Shopping in North America
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City Market
But judging from our unscientific but extensive tasting, it's nearby Luling's City Market that wins all-round best BBQ in the state. Years of smoke blacken the pit room, the brisket is always succulent, the sausage is made on-site and a tart-and-tangy sauce adds a lot. Besides, everybody knows everybody here - it's a real slice of small-town life. Don't ask for utensils or plates: there haven't been any since it opened in the 1930s. Why fix what ain't broke? Your hands and butcher paper will do just fine.
reviewed
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Las Venus
Down a couple of steps from the street, this colorful shop packs in cool Danish-modern furniture (from the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s) and other vintage furnishings. Much of it edges toward the pricey, but some deals await the prodder (as well as old Playboys, if that’s your thing). Las Venus has another inviting store nearby – LV2 – and also stocks chrome furnishings on the 2nd floor of ABC Carpet & Home.
reviewed
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Dutch Girl Chocolates
This little creaky-floored shop is artfully draped with an Aladdin's cave of totally irresistible choc treats, many made in the kitchen you'll glimpse through the hatch out back. Pick up some milk, white or dark chocolate models of cars or tennis racquets, peruse the old-fashioned jars of liquorice sweeties or create a selection box of handmade truffles and bonbons from the cabinet by the counter. And if you're a visiting Netherlander pining for home, you can pick up all your fave branded Dutch confections right here.
reviewed
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C
Maxilla & Mandible
'The World's First and Only Osteological Store' has been around since 1983, ideally situated about a block from the Museum of Natural History. Fans of bones, fossils and beetle-studded jewelry will be entranced by the varied goodies on display at this specialty shop. Most people come in to gawk at the dangling skeletons and rows of neatly arranged bones, but few can resist picking up a few novelty items like lucite bracelets filled with brightly colored shield bugs from Thailand. They come in rings and necklaces, too.
reviewed
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D
Kramerbooks
With the Afterwords Café and bar behind the shop, this round-the-clock bookstore is as much a spot for schmoozing as for shopping. You can grab a meal, have a pint and flirt with comely strangers (the store is a fabled pick-up spot for straights and gays). This flagship independent – which leapt into First Amendment history when it firmly refused to release Lewinsky’s book-buying list to Starr’s snoops – features fine current literature, travel and politics sections.
reviewed
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E
H&M
What IKEA is to home furnishing, H&M is to fashion: suspiciously affordable, perpetually crowded, not really made for the long haul and perfect for parties. With limited-edition runs and special collections by designers like splashy British colorist Matthew Williamson (and lesser ones like, oof, Madonna) you won't have to worry that your closet looks exactly like everyone else's – unless you bought it at IKEA. There are several outlets in town, but the one on Powell St is the biggest, with a vast men's section.
reviewed
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Arthritis Foundation Thrift Shop
When local bargain hunters are looking for steals, this is where they head: a charity-driven Upper East Side thrift store where cheap designer frocks are known to materialize within stacks of everyday cast-offs. Closed on the weekends in July and August.
reviewed
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Ambiance
Expect to emerge clutching some little number requiring you to hit the town: swingy skirts for Lindy-hopping in Golden Gate Park, or DNA-pattern jackets for biotech lectures. The shoe-and-sale store next door encourages you to keep the retail rush going, as do Ambiance's two sister stores. Visit 1458 Haight St for teen-appropriate prom dresses, and 1858 Union St in the Marina for cocktail attire.
reviewed
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Barberville Produce
On Route 40, plunked halfway between Ocala and Daytona and roughly one-third the way between DeLand and Palatka, nestled cozily beneath a Spanish moss canopy, sits the king of roadside stands, Barberville Produce. Offering more than just fruits, veggies and honey, this open-air market fills three acres with mounds of fountains, wrought-iron furniture, gazing balls, ceramic drop-in sinks and old-fashioned peanut brittle. There’s even an 8ft-tall aluminum rooster. Who doesn’t need one of those?
reviewed
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Malibu Country Mart
Malibu, which hugs 27 spectacular miles of Pacific Coast Hwy, has long been synonymous with surfing, stars and a hedonistic lifestyle, but it actually looks far less posh than the glossy mags make it sound. Still, it's been celebrity central since the 1930s, when money troubles forced landowner May Rindge to lease out property to her Hollywood friends. Leo, Brangelina, Streisand, Cher and other A-listers have homes here and can often be spotted shopping at the villagelike Malibu Country Mart.
reviewed
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Zitomer
This three-story retro pharmacy carries all things European, including products that aren’t exactly (ahem) FDA approved. We’re not talking illicit drugs, just high-powered sunscreens and skin-care creams that are usually only available across the pond. An excellent spot to cure what ails you, or simply window shop.
reviewed
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Southern Fossil & Mineral Exchange
This store – something like a curiosity museum where most everything’s got a price tag on it – can induce bone-rattling nightmares. If you’re impressed by the selection of skulls from all creatures great and small, you can take some home with you. More subdued are the rocks on which ancient life forms have imprinted images of themselves. Pretty cool, even if it just ends up as a paperweight. A selection of animal puppets is just the thing to appease terrified children.
reviewed
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Fancy Tiger
So you dig crochet and record collecting? You knit a mean sweater and have a few too many tattoos? Welcome to Fancy Tiger, a sophisticated remodel of granny’s yarn barn that’s ground zero for Denver's crafty hipsters. There are classes in the basement (including ones by Jessica, ‘mistress of patchwork’) and a rad selection of fabric, yarn and books.
