-
Flora & Fauna Books
Seattle has some great theme bookstores. Flora & Fauna, a longstanding underground favorite for nature-lovers, has books on natural history and local field guides.
-
Foster/White Gallery
The famed Foster/White Gallery features glassworks, paintings and sculpture by mainstream Northwest artists.
-
Fremont Place Book Co
This is a friendly little place with a relatively small but interesting collection of new fiction and nonfiction. Ask about in-store author readings and monthly discussion groups.
-
Frock Shop
Flirty little dresses in an attractive space make this shop fun to visit.
-
Glasshouse Studio
The Seattle area is known for its Pilchuck School of glassblowing art, and this is the city's oldest glassblowing studio. Stop by to watch the artists in action and pick up a memento right at the source.
-
Golden Age Collectibles
A haven for geeks, kids and, especially, geeky kids, this shop has comic-book-inspired toys, novelty items (hopping nuns etc), costumes and loads of goth-friendly knickknacks.
-
Great Wind Up
This kids' heaven in the market has every wind-up toy and gizmo known to humankind, and then some.
-
Gregg's Cycles
This is Seattle's largest bicycle dealer. Near Green Lake, it has a huge stock of all kinds of bikes and accessories and a very helpful staff. Gregg's also hires out bicycles.
-
Hardwick's Hardware Store
Locals in the know come to Hardwick's to explore the rows and rows of buckets filled with bizarre little gadgets and gizmos. Some people probably know what these objects are for, but most shoppers are looking for things to use in their art projects. It's a hive of a place that's fun just to explore.
-
Hau Hau Market
Hau Hau is a modern and bustling Chinese and Vietnamese food market where you can get cheap produce, specialty meats such as pork ears and chicken feet, fireworks, and Asian gifts and knickknacks.
-
Advertisement
-
Jack's Fish Spot
Perhaps the gift that says 'I heart Seattle' the most is a whole salmon or other fresh seafood from the fish markets. All the markets will prepare fish for transportation on the plane ride home, or you can just call and have them take care of the overnight shipping.
-
Jean Williams Antiques
Sells English and French period antiques.
-
Kinokuniya
A great source for hard-to-find imported books and magazines in Asian languages and in English about Asian culture, this bookstore inside Uwajimaya Village is also one of the few shops in the country where you can buy the films of Kinji Fukasaku and other masters of Asian cinema on DVD.
-
Left Bank Books
This legendary bookstore and distributor is small but fierce, with an essential collection of political theory, off-center fiction and surrealist literature. A sign in the anarchist section humbly requests that, if you're going to steal books, you do it from a corporate chain store, not a workers-run collective.
-
Legacy Ltd Gallery
Legacy Ltd is an internationally known and widely respected source of Northwest Coast Indian and Inuit art and artifacts, including baskets and jewelry. Good for a browse even if you don't happen to be a museum curator or a millionaire.
-
Made In Washington
If you're looking for something more authentically Northwest than most souvenir shops offer, head to Made in Washington.
-
Magus Books
Magus is a great used-book store that - fittingly, given the neighborhood - specializes in scholarly books.
-
Main & North Arcades
Rachel the Market Pig marks the main entrance to the Main and North Arcades, these are the busiest of the market buildings. You'll find cheese shops, butchers, tiny grocery stalls and almost everything else you need to put together a meal. The end of the North Arcade is dedicated to local artisans and craftspeople. The Main Arcade was built in 1907, the first of Frank Goodwin's market buildings.
-
Market Cellar Winery
Located at the southern end of the market, Market Cellar Winery, makes its own wine and sells do-it-yourself home brew kits.
-
Metsker
In its new, high-profile location on 1st Ave, this legendary map shop sells all kinds of useful things for the traveler, from maps to guidebooks to various accessories.
-
Advertisement
-
Mountaineers
For outdoor activities guides, the Mountaineers in lower Queen Anne has one of the best selections anywhere. In addition to books, it has CDs, videos, maps and technical manuals. It also offers a range of outdoor courses.
-
Niketown
The ridiculously huge Niketown has its roots in the Northwest. It sells all kinds of Nike clothing, shoes and accessories.
-
Nordstrom
Born and raised in Seattle, this chain department store occupies a giant space in the former Frederick and Nelson Building. Closer to Pike Place Market, Nordstrom Rack (206-448-8522; 1601 2nd Ave) offers closeouts and returns from the parent store.
-
North Face
For hardcore camping, climbing and hiking clothing and equipment, go to the North Face, downtown toward the Waterfront.
-
Olsen's Scandinavian Foods
If you've had a hankering for authentic lefse (Norwegian flatbread), black licorice or Kalle's Kaviar in a squeeze tube - and who hasn't? - this is the place to cure it. Olsen's also stocks Nordic-flavored knickknacks and gift items.
