. Anthony started collecting records when he was a kid and now has a major music library. “My parents had a good record collection, and that is how I remember getting started,” he says.
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The couple’s dogs, Finn, a deaf Catahoula-pit mix (pictured here), and Roxy, a Boxer-pit mix, both come from Ring Dog Rescue, a nonprofit that works with bulldog breeds.
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“Before the little ones, we used to do a lot of vintage shopping, buying antiques for the house,” Anthony says. “That was a fun time.” This shelving unit holds Nora’s cookbook collection.
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As the Bryant girls have grown, Anthony and Nora have kept a sweet and sentimental collection of their little shoes.
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Anthony and Nora snagged a limited-edition print that street artist Shepard Fairey created for 1708 Gallery. They later ran into Fairey at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.
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Nora’s cousin, who works in the state department, was stationed in Oman for work and brought the couple these brass lanterns as a special gift from abroad.
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As a wedding gift, Nora gave Anthony a painting of Brazilian soccer player Edson Arantes do Nascimento (aka Pelé) painted by artist Martin Reamy, who’s a friend.
“The idea at its core is to have a space where parents and kids can enjoy themselves,” says Anthony Bryant of Little Nomad, the children’s clothing shop he co-owns with his wife, Nora, in downtown’s Arts District.
Looking around the couple’s two-story dwelling, it’s apparent that Little Nomad’s family-friendly vibe has spilled over into their home. Located in the Fairmount neighborhood just north of Union Hill, the Bryants’ house is outfitted with a mix of vintage furnishings and sentimental collections that set the tone for a comfortable and casual home where they raise their two daughters, Myka, 4, and Devan, 6.
Anthony runs Little Nomad and moonlights as a DJ, while Nora works with Henrico County Public Schools as a preschool special education teacher. She also teaches a few courses through the University of Richmond School of Professional and Continuing Studies.
Nora, who grew up in Williamsburg and attended James Madison University, moved to Richmond in 2001 for her first teaching job and earned her master’s degree at Virginia Commonwealth University. Anthony grew up in Chesterfield and studied mass communication at Virginia State University with the intention of going into radio. But while working at the store Up Against the Wall during college, he realized, “I could probably do this one day, have my own shop.” After meeting through a mutual friend in 2005, the couple tied the knot in 2010 and started their family soon after.
Little Nomad originally started in 2015 as a blog covering family outings, cooking with kids and other topics. It eventually grew into the store, which opened at 104 W. Broad St. in July 2017. The couple spent the two years leading up to their grand opening establishing the Little Nomad brand, so by the time they opened, they had a following in the community.
In the shop, the couple sells ethical and sustainable brands at a variety of prices, focusing on clothing that doesn’t subscribe to stereotypical gender themes. They also source vintage denim that Anthony gussies up with fun patches, and they design and produce shirts, including their best-selling “RVA All Day” tee.
After being open for nine months, Little Nomad experienced a major setback: In May 2018, a car driving down Broad Street crashed through their storefront, causing the shop to close for four months. “We were crushed this summer, and by no means are we 100 percent back on our feet,” Nora says. “The community has been fantastic to us — and are excited we are back.”
“If you are in it for the long haul,” Anthony says, “there is no other option than to move forward.”