If you are a little bit more hands-off with your homemade clothes, try the Fancy Tiger Boutique across the street, where local designers hock their wares.
reviewed
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Beadniks
Incense envelops you at the door, and you know right away you’re in for a hippie treat. Mounds of worldly baubles rise up from the tables. African trade beads and Thai silver-dipped beads? Got ’em. Bright-hued stone beads, ceramic beads, glass beads? All present. For $3 the kindly staff will help you string your choices into a necklace. Or take a workshop (two to three hours, $20 to $60) and learn to wield the pliers yourself; they take place most evenings throughout the week. The website has the schedule.
reviewed
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Big Fisherman Seafood
If you’re here in the spring, when it’s crawfish season, you may develop a taste for the little mudbugs. But you haven’t really had the full-on crawfish experience unless you’ve been invited to a crawfish boil in someone’s backyard. If that hasn’t happened, send some crawfish back home and invite your friends over. This busy little shop will pack and ship crawfish to anywhere in the USA. The price fluctuates widely from season to season, so call ahead for prices.
reviewed
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Yvonne la Fleur
They just don’t make them like this anymore – neither the clothes, millinery or lingerie for sale in Yvonne La Fleur nor Yvonne herself, the definition of steel in silk. She’s an amazing businesswoman who has outfitted generations of local ladies for their weddings, debuts and race days. She makes her own perfumes and gorgeous hats, overflowing with silk flowers, that seem to belong to another era. Wear some of Yvonne La Fleur’s classic couture as you explore the city that inspires Yvonne’s unique look.
reviewed
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ABC Carpet & Home
Home designers and decorators stroll here to brainstorm ideas. Set up like a museum on six floors, ABC is filled with all sorts of furnishings, small and large, including easy-to-pack knickknacks, designer jewelry, global gifts and more bulky antique furnishings and carpets. Come Christmas season the shop is a joy to behold: the decorators here go all out with lights and other wondrous touches.
reviewed
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Cheese Store of Silver Lake
For indie-minded shopping, check out Silver Lake’s funky but fashionable Sunset Junction at the intersection of Santa Monica and Sunset Blvds. It’s a happily-not-hip little corner where sassy sundresses, one-of-a-kind kicks, local coffee, worldwide cheeses and low-key patio dining draw a laid-back neighborhood crowd. Worth a stop is the Cheese Store of Silver Lake. The massive Sunset Junction Street Fair draws multicultural crowds for bands, food and community mingling in late August.
reviewed
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Brooklyn Industries
The eye-catching designs that began in Williamsburg can now be seen at nearly a dozen stores across the city. Boasting a smart but decidedly urban aesthetic, Brooklyn Industries is best known for the iconic ‘Made in Brooklyn’ tees and sweatshirts, though you’ll also find sweaters, hoodies, jackets, jeans, coats, hats, messenger bags and even laptop sleeves. Many boast the catchy Brooklyn Industries label – an urban skyline that prominently features a water tower. Visit the website for more locations.
reviewed
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Nob Hill Shopping Center
If you're feeling like some exercise, head to Nob Hill; it's a good spot to stroll and lacks the touristy feel of Old Town. Walk east from UNM along Central Ave to find an eclectic mix of shops (everything from a tattoo parlor to an herbal medicine shop to a toy store) until you reach the Nob Hill Shopping Center at Carlisle. Within this shopping center, look for Beeps, which has cards and wacky novelty items; Terra Firma, which has great clogs and sandals; and Papers, which sells you-can-guess-what.
reviewed
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Wanderlust
Neatly divided between guidebooks, maps and travel literature and a large array of travel accessories, this store has been inspiring itchy feet among the locals for years. While the travel book selection is deeper than any other in town, it's the gadgets that are most intriguing. Peruse the luggage, money belts and mosquito nets, then wonder how you ever got by without quick-drying underwear. The staff of seasoned travelers is super- knowledgeable if you just want to talk up your next big adventure.
reviewed
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Filene’s Basement (White House Area)
If you aren’t from the east coast, you probably haven’t ever had the privilege of shopping at Boston-based Filene’s Basement. This discount store is a bargain-hunter’s paradise, devoted to men’s and women’s clothing, shoes and accessories. You’ll have to dig, but you can score pieces by the likes of Dolce & Gabbana, Marc Jacobs, Prada, Ralph Lauren, BCBG, DKNY and Missoni. Filene’s has a second location inside the Shops at National Place.
reviewed
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Rudy’s Music
The stretch of 48th St just off Times Square was known as Music Row, and it’s where rock royals like the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and the Stones dropped in for acoustic essentials. Rudy’s is one of the last vestiges of this venerable block, particularly for high-end acoustic and classical guitars.
Its newer SoHo store is even more impressive, with the world's best collection of D'Angelico guitars and the odd Swarovski Crystal–embedded number.
reviewed
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Takashimaya
Seven stories with beauty products, a day spa (top floor), clothes, accessories, home design, floral bouquets and a tea shop.
reviewed
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Velvet da Vinci
You can actually see the ideas behind these handcrafted gems: Lynn Christiansen puts her food obsessions into a purse that looks like whipped cream, and Enric Majoral's Mediterranean meditations yield rings that appear to be made of sand. Shows here reveal brilliance behind the baubles; during the Ethical Metalsmiths' 'Radical Jewelry Makeover,' the public was invited to bring broken trinkets to be recycled into new jewelry, with sales supporting a campaign for responsible sourcing practices.
reviewed