Shopping in Colorado
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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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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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Uptown Exchange
A consignment store with some great bargains. Labels are less than glamorous, but it does have everything from affordable denim to stylish shoes to, gulp, fur. There's a decent assortment of dresses too.
reviewed
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EVOO Marketplace
This specialty shop sells extra-virgin olive oils and balsamic vinegars from across the US and around the world.
reviewed
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Maria’s Bookshop
Maria's is a good general bookstore - independently owned and well stocked.
reviewed
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REI
The flagship store of this outdoor equipment supplier is an essential stop for those using Denver as a springboard into the great outdoors. In addition to top gear for camping, cycling, climbing and skiing, they have a rental department, maps and the Pinnacle: a 47ft indoor structure of simulated red sandstone for climbing and repelling.
There's also a desk of Colorado's Outdoor Recreation Information Center, where you can get information on state and national parks and an on-site Starbucks, in case you need some caffeine to accompany the adrenaline.
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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Momentum
Owned by Kevin and Jenny Napatow, an enthusiastic young couple committed to socially responsible and environmentally friendly business practices, Momentum is one of those shops that makes you feel good about spending money. It sells the kitchen sink of unique global gifts – Zulu wire baskets, fabulous scarves from India, Nepal and Ecuador – all handcrafted and purchased at fair value from disadvantaged artisans.
Every item purchased provides a direct economic lifeline to the artists.
reviewed
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Four Mountain Sports
One of eight locations in the Aspen-Snowmass area, it does bike rentals in the summer, offering Aspen's best deals on high-performance road and mountain bikes at $56 per day. In winter it does ski and snowboard rentals from its D & E Ski and Snowboard shop at the same location, just steps from Aspen Mountain Gondola. Check its website for details of package prices.
Along with its Aspen location, it also has branches at Snowmass, Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk.
reviewed
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Aspen Saturday Market
This market blooms on Saturday mornings. It's more than just a farmers market, though self-caterers can grab their organic fruits and veggies, craftsmen cheese, and naturally and locally grown beef, bison and elk here. It also has tons of crafts, including handmade soap, silver jewelry and fixed-gear bikes built with vintage frames.
The market runs in a U-shape from Hyman to Hopkins on Hunter before turning down both Hyman and Hopkins to Galena.
reviewed
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Boulder Running Company
Boulder's prime center for all the gear and specialty shoes you'll need for running track, street and trails. In fact, there are more trail runners here than we thought possible. They even video analyze your running stride on a treadmill before the fitting, which helps make sure you aren't injury prone in your new shoes (and probably don't hurt the in-sole sales either).
If you want to know when the next foot race or triathlon is on, come here.
reviewed
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Buckskin Booksellers
This excellent bookstore exemplifies the passion locals have for their town and area. Buckskin carries a huge amount of books on local history, mining and geology, as well as birding books, guidebooks and hiking and camping information. There are antique books and collectibles, old photographs and ephemera, as well as a great range of fiction titles.
There are also plush armchairs where you're invited to sit and read a while before you buy.
reviewed
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Black Cat Books
Set in an old 1890s dairy, this is a special, cozy stonewall basement bookstore with new hardcover books, used paperbacks, and all tasteful literary titles. Authors from Hawthorne to Franzen to Kingsolver are represented. They have young adult lit and children's books, and there's a progressive political bent here, which, while unusual in Colorado Springs, is standard issue in Manitou. Check the website for upcoming author events.
reviewed
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Kemo Sabe
It would be tough to find a more distinctly Western store in all of resort-land Colorado. It specializes in two things: Stetson hats and Lucchese boots. All are handmade. The boots are crafted from hide and leather, and the hats from rabbit, steer and beaver fur.
Staff will shape your hat and even distress it to make it look like you rode hard and worked hard with it. Listen for the country music and enjoy the hospitality.
reviewed
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Rebecca's Herbal Apothecary
A groovy herbal apothecary where herbs are sold loose, in lotions and in oils. There are aromatherapy cases of tinctures and a library and expert herbalists that can guide you through it all. The western school of herbal thought dominates the thinkspace here. There are also classes available for those who want to learn the basics about herbs, infusions and salves.
