3870 Best Places to Shop in USA

This spot within the Old Town School of Folk Music has a solid selection of kids' instruments, plus all manner of instruments for rent. There's a sibling store in Lincoln Square (4544 N. Lincoln Avenue).

Downtown Steamboat's Old Town Square is a collection of upscale boutiques and retailers. There are also plenty of places to sit and people-watch or get a good cup of coffee.

Old West Gallery and Antiques is a huge shop selling gifts, collectibles, Native American and Western art, and furniture. The kids are likely to be enamored of the Old West Candy Store inside, which features fudge and hand-dipped chocolates. The entire family will enjoy the player piano and other music machines.

A bookstore, a woodwork-focused gift shop, a tattoo parlor, clothing boutiques, and a coffee bar are among the businesses sharing space in this 1880 building that once housed the city's farmers' market.

Commemorate your time in Boston by bringing home a signature scent. At this new scent studios on Newbury Street, you can explore nine core fragrances and then work with a scent expert to customize your very own blend with added notes. Name your new fragrance creation, choose your bottle, and suddenly your time in the city makes more scents (pun intended).

When most women fantasize about the wardrobe of their dreams, it looks something like the inside of this East Austin boutique. Brightly printed vintage finds complement cool-girl-approved staples, with more than a few standouts in stock. You’ll also find well-known designers like Anna Rifle Bond’s paper products to pen a letter home, chic Province Apothecary lip balm, and geometric necklaces and bracelets galore.

Olive & Sinclair has been producing small-batch chocolate since 2007, but they've had their factory space since 2014. Tours of the factory ($8) are offered on Saturdays and last about 40 minutes; they must be booked in advance.

This artist-driven boutique sells local handmade jewelry, women's clothing accessories, home decor, baby items, and local art.

From tropical dresses to jumpers to swimsuits, this stylish boutique—a favorite of residents—carries a wide variety of Hawaiian-themed accessories and jewelry as well. Their selection of high-quality men's aloha shirts might be some of the best offered on the island. You can also find hats, purses, sunglasses, and a complete line of body and bath items.

As you explore Diagon Alley, you might feel empty-handed when you notice other guests are carrying wands—some with the ability to cast spells throughout the streets (through the magic of a laser pointer that triggers lights, fountains, signs, and other inanimate objects). Inside this cramped shop are thousands of wands waiting to choose their wizards—which they do with a little help from the wand keeper himself. Although it may take a few minutes before you're ushered inside, the interactive experience as a wand looks for its new owner is clever and fun.

Neat, clean, and well run, this complex housing more than 100 covered fruit, vegetable, pastry, and craft stalls sits at the north edge of downtown. You'll find all sorts of oddities such as ostrich eggs, button magnets, and glass sculptures. With several tiny international eateries tucked in between the vendors, it's also a terrific place to grab a bite and then walk over to the waterfront. During high season (April to October), it's open Thursday through Sunday; the rest of the year, the market is open one or two days a week.

Locally owned and carefully curated, OMG features a single very long aisle of candy, from gimmicky items to gigantic rainbow swirl lollipops. There's also an in-house clothing line, BeCandylicious.

Love to eat? Love to read? Then this place is paradise. The shelves are bursting with books on growing and cooking food. The store stocks cookbooks on such diverse subjects as the cuisine of colonial Jamaica or 1940s creole cooking. And if you're after a signed first edition by Julia Child or James Beard, you'll find that, too. The shop frequently hosts fun conversations with cookbook authors and chefs.

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. 

It's the one shop you don't want to miss on Sunset Boulevard. Vintage-style T-shirts of Mickey, Pluto, Donald, and Grumpy are classy alternatives to standard-issue T’s, and a white-sequined Mickey hat adds flair to any outfit. Women's fashion T's and costume bling draw lots of shoppers. Customized watches, like those sold at the Magic Kingdom's Uptown Jewelers, as well as purses and totes, are sold here, too.

