20 Best Places to Shop in Acadia National Park and Mount Desert Island, Maine

You should be able to find what you need for your kitchen at Rooster Brother, the "store for cooks and those who love them." On the first level of a towering Victorian building aside the Union River, specialty foods, deli meats and cheese, baked goods, wines (including a nice selection of sherry and port), and house-roasted coffee (bagged or brewed to go—try a sample) are on offer. Upstairs is well-stocked with top-quality cooking items and pretty much everything for your table.

At this salon-inspired gallery, relax on antique furniture while gazing at framed paintings, mostly of island and coastal Maine scenes, that fill the dark walls. Opened in 1996 and representing approximately 30 artists of national renown who live, summer, or paint on Mount Desert Island, works range from $500–$10,000. The owner's background is in art history, and she warmly welcomes even those who are "just looking" and shares her art knowledge, especially the stories of painters who've been drawn to the island since the 1800s.

Some 4,000 pieces of statement-making jewelry from artisans worldwide are displayed in this spacious store, which opened in the 1980s. Most pieces cost hundreds to thousands of dollars, but there are $10 items, and perhaps a $60,000 diamond necklace—you can always just look. Maine-made works include owner Sam Shaw’s unique 18-karat gold bracelets, rings, and necklaces created with birch twigs. On nice summer days, glass wall panels open to a small “view garden” out back. Also come summer, the walls serve as an art gallery, with new shows and a Thursday evening opening every two weeks.

Ann and Paul Breeden’s Spring Woods Gallery, nestled between their home and a large shade garden for visitors, is illuminated by a tall arched window. Local farm animals appear often in her colorful, playful oil paintings. His strikingly realistic acrylic paintings capture the intensity of the Maine Coast. Both originals and fine art prints and cards featuring their works are sold, as are their son's decorative and practical ironworks and their daughters' pottery, paintings, prints, and cards. Folks are welcome to come just for the acclaimed tranquil garden, with benches, sculpture, and a delightful children's playhouse. Off U.S. 1 in Sullivan, the gallery is open off-season by appointment.

Cozy up in this small store, filled with the company's elegantly packaged all-natural teas. Ingredients are blended right in town in small batches. Pots and tea accessories, and of course a large selection of cups, are also sold.

A black-and-white Parisian awning makes this Main Street boutique stand out. Inside, chandeliers add sparkle to the good-sized shopfront, where everything from all-natural personal care items and candles to "slow fashion" clothing to artisan-made home decor has panache and style. Yes, the French are famous for that, but here things have an earthy New England authenticity. Many are Maine-made, like owner-operator Susan's body care products: soaps in scents like lavender and moss, body creams, soaks, and so on. Fascinatingly, guitars and colorful ukuleles are also sold—shoppers can thank her husband, who you may find minding the store, for that.

All over the world at Christmas, folks hang stockings knitted by the proprietor, who you're likely to find with needles in hand at this year-round homestead shop—in business since 1984 in the village of Bernard across the water from Bass Harbor. There are large and small stockings and, yes, designs include a red lobster on a green background. Her other craft items and some made by family members are also sold, as are used goods, including books. From a long line of islanders, she displays old family photos and wood toys her great-grandfather made for sale to tourists.

In a late-1800s commercial building on Main Street, natural light washes both floors of this large rectangular gallery, whose owner graciously welcomes visitors. Offering an arresting mix of paintings in a host of mediums and styles by nationally acclaimed contemporary artists, a specialty—not found at many such top-tier galleries—is fine art or sculpted furniture. There is also sculpture.

You can buy items such as a vase or sailboat sculpture made of granite in the self-serve shop in one of the small buildings at this old granite quarry. If you blow the horn, as advised, owner Obadiah Bourne Buell may appear. Also here is his business, Stone Designs Inc., which makes practical and sculptural granite pieces for gardens and homes, "upcycling" the blocks of granite that are all about. Buell grew up and lives on this ethereal land, where rain long ago filled the old quarries. He has created a large year-round public garden (free, donations welcome) with granite sculptures large and small; granite benches, tables, firepit, and pizza oven; and trails, flower beds, and charming signage (even when asking folks to stay back from the work area). Ping-Pong, anyone? Yes, the table is granite, and paddles and balls are provided.

