553 Best Places to Shop in USA

The main shopping area in downtown Waynesville stretches several long blocks along Main Street, with a number of small boutiques, bookstores, antiques shops, restaurants, brewpubs, and a bakery. Side streets in this charming small town also offer shopping and dining. A few blocks away, Frog Level is an up-and-coming small dining and entertainment section in a former industrial area.

Here you can build your very own droid, on a miniature scale at least. Upon arriving, choose between a BB-series (like BB-8) or R-series (like R2-D2), then select your own color scheme and accessories. Once built, droids can communicate with one another using Bluetooth technology or be driven by their owners with a remote control. Note that droids aren't cheap (prices start at $119.99), and, without a reservation made on the My Disney Experience app, expect a wait just to enter the store.

More than just a shopping destination, this outdoor Disneyesque village, complete with two town-square areas with fountains, is an entertainment enclave with 40 restaurants, bars, and bistros; a 30-screen movie theater; the Funny Bone Comedy Club; and Gameworks interactive games and attractions. Even the McDonald's has a karaoke booth where you can record CDs. Easton is 16 minutes, or about 11 mi, from Downtown in the northeast part of the city.

Oh, to be a kid in a candy store! Economy Candy has been making life sweeter since 1937, and the floor-to-ceiling shelves and candy-and-nut dispensers here are filled with bulk specialty and brand-name goodies, from every flavor of gummy candy and jelly bean—you can purchase by flavor or just by color—to nuts, halvah, and chocolate-covered everything. There are also everyday chocolate bars like Baby Ruth, Butterfinger, and M&Ms (available in bulk or in five-pound bags). If you’ve never tried Canadian chocolate bars like Coffee Crisp, Aero, and Crispy Crunch, you’re in for a treat.

The city's largest indoor (and air-conditioned) mall houses several major department stores and some 160 specialty shops.

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.

Just across from the BioPark, shaded outdoor seating on El Vado Motel’s plaza is surrounded by a cluster of locally committed shopkeepers and food purveyors. A good meal option is Buen Provecho, inspired by Costa Rican traditional cooking, or enjoy a cerveza (beer) from the El Vado Taproom. Stroll just beyond the plaza to a cluster of local vendors on the complex's outer periphery (Southwest Cactus Shop has not only the expected succulents, but a well-selected range of southwest-themed hand-stamped cards, earrings, clever metal birds, and more), or a little further east on Central Avenue to Kaufman's Coffee & Bagels (freshly made on site) or Swan Song, a retro-ware recycler.

For more than 37 years, Emerald City has provided Orange Avenue shoppers with a broad selection of swimwear, clothing, sunglasses, and hats from beachy brands like Billabong, Roxy, Vouri, and O'Neill. The shop also offers surfboard, bodyboard, and swim fin rentals.

This 17,000-square-foot department store (strategically placed right before the exit) is one of the largest souvenir shops in any of the parks. You'll find thousands of Disney character products, from pins to plush toys. Princess items rock, the costume jewelry is reasonably priced, and there seem to be enough Mickey sweatshirts and T's to clothe everyone in the entire park. Ask cast members about deals or marked-down merchandise. Also available here are MagicBands, colorful wristbands that can be linked with your My Disney Experience app to enter the parks, buy food and merchandise, and even unlock your Disney resort room.

The sweetest deal in town, Enstrom Candies is known for its scrumptious candy and renowned toffee.

The educational gadgets sold here are so clever and engaging that kids won't know they're learning while playing. Space- and dinosaur-related games and toys are popular, as are robots, creative maker kits, and optical illusion gifts.

Right there in the window, resting in splendor on several marble-topped tables, are huge blocks of fudge just calling your name—enough fudge to put every citizen of the town into a coma—not to mention hand-dipped chocolates, caramel corn, and so on. Indeed, if you hang out at one of the tables in front, you'll see just about every kind of person imaginable pause by the door, sigh, and give in to temptation. Fast, friendly service is a hallmark of this family-owned confectionery, which also has excellent ice cream and homemade waffle cones.

With a hippie vibe, the kid- and couple–friendly Fantastic Umbrella Factory contains a handful of rustic shops built around a wild garden and bamboo forest. Unusual flowers, succulents, and other plants are for sale, along with interesting clothing and jewelry, CBD products, soy candles, creative pottery, Native American handcrafts, quirky gifts, and incense. For a few bucks you can buy a bag full of feed to attract the fenced-in emus and roaming chickens. 

