Shopping in North America
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Powell's City of Books
The USA's largest independent bookstore, with a whole city block of new and used titles. Has other branches around town, including at 3723 and 3747 SE Hawthorne.
reviewed
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Yobel Market
Their motto is, 'inspiring awareness and promoting justice.' The stock is all fair trade and sustainable wares made by craftsmen and women from around the world. They have African market baskets, wonderful beaded jewelry, groovy T-shirts and handmade soaps.
reviewed
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C
Grand Central Market
The frenzied and sawdust-sprinkled Grand Central Market across the street has some fun nosh spots.
reviewed
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D
Evolution
A great cabinet of curiosities, this old-fashioned storefront sells natural-history collectibles of the sort usually seen in museums. This is the place to buy – or just gawk at – framed beetles and butterflies, bugs frozen in amber-resin cubes, stuffed parrots, zebra hides and shark teeth, as well as stony wonders, including meteorites, fragments from Mars and 100-million-year-old fossils.
reviewed
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E
Range Gallery
Local photographer, Kathleen McFadden, owns and operates this sweet storefront gallery in Old Colorado City. There's a quirky Americana sensibility to her work. You'll see shots of old rusted gas pumps, lonely roadside diners and fish-eyed horses, and curved-frame prints of cascading rivers and gnarled trees. Impressive and transporting.
reviewed
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Mary Jane’s Emporium
By ‘Mary Jane, ’ they’re not referring to shoes. This is an essential stop for smokers of legal tobacco products, including finer brands of cigarettes not sold at your basic corner store. Also, a variety of apparatus for the smoking of unsanctioned herbal products and such is sold here. All right, it’s basically a head shop.
reviewed
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G
Brooklyn Flea Market (Fort Greene)
On the grounds of a school in Fort Greene, some 200 vendors sell their wares, ranging from antiques, records, vintage clothes, craft items and enticing food stalls stuffed with a smorgasbord of tasty treats. In winter, the market moves indoors to a gorgeous art deco space in the former Williamsburgh Savings Bank building at Flatbush near Atlantic Ave.
reviewed
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DSW
The basement clearance section is where recovering shoe hounds come after they've sworn that they've bought their last pair for the season. Diligent research has uncovered 40% to 60% off Marc Jacobs flats, Betsy Johnson wedges and an inexplicable bonanza of limited-edition Pumas.
reviewed
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Title Wave Books
Northern Lights Center (1360 W Northern Lights Blvd); W 5th Ave (415 W 5th Ave) The best bookstore in Anchorage with two branches, both equipped with internet cafés.
reviewed
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Cherokee Antique Row
Six blocks of antique-filled stores in the appropriately historic Cherokee-Lemp neighborhood.
reviewed
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Half Price Books, Records & Magazines
A broad selection of excellent new and used books, with multiple locations around town.
reviewed
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Universal City Walk
With flashing video screens, oversized facades and garish color combinations, City Walk hovers beside Universal Studios like a reject from the Blade Runner –meets– Willy Wonka school of architecture. Opened in 1993 as a shopping adjunct to the theme park, this outdoor mall evolved into a local hangout that can feel like a middle-school mecca on weekends. Its 65 shops, restaurants and entertainment venues offer a mix of mid- and lowbrow attractions, with low leading by a nose. Beyond the knickknack stores and chains, the new Dodgers Clubhouse (818-761-5677) stands out with its Dodgers-related clothing and accessories – including bats broken during games. The courtyard…
reviewed
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M
Ala Moana Center
Holy fashion, this attractive open-air shopping mall could compete on an international runway with some of Asia's most famous malls. And the shoppers are top-shelf fashionistas, stocking up on couture. The usual mall anchors are here, (Sears and Macy's) as are the designer name brands (you name it) and the trendy teen brands (Abercrombie & Fitch).
A favorite for local color is the Crack Seed Center, where you can just scoop from jars full of pickled mangoes, candied ginger, dried cuttlefish and banzai (rice crackers, nuts and dried fish) mix. The ground floor or the shopping center is also the hub for TheBus service.
reviewed
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N
ByWard Market
The ByWard Market, at the corner of George St and ByWard St, is the best place in town for one-stop shopping. Vendors cluster around the old maroon-brick market building, erected in the 1840s. Outdoor merchants operate booths from 6am to 6pm year-round (although the winter weather drastically reduces the number of businesses). In summer, over 175 stalls fill the streets, selling fresh produce from local farms, flowers, seafood, cheese, baked goods and kitschy souvenirs. Dalhousie St, a block east of the market, has been rising in popularity with a smattering of hipster boutiques and fashion houses.
reviewed
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O
B&H Photo-Video
Visiting NYC's most popular camera shop is an experience in itself – it’s massive and crowded, and bustling with black-clad (and tech-savvy) Hasidic Jewish salesmen. Your chosen item is dropped into a bucket, which then moves up and across the ceiling to the purchase area (which requires a second queue).