It’s worth the trip down the long dirt drive to Gull Rock Pottery. Sculpture dots serene grounds with a knockout view of Cadillac Mountain across Frenchman Bay. The shop sells the owner's dishware and lamps, with either hand-painted blue and white depictions of local wildlife, flowers, and water scenes, or a rust-color or celadon glaze. The etchings, prints, and jewelry are made by the potter's husband, who also created most of the sculpture outside. Open year-round, but it's by chance or appointment in the off-season.

Right downtown, this welcoming shop sells an array of items—everything from jewelry and wood kitchen utensils to sea glass art and paintings. The cooperative that runs it represents scores of artists and also has a shop in Northeast Harbor.

Heron-patterned dinnerware is one of the specialties at Hog Bay Pottery, which also sells knitted items and handspun and naturally died yarns. A husband and wife run this year-round homestead shop: he's the potter, she's the knitter and spinner. 

With a selection of organic and natural foods, and soup, sandwiches, salads, baked goods, and coffee to go, John Edwards Market is a pleasant option whether you’re packing a picnic or stocking the kitchenette at your rental. Downstairs, a spacious art gallery showcases work by area artists, and you'll find more wine for sale. In the good-sized grocery, paintings of regional scenes line the walls above the coolers and shelves.

Fine china, and lots of it, is front and center at this upscale small department store in downtown Northeast Harbor. Many patterns are formal, yet one big seller here is a line of dishes embellished with a red lobster or a blue octopus. Among the other impeccably arrayed offerings: kitchen items, toys, home decor, and children’s clothing. A sister store with uber-nice women’s apparel is down the street. Open year-round and daily during peak season.

This colorful shop delights customers with items such as curvy floor leaf lamps (yes, made with real leaves), enameled glass copper art tiles with realistic yet often dreamy images, and fine art prints featuring a whimsical female character. Jewelry, candles, and the like are also sold. The couple who own, live above, and run this “curiously unique” store are the only employees, and can provide the stories and craft behind the works. There’s a two-story, two-bedroom vacation rental behind the store.

Sold at retailers throughout New England and made at the owner's home in Prospect Harbor, these paraben- and sulfate-free all-natural soaps and skin-care products fill two display areas at HarborGirl Emporium, housed in an 1800s barn and stocked with kitchen items, children's toys, stationery goods, holiday decor, and more. Along with about a dozen varieties of avocado oil soap, such as Gardener's with lemon or cranberry, the brand's many offerings include wild blueberry shea butter/jojoba lotion and sea salt scrub and its men's Vagabond line.

In a tiny red building with a welcoming porch across from Thurston's Lobster Pound, its sister business, this charmer of a shop features tasteful goods made in Maine and New England. You'll find home decor, art, body and bath products, jewelry, and summer clothing. Many items have sea or nautical themes. 

Wendilee Heath O’Brien's paintings in watercolor, oil, pastel, Asian ink, and kinpakku (Japanese traditional gold leaf) are sold at her studio gallery, where visitors often catch the artist at work and are welcome to listen in if she's teaching a class. Many works depict Down East landscapes, perhaps with people or children in the scene, but her repertoire includes abstract painting, still life, and portraiture. There are notecards featuring her work (buy 10 and get one free!) and pottery pieces by another artist. A whimsical garden path leads to the year-round gallery aside the painter's home on Winter Harbor’s Main Street.

Near the turn for Acadia National Park's Hulls Cove Visitor Center, you know this shop is open (hours are 2 pm–7 pm) when the garage door-front is up. Lovely flower displays also make it hard to miss. The proprietors are a couple who live above their shop, which is known for its wine selection (some Maine vintages) and stocks Maine craft beers and hard cider. Picnic-perfect items include flavorful cheeses (mushroom Brie is the biggest seller) that change weekly. Many are Maine-produced, as is the smoked seafood. Owner April’s aromatherapy items, with scents like Acadia Woods, are sold, as are refrigerator magnets and cards featuring her art and items by other area artisans.