Classic board games and activity stations will keep you entertained in this well-stocked store. Theme toy rooms feature princess and fairy items or Star Wars stations, where you can create your own lightsaber. There are lots of games redesigned with Disney themes, like a Haunted Mansion version of the Game of Life. You can test-drive many of the toys, and at the Mr. Potato Head Creation Station, you can fill a box with assorted eyes, lips, noses—even Mickey ears—and make your own potato sculpture.

Part spa, part natural beauty boutique, this airy little shop has high standards for sourcing its products. From Biossance face creams to Rahua shampoo, only the highest-quality—nontoxic, ethical, organic, all-natural—products make it onto the shelves. If you want to try any spa treatments, including facials and energy healing, be sure to book in advance. Side note: actor Naomi Watts is a co-owner.

Whimsically named for the classic Dr. Seuss book, One Fish Two Fish is a high-end home decor shop located in the Downtown Design District. Look for contemporary furnishings, fine linens, and bedroom and bathroom accessories. Every corner of the store has something charming to offer, including elegant handbags and jewelry and colorful modern lighting fixtures. For fine wearables, cross over Whitaker Street to visit the Annex, its sister store.

This was the first store to sell Broadway merchandise outside of a theater. Today, souvenir posters, T-shirts, and knickknacks memorializing past and present Broadway hits still reign at this small Theater District shop next to the Booth Theatre.

Fermentation is the name of the entire game at the quirky Onggi (pronounced “Ong-gee”), named after the Korean vessels in which fermentations like soy sauce, kimchi, and rice wine are made. Owned by a young trio of self-titled “fermentation nerds,” the friendly shop peddles an array of fantastic—and mostly small-batch—products: the likes of Taiwanese soy pastes; preserved Moroccan Meyer lemon paste; ponzu sauces with yuzu; and mushroom ale vinegars.

The Alaska Native–owned cooperative Oomingmak sells items made of qiviut, the ultra-soft and warm undercoat of musk ox, from inside one of the few small houses remaining in Downtown. Scarves, shawls, hats, and tunics are knitted in traditional patterns by women in villages across Alaska.

This modern, urban home boutique strikes the balance between edgy hipster and cool hostess. The furniture, baby clothes, jewelry, candles, and soaps all manage to be clever and quirky. It's as fun to browse as it is to buy, as there's no pressure from the friendly sales staff.

This gallery in a handsome historic downtown building carries the work of some of the area's top photographers. Wyoming's wildlife, flora, and landscapes provide the primary scenes, but less traditional themes also are presented.

Opera House Antiques is a multi-dealer shop in a 1901 opera house off the Village Square. Furniture, jewelry, silverware, and linens are among the offerings. From January through March it's just open weekends.

With a tiny spiral staircase leading to the basement, and resident cats wandering through the tightly packed aisles, Ophelia's offers a classic used-bookstore experience in an age when so many are disappearing. The owner is known for her excellent taste, and it shows—you'll find major titles from notable authors as well as obscure works and poetry books. Be sure to ask for recommendations—she'll be happy to help.

Opry Mills is the be-all end-all of malls in Tennessee. In fact, it’s so gigantic that it has its own exit off of Briley Parkway. There are more than 200 stores inside, both outlet and retail, covering every corner of the shopping landscape: shoes, clothes, sporting goods, hunting gear, handbags, and multiple vendors who sell nothing but cowboy boots. And the brands cover just as wide a spectrum, from Coach to rue21. The layout is a huge oval, so there are no shortcuts as you make a full lap around this hall of commerce. When you’ve reached your shopping limit, catch a movie at the Regal Opry Mills IMAX & RPX and enjoy a bottle of Nashville craft beer. For food, Chuy’s Mexican Food is the best pick for both flavor and value, and Aquarium Restaurant is an excellent choice if you’re willing to shell out a little more for the dreamy experience of dining surrounded by a 200,000-gallon saltwater aquarium.

One of the last establishments of its kind, Optimo makes high-end custom straw and felt hats for men in an atmosphere that evokes 1930s and 40s haberdashery. It also offers a complete line of related services, including cleaning, blocking, and repairs.

The go-to resource for modern furniture, lighting, and accessories in Chicago carries pieces by Minotti, Philippe Starck, and Piero Lissoni in a bi-level industrial space.