50 Best Places to Shop in USA

Immortalized as the "miracle mile" in Long Island–native Billy Joel's song "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me," is the ultimate shopping destination for the Gold Coast elite. Burberry, Chanel, Coach, Louis Vuitton, Prada, and Yves St. Laurent are among the dozens of upscale shops for the rich, famous, and merely fabulous.

With the likes of Dior, Etro, and Hermès, this walkable luxury shopping area is frequented as much by daydreaming window-shoppers as no-limit-credit-card holders.

Shopping is excellent and local all over downtown Asheville, with around 200 boutiques, including more than 30 art and crafts galleries. Several streets, notably Biltmore Avenue, Broadway Street, Lexington Avenue, Haywood Street, and Wall Street, are lined with small, independently owned stores. In fact, there are only two chain retailers in all of downtown.

Charming Old Town Bluffton features local artist galleries, antiques, shops, and restaurants.

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.

This burgeoning, 16-block district—part of an ongoing urban redevelopment project—has changed Downtown Tampa’s cityscape by bringing residences, offices, hotels (including the new Tampa EDITION), shops, restaurants, bars, and pleasant outdoor spaces to the waterfront. Eateries range from the casual yet upscale Anchor and Brine to the sophisticated Battery. Shops include DWELL Home Market, Yura Vine Brothers, and The Modern Paws. 

The stretch of 2nd Street that runs through Long Beach's tony residential neighborhood of Belmont Shore is a paradise for lovers of unique boutiques, coffee shops, bakeries, and well-curated secondhand shops. When you're done hunting for that perfect souvenir, stop in at any of the strip's plethora of restaurants and bars, explore the neighboring streets of historic bungalows and mini mansions, or head a few blocks to the beach. Young families flock to Bayshore Beach at the east end of the strip for the protected, flat waters of the marina, while those seeking the classic ocean beach experience make their way south to Belmont Shore's eponymous strand of sand.

Whether you seek handmade Native American arts and crafts, casual clothing, or cacti, you'll find it here.

A near-constant stream of students and staff from nearby Duke University and Hospital, and NC School of Science and Math, are making Durham's funky 9th Street transition from college-kid drag to international-minded destination. Long-standing shops Regulator Bookstore and Vaguely Reminiscent gifts, and beloved restaurants Dain's Place and Banh's Cuisine, have paved the way for popular newcomers Möge Tee boba tea, Tiny toys and kids' gifts, and Szechuan Mansion hot pot.

Beneath the 200-year-old elm and chestnut trees at Amagansett Square are clothing, shoe, flower, and gift shops, a music store, salon/spa, yoga studio, and several food and beverage shops. Special events include movies on the lawn, Easter egg hunts, and Santa visits.

Stores in the five-block area known as Armory Square feature clothing, jewelry, crafts, antiques, and other wares.

A mixed-use development and outdoor mall, Atlantic Station covers about 10 square blocks, clustered around a green space known as Central Park. Retailers include IKEA, the Dillard's department store, Banana Republic, and H&M. It's easy to reach by car but is also accessible by free shuttle buses from the Arts Center MARTA station. An on-site concierge is happy to help you find your way around or to make dinner reservations for you at the more than a dozen restaurants here.

Savannah's "main street" has long served as an indicator of the city's changing economic and demographic trends. The first of Savannah's department stores, Adler's and Levy's, emerged on Broughton, followed by the post-WWII introduction of national chains Sears & Roebuck, JCPenney, and Kress. During the 1950s, ladies donning white gloves and heels did their shopping, while kids gathered at the soda counter or caught the matinee. Downtown's decline began in the late 1950s and continued through the '70s, when boarded-up storefronts were the norm rather than the exception. Today, Broughton is again thriving, not only with local boutiques and world-class shops, but with theaters, restaurants, and coffeehouses.

is a nine-block shopping-and-entertainment district with more than 300 shops and 25 restaurants. Parking is scarce on weekends.

In a pleasant, predominantly residential neighborhood 2 miles from downtown, the Cherry Creek shopping district has retail blocks and an enclosed mall.