Famed toy retailer FAO Schwarz lives on in full, fun swing at 30 Rock, occupying 20,000 square feet of prime Midtown real estate. Explore the Build-a-Bear Workshop, play with cars on a racetrack, make your own bracelet, and tickle the oversize keys of the walk-on piano keyboard—featured in the 1988 Tom Hanks movie smash Big. The store's iconic clock tower is here, too, along with its famous life-size toy soldiers, a zillion stuffed animals, and a rocket-ship centerpiece.

This four-story mall includes such shops as Macy's, Nordstrom, the Coach Store, Swatch, babyGap, Sephora, and an Armani Exchange. In addition to a skylighted food court, there are four full-service restaurants to choose from, including the popular local pizza chain Matchbox. A handful of additional shops and restaurants surround the mall, A Ritz-Carlton hotel and the Metro station are also connected.

Swing by Filch’s Emporium of Confiscated Goods (stocked with items taken from misbehaving Hogwarts students) for school regalia plus authentic prop replicas like Death Eater masks.

Shelves here are covered in inspired finds—from ornately printed tea towels and handmade lavender-oat soap to graphic and colorful dinner plates made of bamboo. The baby section teems with unusually darling items—gingham bonnets, quilted bibs in pretty prints, and print-covered footies.

Viking wannabes go crazy for the soft toy spears and shields. The plush seals are sweet for tots, and you can find Norwegian pewter, leather goods, and colorful woolen sweaters and knit caps, along with a wide variety of character goods from the hit movie Frozen. The shop's larger-than-life troll is always ready for a selfie.

Just east of downtown, more than 900 vendors sell new and used goods Friday through Sunday 9–5. Its music hall hosts live entertainment.

For hardware, firewood, locally grown vegetables, deli sandwiches, pumpkins for Halloween, snowboard and ski rentals, gourmet birdseed, and just about anything else you need, Fred's General Mercantile—half general store and half boutique—is the place to go. At 5,046 feet, it's billed as the highest-elevation general store east of the Mississippi River.

Located at the crossroads of Kiawah and Seabrook islands, this shopping area includes a variety of homegrown stores. There are French and Italian restaurants, an ice-cream shop, a sports outfitter, and stores selling upscale apparel. More than just a shopping destination, Freshfields has become a major social center, offering everything from wine and beer tastings to movies and concerts on the green.

A local fixture in Highland Park for decades, Galco's is in some ways a trip down memory lane, carrying more than 600 sodas—most of which harken back to the days when soda was a regional affair—and options from all over the world. They also have a collection of retro candies, a soda creation station with more than 100 syrups to choose from, and a selection of alcohol that would put most liquor stores to shame.

Fort Lauderdale's most sophisticated mall is just west of the Intracoastal Waterway. The split-level emporium comprises Apple, H&M, Macy's, and dozens of specialty shops. You can chow down at the Capital Grille, P. F. Chang's China Bistro, or Seasons 52—or sip cocktails at Blue Martini. The mall itself is open Monday through Saturday 11–9, Sunday noon–6. The stand-alone restaurants and bars are open later.

This enclosed mall in northwest Henderson boasts dozens of stores and boutiques, a large food court, sit-down restaurants, such as the Brazilian steak house Rodizio Grill and Gen Korean BBQ House, and seasonal carnivals. There's also a children's play area and a kiddie train to keep the little ones entertained.

Just north of Las Olas Boulevard on Route A1A, this shopping gallery is attached to the mammoth Marriott's BeachPlace Towers' time-share property. Retail spaces are occupied by touristy shops that sell everything from sarongs to alligator heads, chain restaurants like Hooters, bars serving frozen drinks, and a supersize CVS pharmacy, which sells everything you need for the beach.

Beach Place has covered parking and usually has plenty of spaces, but you can pinch pennies by using a nearby municipal lot.

Bring your own bag for morning shopping at the Gateway York Summer Farmers' Market, held in the back lot at the York Region Chamber of Commerce every Saturday, late May–October, 9 am–1 pm. You'll find fresh, locally grown produce and flowers; lots of baked goods, pies, and artisanal breads; local meat and eggs; and handcrafted items like soaps, jewelry, pottery, and candles. It's a good place to gather the makings for a beach picnic or to stock up on holiday gifts.

There's a good mix of retailers at this mall in the center of Georgetown, including Anthropologie & Co. (which has floors devoted to housewares and bridal), H&M, J. Crew, and T.J. Maxx. Stop at the Georgetown Visitor Center inside the main entrance to learn about what's happening in the neighborhood. You can even try your hand at bocce or bowling at Pinstripes, a bistro and entertainment spot with a wonderful patio. Grab macaroons at locally owned Olivia Macaroons.