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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.
T-shirts and bumper stickers with the phrase "Be a New Orleanian. Wherever you are" deeply resonated with displaced residents after Hurricane Katrina. Since then, locals leave it to this shop's shirts, stickers, and hats to both satirize ("New Orleans: So far behind, we're ahead") and celebrate local culture in a clever way. The store has a Lower Garden district location ( 1320 Magazine St.) and a French Quarter location ( 713 Royal St.).
Owned by an Orcas Island–born sommelier who worked at restaurants in Vail and Vegas before returning home, this cheerful little bottle shop and tasting room in Eastsound has a great selection of wine, beer, and cider from around the world, including a wine series, the Orcas Project, that is produced in collaboration with Pacific Northwest winemakers and artists.
Austin's premier shopping and entertainment district, the Domain is just a short drive north of downtown, situated along North MoPac (Loop 1) at the beginning of North Austin's IBM campus and surrounding tech corridor.
The sprawling, open-air center is home to more than 100 aspirational and name-brand shops, like Gucci, Neiman Marcus, Tiffany & Co., and Tesla, that cater to the platinum-card set. Those on more modest budgets have plenty to appreciate, though, with familiar favorites like Bath & Body Works, Levi's, and Zara found amid dozens of excellent eateries and other noteworthy offerings, including luxury movie theaters, pop-up museum installations, salons, and dance studios.
Some complain there's very little Austin-specific about the North Austin locale, but more local flavor continues to arrive in the ever-expanding shopping district, including a lovely Kendra Scott jewelry location and homegrown eateries such as Juiceland. It's also home to the new flagship location of Cap City Comedy Club.
It's a pleasant place to spend a few hours, if only to window shop after a nice meal—or enjoy a full-blown retail-oriented weekend with a bevy of delicious fine-dining options to choose from and plenty of luxury and business-friendly hotels in the immediate vicinity.
Stuff your face with some of the best versions of Cajun favorites on site or fill your cooler with boudin, cracklins, stuffed pork chops, quail, and a variety of sausages. There's another location at 4120 NE Evangeline Thruway in Carencro, also just outside Lafayette.
Most locals have fond memories of visiting Doodlet's in childhood because this store has been delighting customers with its whimsical collection of pop-up books, silly postcards, tin art, hooked rugs, and stringed lights for decades. Considered one of Santa Fe's best gift shops, you will find wonderment in every display case, drawing the eye to the unusual. There's something for just about everyone at this delightfully quirky, popular shop, and often it's affordable.
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.
Farmers and artisan food producers proffer fresh fruit and veggies, flowers, and other goodies at this phenomenally popular—and quite extensive—downtown farmers' market at Pioneer Park each Saturday from June through late October. Local bakeries and restaurants also sell tasty treats ranging from fresh salsa to cinnamon rolls, and there's a central food truck plaza with live music, too. A smaller version of the market takes place on Thursday afternoon from 4 until dusk in Liberty Park from mid-June through September, and a winter market is held on Saturday morning at The Gateway from November through April. Additional farmers' markets take place around the city, generally in summer, in Sugar House, Murray, South Jordan, and several other locales.
This yearly holiday outdoor market is located in Penn Quarter, transforming two city blocks on F Street into a one-stop shop, open-air winter wonderland. The market features local businesses and entrepreneurs across the region, finding unique, festive treasures in the heart of the District starting mid-November and usually going through a few days before Christmas. The outdoor shopping village’s expansive footprint allows for wide aisles for shopping, browsing, and also indulging in food stalls by local restaurants.
If you happen by this farm stand in the summer, don't pass up the chance to sample the tree-ripened white and yellow peaches, some of which may have been harvested moments before you arrived. You can buy peaches in small quantities, as well as organic peach jam.
Among the city’s most beloved bookshops, E. Shaver, Bookseller is the go-to spot for bibliophiles and book-clubbers, considering they have groups meeting monthly for fans of Jane Austen, social justice and culture reads, graphic novels, and much more. Among other services, staff can curate a book collection to fit the customer’s taste, ranging in size from a few feet of shelves to an entire library.
