25 Best Shopping in Palm Springs and the Desert Resorts, California

About 20 miles west of Palm Springs lies one of California's largest outlet malls, which hawks everything from bikinis and bags to sunglasses and stilettos. The complex's 180 stores include Jimmy Choo, Samsonite, Levi's, Saint Laurent, J. Crew, Armani, Gucci, lululemon, and Prada.

Find coffee-table books, greeting cards, home decor with cheeky and naughty sayings, candles, wearable souvenirs, and other eclectic items at this fun gift shop that celebrates the area's retro-modern lifestyle and desert dolce vita.

This 10,000-square-foot marketplace filled with boho bits and baubles, prints and other art, clothing, foodstuffs, dried bouquets, candles, and toiletries—created mostly by artisans and makers from Joshua Tree, the Coachella Valley, and elsewhere in California—feels like a brick-and-mortar Etsy. 

It's easy to lose track of time in this female-owned, fabulously curated apparel, gift, and curios shop housed in the former Coachella Valley Repertory Theater, where wall murals feature positive messages, and staffers are sociable. Every table, shelf, nook, and cranny is filled with jewelry, art, graphic tees, stuffed animals, books, crystals, hats, candles, bags, toiletries, glasses, and toys. Although the store carries some national brands, it also works hard to promote local makers and artists, often through limited-edition collaborations. A second smaller location at The Gardens on El Paseo in Palm Desert carries RR logo products and best-selling items.

Celebrity designer Trina Turk's candy-color empire takes up a city block in the Uptown Design District. Designed by Kelly Wearstler, the light and bright adjoining showrooms create the perfect platform to display the splashy patterns, vibrant colors, and sophisticated poolside cocktail party aesthetic Trina Turk is famous for—in her resortwear as well as her accessories, pets, and home lines. It's the place to go if you forgot to pack a floppy hat, caftan, or a two-piece floral cabana set.

This iconic retreat has long been a favorite with Los Angeles yogis for its peaceful, palm-shaded grounds and hot springs pools. Big changes occurred in 2014, with new rooms added and a fresh look for the existing ones. Guests can still purchase a day pass to soak in the grotto, attend yoga classes, lounge on the grounds, and enjoy a spa treatment or two. This is an adults-only, whispers-only destination.

Like-minded boutiques, secondhand shops, furniture stores, galleries, and lively restaurants line this stretch of street north of downtown. The theme here is decidedly retro. Some places sell mid-century modern furniture and decor and photos of neon signs and stylish soirees while others carry vintage (or vintage-knockoff) designer clothing, pool party gear, and estate jewelry. One spot definitely worth a peek is The Shag Store, the gallery of fine art painter Josh Agle. If you dig the mid-mod aesthetic, breeze through the furnishings at Towne Palm Springs or a La MOD INC. Find several independent sellers under one E. Stewart Williams–designed roof at The Shops At Thirteen Forty Five.

Owned by TV production designer/artist Anton Goss, who is a part-time high-dessert resident, this bright and airy boutique specializes in mid-century and bohemian-modern furniture and home decor, with pieces sourced locally as well as from Mexico, Mali, and elsewhere in the world. It's also a full-service nursery, making it handy if your days in the desert have inspired you to invest in some new succulents. Should you need time to contemplate potential purchases, stroll through the meditative green space out back.

The Anza-Borrego Foundation, a land conservation group, runs this store that sells guidebooks, maps, clothing, desert art, and gifts for kids. Its enthusiastic staffers also assist with trip planning. Foundation guides organize hikes, naturalist talks, classes, research programs, and nature walks.

A collective of galleries such as Galleria Marconi and Artize Gallery, working studios, and art-adjacent businesses like framers showcase works across multiple disciplines by a number of highly acclaimed artists. Support local artists new to the biz at the Stephen Baumbach Gallery. On the first Wednesday of the month, the galleries stay open from 5 to 7 for Artwalk.

This contemporary general store stocks high-end outdoor gear, hiking essentials, personal care items from Burt's Bees, footwear from Teva and Merrill, swimsuits, and tabletop items. You can browse through racks of clothing and piles of hats, all suited to the desert climate.

What started as a fundraising endeavor for a high-school trip to Italy in 2006 has grown into a four-store, family-owned empire peddling the preservative-free, non-GMO, chocolate-topped toffee that has been touted by Oprah Winfrey and Martha Stewart. You can watch candy being made while enjoying toffee milk shakes, pretzels, popcorn, brownies, or ice-cream bars. You can also stock up on souvenir tins. (Good luck getting them all the way home.)

This contemporary take on the old-timey general store opened in 2022 and stocks an eclectic array of gourmet food, books, games, novelties, and canvas desert hats. It also sells household necessities including a lot of environmentally friendly cleaning supplies and sustainable everyday items. In addition, it emphasizes local vendors and community involvement through collaborations and exhibits. While you're here, check out other occupants of Corner 62, a renovated retail complex, such as Scorpion Lollipop (candy/gifts), Pisces (swimwear), and The Moon and the Mat (yoga studio).