Just north of the Cherry Creek Shopping Center is Cherry Creek North, an open-air development of tree-lined streets and shady plazas with art galleries, specialty shops, and fashionable restaurants.

This square is filled with inexpensive souvenir shops and fine jewelers, upscale eateries and local cafés, plus live entertainment all summer in the courtyard.

Known for its array of fine antiques shops, galleries, lighting showrooms, and interior design boutiques, the Downtown Design District is worth a visit. Stop in some of Savannah's trendier fashion stores, many of them housed in charming historic storefronts. Nearby are the famed Mercer Williams House and the landmark Mrs. Wilkes' Dining Room, known for some of the area's best family-style Southern food. The picturesque surrounding neighborhoods are also enjoyable for a nice afternoon stroll.

It's hard to believe that this vibrant waterfront enclave between St. Pete Beach and St. Petersburg proper was once a blighted fishing village. Today, Beach Boulevard, its main thoroughfare, is home to a good many locally owned boutiques, galleries, and eclectic eateries. There's an Art Walk every first Friday and third Saturday of the month, a farmers' market every Tuesday, and lots of other cool events throughout the year.

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.

This small shopping district less than a mile southwest of Downtown has new- and vintage-clothing boutiques, shoe stores, and antiques shops. It also has a growing selection of inventive and offbeat eateries and bars, not to mention some of the city's most colorful characters.

In the West End, this neighborhood is filled with eclectic upscale boutiques and antique stores.

Vintage-clothing emporiums, record stores, and some stores that defy description are what draw thrifters and others here.

You'll discover an array of unique local shops nestled around historic Madison Square. Grab lunch on the rooftop of The Public Kitchen and Bar before stopping in longtime favorites like Saints & Shamrocks and E. Shaver, Bookseller. ShopSCAD offers some of the finest gifts, clothing, and home decor items designed and produced by students of the highly regarded Savannah College of Art and Design. Take afternoon tea at the college's Gryphon Tea Room, located inside a remodeled old-time pharmacy. For something a little stronger, head to Artillery, a speakeasy-inspired bar housed in a restored cavalry artillery; the bartenders make some of the city's best handcrafted cocktails.

The Magazine Street Merchants Association publishes a free brochure with maps and descriptions of the myriad stores, galleries, restaurants, and shops that line the city's boutique strip; it's available in hotels and stores, or you can request or download one from the association's website.

Melrose Avenue might be Los Angeles’s most well-known vintage shopping destination, but Burbank’s Magnolia Park Merchants shopping district gives it a run for its money. Spanning several blocks on Magnolia Boulevard with some stores on scattered side streets, this revitalized area of independent boutiques, self-care purveyors, cafés, and eateries has a small-town feel and easy parking that Melrose lacks. It's heavy on well-stocked vintage, thrift, and antiques shops—Junk For Joy, Best of Times Antiques, Studio Hope, The Holding Company, Chance Vintage, Yes Baby! (which has a secret arcade in back), The Blue Pig, Hive & Hanger (owned by a beekeeper out to educate the public), and Playclothes Vintage.

But there's also an occult apothecary (The Crooked Path), vinyl vendor (Run Out Groove Records), a sourdough bakery (Random Acts of Breadness), a collection of comic books and pop culture collectables (Blast From The Past), jewelers (Stay Home Friend), a horror and paranormal museum/oddities gift shop/bookstore/goth clothing boutique (The Mystic Museum), a throwback video store that holds screenings (Be Kind Video), and a plant nursery (Tansy). There's even a vintage and makers' mall with a cat-themed section and adoptable kittens in the window (Catnip Coalition).

Gallery after gallery displays artwork in myriad styles—contemporary, Western realism, Native American, and traditional. Several antiques shops are also here; specialties include porcelain and china, jewelry, and Oriental rugs.

Galleries that exhibit predominantly contemporary art line the blocks of Marshall Way north of Indian School Road, and upscale gift and jewelry stores can be found here, too. Farther north on Marshall Way across 3rd Avenue are more art galleries and creative stores with a Southwestern flair.