And, no, this isn't an outlet for medicinal marijuana.
reviewed
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Explore Booksellers
A sweet and intimate local bookshop, the kind that must survive if humanity is to preserve its literate soul. Little alcoves are stacked with biographies, history, adventure and nature tomes and, of course, new and classic literature. Note to readers: there is no gonzo section. We can't help but wonder why. Still, the staff tips are rock solid. By far the best excuse in Aspen to put down the iPad/Kindle and turn a page.
reviewed
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Common Threads
Vintage shopping at its most haute couture, this fun place is where to go for secondhand Choos and Prada purses. Prices are higher than your run-of-the-mill vintage shop, but clothes, shoes and bags are always in good condition, and the designer clothing is guaranteed authentic.
The shop is a pleasure to browse, with clothing organized by color and type on visually aesthetic racks, just like a big-city boutique.
reviewed
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Cherry Creek Shopping Center
A large collection of exclusive international brands (Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Ralph Lauren, Tiffany, Coach) decorate the corridors of Denver's high-end shopping facility, anchored by large department stores of Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. Food choices range from cheap-and-quick mall standards such as Panda Express to the elegant Tuscan fare and linen-draped dining room of Brio.
reviewed
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Wax Trax Records
For more than 30 years Wax Trax Records has been trading at this Denver location, stocking a huge quantity CDs, DVDs, vinyl and music paraphernalia. Indie, alternative, punk, goth, folk, rock, hip-hop, jazz, reggae - anything that's a bit edgy you'll either find in store or they'll order for you. There are two adjacent shopfronts - one selling CDs and DVDs, the other exclusively vinyl.
reviewed
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Tattered Cover Bookstore
Massive and bursting with new and used books, Denver's beloved independent bookstore has a particularly good selection of niche travel guides to the surrounding region and western-states nonfiction and folklore. The East Colfax location has a few more titles, if not the atmosphere, of the original location at the foot of the 16th St Mall. All sites host top-drawer literary events.
reviewed
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Wild West Denver Store
There‘s a mess of Western trinket stores along the upper Mall with nearly identical stock, but this is the brightest of the bunch. It‘s wall-to-wall knickknacks, key chains, kitty sweatshirts and all manner of stuff featuring wolves, buffalo and marginally PC depictions of Native Americans. Higher quality items include some moccasins and gold aspen leaf pendants.
reviewed
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Plastic Chapel
Rows of clear plastic cubes house all kinds of designer toys, collectible Japanese-made figurines and other limited edition off-the-wall stuff to make this Denver's wickedest toy store. The toys are mostly suited for adult collectors – you're getting high-dollar stuff like Kid Robot and StrangeCo, not Fischer Price. Also hosts design competitions and graphic arts shows.
reviewed
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Absolute Vinyl
Every town needs a temple to vinyl. A place where chilled out musical clerks wipe down wax on Sunday afternoons while listening to classic Memphis blues.Bookworms comb the walls of Little Horse, the shared bookstore, for first editions, young men come here when they're hurting for Smiths records, and there is a paradise of jazz, blues and classical gems. Stay awhile.
reviewed
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Buzz's Ski Shop
In tiny, corporate Vail, a laid-back place like Buzz's feels like a breath of fresh powder. Techs are knowledgable, prices are among the cheapest on the mountain, the equipment is solid, and it's just a few minutes walk to the Eagle Bahn Gondola in Vail Village. They are only open during the winter season.
reviewed
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Tattered Cover Bookstore
There are plenty of places to curl up with a book in Denver's beloved independent bookstore, one of three locations in the Denver area. Bursting with new and used books, it has a good stock of regional travel guides and nonfiction titles dedicated to the Western states and Western folklore. It also has an on-site cafe, and hosts free film and literature events.
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