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Seybold Building
This is Miami's gem and jewelry bazaar: some 300 independent stores in this (sort of) mini-mall sell glittery diamonds, gold pendants, rings and other trinkets.
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Shops At Midtown Miami
The anchor of the city's plan to revitalize this rough-and-tumble neighborhood is a 600,000 square foot mall, which has all kinds of brand name blah, including stores such as West Elm (a homeware/furniture outlet for those who can't afford the Design District), Target (for those who can't afford West Elm) and Ross (for those who can't afford Target).
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Sofi Swimwear
Goodness gracious glamorous. Founded by Brazilian designer Surya Oliveira, Sofi sells more zen, elegantly subdued swimsuits than the average thong-tha-thong-thong-thong bikinis on display in these parts.
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Soho Clothing
Chunky, studded T-shirts, artfully ripped hoodies, daring halter dresses and cute kimono tops cinched by beaded belts rule the roost at this thumpin' store. It's a little euro-trashy, but in a 'just euro-trashy enough to be sexy' way. There's another location at 645 Lincoln Rd.
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Soye
This tiny little storefront is a fashion boutique owned by two enterprising brothers from Colombia, Alberto and Robert Chehebar. It is so named because it means 'a mind altering experience' in Colombian slang. Their designers make only five of each piece, each of which is elegant and stylish.
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Star Image
The clothes here blend hip-hop bagginess with Sobe fabulousness, set off with Miami Ink tattoo accents, at this glitzy and ghetto (as in ghetto fabulous) shop.
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Stefano's
If you find yourself in sudden need of olive oil, biscotti, ground coffee or canned tomatoes, the small Italian grocery attached to the popular surf-n-turf restaurant is there for you.
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Steven By Steve Madden
All the glam-y girls from Diablo Cody to Alicia Keys flock to Steven stores around the country for open-toes, flats, heels, boots and all the leather-bound accoutrements a foot and bag freak could ever want.
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Streets Of Mayfair
Sitting adjacent to CocoWalk, the Streets of Mayfair shopping mall offers a whole other range of chain stores - Borders bookstore, Banana Republic, Bath & Body Works - plus some cute boutiques and a few restaurants and galleries.
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Sweat Records
Sweat's almost a stereotype of the indie record store: it serves organic coffee, it's got big purple couches, it sells weird Japanese toys and there are skinny guys with thick glasses arguing over LPs you've never heard of. It feels a little out of place in hip-hop-y Latin Miami, but we're glad someone's waving the indie flag in this town.
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Target
It's the discount store of the moment in US cities, with good reason. Where else can you find Isaac Mizrahi fashions, high-threadcount sheets, a new set of flatware, a digital camera, shoes, Michael Graves-designed homewares, toys, shower curtains and a bag of potato chips all under one roof? Prices are incredibly cheap, too. Has plenty of locations around town, including 8350 S Dixie Hwy, 21265 Biscayne Blvd and 15005 SW 8th St.
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Tiffany & Co
If you're gonna go bling, you might as well come here and do so in immaculate style.
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Toy Town
This adorable kids' shop has all the distractions you'll need, from Beanie Babies and Barbies to sand toys, model cars, stuffed animals, tricycles and dress-up costumes.
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Uncle Sam's Music
More than just a music store, this place seems to generate its own stream of hipper-than-thou skate rats and club kids. You'll see them digging through the piles of the coolest new (and used) trance, hip-hop, trance and trip-hop, as well as stickers, club wear, incense and the like.
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Vierge Miracle & St Philippe
Enter with an attitude full of respect, eyes wide open and some tactful questions, and you'll be treated to a unique experience: the wares, spells and goods of Haitian vodou . Be reverent to the large statues of loa (akin to angels) who guard the premises, and if you've got some problems with love or work, need dream interpretation or require a cleansing bath, the local houngan and mambos (respectively, male and female high priests) may be able to help you.
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Wallflower Gallery
Put this funky, cool gallery on your short list of places to check out. Between performance pieces, live music and 'regular' art shows featuring local talent, this cultural oasis boasts plenty of artwork worth splurging on.
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Whittall & Shon
The disco beat here gets your adrenaline going while you flip through racks of way-gay muscle tees, tank tops and sundry other clingy tops, some sporting cruise-y phrases like 'caliente!,' '69' or 'coach.' Teensy, bubble-butt-squeezing swim trunks are also here: hot stuff.
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Whole Foods Market
The latest outpost of this natural-foods chain has a great array of organic produce, packaged products from cereals to soaps, bulk items, prepared meals and an OK salad bar. You'll also find a good range of wines, beers, cheeses and fresh elixirs squeezed at the juice bar. There are good fresh meats and fish for the carnivores, too.
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Whole Foods Market
If you're up in this neck of the woods, come here to marvel at the massive, well-stocked shelves of picture-perfect exotic produce, hormone-free meats and poultry, gourmet chocolates, imported olives, fine wines and aisles upon aisles of natural or organic food and health-and-beauty products.
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Wings
Rather than run through a dozen souvenir/terrible T-shirt shops, just come to this ginormous beach emporium with the surfboard neon sign and load up on all the tatty tourism crap you'll ever need.
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Wolfsonian-Fiu Gift Shop
The small gift shop housed in this wonderful quirky museum has one of the most unique collections of eclectic items around. You'll find sleek business-card holders, oddly shaped water pitchers and glassware, technofied bags and notebooks, art and design books, cool wallets and basically any kind of iconic design, or at least great imitations of such, you could ever desire.
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Yesterday & Today
This being DJ-saturated Miami, Yesterday & Today has that comforting, old-school medium known as vinyl, as well as every other recorded-music format. The very helpful and knowledgeable staff specialize in '50s, '60s and '70s tunes, and even have a selection of 45s (singles).