This beautiful little space at the end of historic Pier 4 features a highly curated selection of fiction, poetry, biography, art, and local interest books, as well as vinyl records. It's an outpost of the OG bookstore in the East End of Provincetown, Massachusetts.
For 150-plus years, this has been the hub of the Capitol Hill community. Vibrantly colored produce and flowers, freshly caught fish, fragrant cheeses, and tempting sweets are sold at the market by independent vendors. On weekends year-round, local farmers sell fresh fruits and vegetables (Tuesdays, too), and artists and exhibitors sell handmade arts and crafts, jewelry, antiques, collectibles, and furniture from around the world. A flea market unfurls on Sundays. The city's oldest continuously operating public market continues to be a vibrant and lively gathering place, complete with entertainment, art showings, and a pottery studio for residents and visitors alike.
Opened since 2013, Chicago’s sprawling Eataly location has a little bit of everything. Part-market, part–upscale food court with multiple cafés, and a gelato shop thrown in for good measure, it is a foodie’s paradise.
Just across the river from Wiscasset, this family-owned pottery operation is renowned for its vibrantly colored, exquisitely glazed porcelain, which is also sold at shops in Portland and York. But it's all made right here—the original location. The store also carries a fine selection of jewelry, glassware, and glass sculptures.
Owned by renowned Santa Fe chocolatier Hayward Simoneaux, this bright and colorful shop specializes in folk art and carries wonderfully offbeat and eye-catching items from all over the world and at a wide range of price points. Think Spanish-colonial-style leather messenger bags, hand-painted wild boar ceramic piggy banks, Mexican paper-mâché eggs painted to look like lucha libre masks, and hand-embroidered reversible jackets from India. And yes, you'll also find some carefully curated chocolates for sale.
Originally started by Nooksack artist and activist Louie Gong, Eighth Generation is now owned by the Snoqualmie Tribe. A world away from the tourist shops around Pike Place, this small shop sells a carefully selected range of Native-designed and produced goods including journals, jewelry, mugs, and water bottles. The true attractions are the bold, eye-catching woolen blankets woven in Seattle. Gifts purchased here come with a story and support local Indigenous artists.
Wine-tasting rooms, shops, art galleries, and studios share the courtyard and gardens of this historic arcade.
Ramble north on this rural stretch of Edith Boulevard and your reward is not only a bit of Albuquerque history en route (the old Camino Real ran along Edith), but the unexpected wonder that is Eldora Chocolate. The actual chocolate making happens here, too, and the many shop's many awards attest to owner Steve Prickett’s attention to quality and the nuances of the chocolate bean. This is true artisanal chocolate—any aficionado is sure to learn something special about their 70% Tanzanian, say, and tastings are offered freely.
This beautifully curated collection of women’s clothing features the work of numerous designers and is showcased in a rustic-industrial space matching the casual-chic aesthetic of the apparel. You'll find local and international brands in this shop that's been a neighborhood fixture for a decade.
In the same family since 1655, Emery Farm sells berries and produce in summer, pumpkins in fall, and Christmas trees in winter. The farm shop carries breads, pies, and local crafts, and a café serves sandwiches, ice cream, cider doughnuts, and other light fare. Enjoy pumpkin-patch hayrides in autumn and visit the petting barn May–October.
Offering a heavenly trifecta of books, coffee, and chocolate, Epilogue has a diverse selection of titles, lovingly chosen by the staff. The café serves hot drinks, Mexican treats like churros and conchas (sweet bread), and locally made chocolates. The adjacent Prologue has rare and used books, and hosts community events.
Although ostensibly a grocery store—and one with an excellent selection of organic produce, fine cheeses, baked goods, prepared foods to go, and other gourmet items—this friendly market in a historic brick house also features a coffeehouse and smoothie café with patio seating and a small gallery with well-curated art, crafts, and gifts.
This exceptional gallery specializes in vintage, classic, and contemporary photography but also represents artists in other media.
This acclaimed nonprofit cooperative formed in 1966 features creations by more than 300 of Northern New England's top pottery, painting, jewelry, textile, glassware, and other artisans.