It’s all very orderly and fascinating, and the selection of cameras, camcorders, computers and other electronics is outstanding.
reviewed
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P
Santa’s Quarters
This place keeps the Christmas spirit alive year-round, with ornaments, lights and every festive trinket imaginable. Now, you have to wonder about people who might be tempted to purchase Christmas ornaments on one of August’s most sultry days. And what about the zero-receipt days this shop surely endures for much of the year. So is it a front for something more sinister? Or is it simply a vanity concern for St Nick? And, if so, why is it New Orleans? Or is the fat man indulging a local filly he’s keeping on the side? Anyway, on with your shopping…
reviewed
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Q
The Grove
This outdoor mall is one of LA’s most popular shopping destinations. Its recipe for success? Fill a faux Italian palazzo with 40 name-brand stores and restaurants, toss in a fountain, the Pacific Theatres and a sprinkling of celebrities, then top it off with a trolley rolling back and forth down the middle. PT Barnum would be proud. Check out the roof of the parking garage for stellar city views. Highlights include little-girl fave American Girl Place and grown-up-gal boutique Theodore. Parking free for the first hour; $3 for two to three hours.
reviewed
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Rockridge
Rockridge is a popular shopping district. The lively, upscale neighborhood is centered on College Ave, which runs from Broadway all the way to the UC Berkeley Campus. College Ave is lined with clothing boutiques, good bookstores, a vintage record shop, several pubs and cafés, and quite a few upscale restaurants - maybe the largest concentration in the Bay Area. You could easily spend a satisfying afternoon or evening browsing, eating and drinking here.
Exiting BART at the Rockridge station puts you in the thick of things.
reviewed
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Sna Jolobil
Next to Santo Domingo, Sna Jolobil exhibits and sells some of the very best huipiles, blouses, skirts, rugs and other woven items, with prices ranging from a few dollars for small items to more than M$32,000 for the best huipiles (the fruit of many months’ work). Sna Jolobil is a cooperative of 800 indigenous women weavers from the Chiapas highlands, founded in the 1970s to foster the important indigenous art of backstrap-loom weaving. It has revived many half-forgotten techniques and designs.
reviewed
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Sustainable NYC
Across from Tompkins Square Park, this ecofriendly shop offers all sorts of home and office gear for living green. Organic T-shirts, shoes made out of recycled auto tires, compost bins, biodegradable beauty products, recycled stationery, and books on going green are all on hand. The store itself sets a fine example: the interior is built from 300-year-old reclaimed lumber and fixtures are recycled (and for sale).
A small cafe onsite sells snacks and fair-trade coffee.
reviewed
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Strange Cargo
The retro store stocks kitschy iron-on T-shirts featuring Ditka, Obama and other renowned Chicagoans.
reviewed
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Forum Shops
Franklins fly out of Fendi bags faster at Caesars' fancifully gaudy re-creation of an ancient Roman market, housing 160 catwalk designer emporia.
reviewed
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Aquarius Records
When pop seems played out, this is the dawning of the age of Aquarius Records, featuring Armenian blues, Oakland warehouse-party bands and rare Japanese releases. Recent staff favorites include Sounds of North American Frogs, groovy '60 Brazilian tropicalia from Os Mutantes, woozy folk from New Zealand's Torlesse Super Group and SF's own Prizehog, enthusiastically described as 'dirgey doom pop slowcore!'
reviewed
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Ja Moisan Épicier
Established in 1871, this is considered the oldest grocery store in North America. The store is beautifully set up and fun just to browse – ever seen black-and-white, zebra-striped bow pasta? The products do generally fall on the ‘You’ve got to be kidding!’ side of expensive but there will be products here you’ve never seen before along with heaps of local goods.
reviewed
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Y
Boutique Kettö
Illustrator Julie St-Onge-Drouin started up Kettö after her illustrative designs kept finding their way onto ceramic surfaces. Now at this big, bright and beautifully set-up boutique, they’re on everything from plates and mugs to ceramic jewelry and necklaces. Great gifts, her designs are sold in small boutiques throughout Québec, but here you’ll find the best selection.
reviewed