Parallel to Highway 111 lies "The Rodeo Drive of the Desert," a mile-long, Mediterranean-styled shopper's paradise lined with fountains, courtyards, and upscale boutiques, including those in the Gardens on El Paseo complex. You'll find shoe emporiums, jewelry boutiques, home goods stores, beauty salons, and children's shops as well as two dozen restaurants and nearly as many art galleries. It's a pleasant place to stroll, window-shop, and watch both people and the annual alfresco concert series.  In winter and spring, a free shuttle ferries shoppers from store to store and back to their cars.

In the Uptown Design District, Flannery Exchange is a photogenic mixed-use minimall with on-trend boutiques, an art gallery, the Café La Jefa coffeehouse, and Bar Chingona (which serves modern Latin food and sassy cocktails from an Airstream trailer). Grab a chaga-charged latte to sip and stroll through the shelves of stationery (Bobo Palm Springs), zero-waste goods (it refills), vintage threads (Joyful Living), and jewelry and gifts (Covet). Or pop open a canned kombucha to enjoy in a swinging chair on the sunny patio. Each vendor has different hours so check before you go.

On the same strip as a number of other must-shop stops, small, veteran-owned Habitat specializes in home decor, especially of the ceramic variety (mugs, plant pots, plates, vases, etc). There’s also a wide range of whimsical and botanical prints and tea towels, house plants, mirrors, and pillows—plenty of which are made by local artisans. 

Just off I–10 near the Desert Hills outlet mall, stock up on dried fruit, nuts, candy, and other road-trip treats at what was once a roadside stand owned by the folks who invented trail mix. Although the café serves sandwiches and other quick bites, a must-order is the date shake made with caramel-tasting, California-grown, Deglet Noor dates. (A vegan version is available, too.)

This nouveau-boho boutique carrying a little bit of everything is just the kind of shop you hope to happen upon during a vacation. Between apparel, candles, journals, art, coffee, tea, cocktail kits, felt Coachella hats, jewelry, dried flowers, and photos of desert splendor and the nearby national park, most of which are made by local creatives, you’ll likely find yourself in a “one for them, two for me” souvenir scenario.

Given the name, you might assume that this is a pet shop or fancy feed store. But unless you want to pamper your pooch with Jenni Earle's positively inscribed bandanas, this is a store for free spirits of any gender or age who appreciate colorful and comfy clothes, candles, crystals, witty cards, cool tchotchkes, and the occasional hat customization pop-up. There's also a lot of park-theme paraphernalia and desert-inspired art. 

At this downtown fine-foods market, shelves and displays are filled with small-batch snacks, sauces, and sweets that make great edible souvenirs. There's also a selection of wine and beer, and the deli case—well-stocked with nitrate-free cold cuts, cheeses from boutique creameries around the world, pickled veggies, and fancy condiments—provides the starting point for yummy sandwiches and trendy charcuterie boards that would be perfect for a picnic or a pool party. 

In-the-know interior designers, incognito celebrities, and other fashionable folk who are in the market for orange rotary phones, Italian ceramics, new rugs, peacock chairs, or a piece of statement art, head to this 30,000-square-foot treasure trove tucked behind the Agua Caliente Casino. Here, expertly sourced vintage and contemporary art, decor, and furniture are sold in a handful of stores including Hedge, Object Culture, Spaces, and JC Studio.

Throw a dart in any direction in any high desert city, and it's likely to end up at a vintage store. Even new-clothing proprietors usually have at least one rack of secondhand threads. This downtown business is filled with upcycled, good-condition Western wear (cowboy boots, scarves, belts with big buckles, leather cuffs, silver jewelry), as well as things like frilly 1950s TV mom aprons. 

Fronting a man-made river and waterfalls, this complex has several beauty and fashion shops, as well as a Cinemark multiplex, a cigar lounge, and lots of eateries, including Acqua (sister to the popular Lulu California Bistro in Palm Springs). In addition, family-friendly events like dance parties and movie nights are held at the on-site amphitheater.

Several independently owned, high-end, and Goop-approved boutiques coexist in an iconic E. Stewart Williams building to supply those with good taste in need of ceramics, abstract art, statement swimwear and sunglasses, planters, linens, throw pillows, jewelry, and so much more.

Yes, you did just see an alien in a banana suit on Highway 62. It's the welcome wagon for what just might be the best retail representation of this desert area's alluring je ne sais quoi. Although it's a shop for serious imbibers, it's also a place for shoppers who don't take themselves too seriously. Here you can find a Pét-Nat and a pet rock, crystals and coffee table books, ceramic match strikers and Syrahs, and body care products and beer.