546 Best Places to Shop in USA

Elaina Garcia is Catalina's celebrity mermaid. After rescuing a drowning diver near Catalina's coast, she soon appeared on Inside Edition, People Magazine and The Drew Barrymore Show. As a certified PADI diver, she took the next step to become a PADI-certified mermaid. Her store in Avalon has a photo studio for guests to don a colorful mermaid tail and shell bra for a keepsake photoshoot. Mermaids can also have photos taken at scenic rocky seascapes, or on a sandy beach. Elaina also offers professional mermaid instructor courses and professional mermaid swim classes for ages six and up. Her mission emphasizes water safety and drowning prevention. Her gift shop sells jewelry and other mermaid-related items.

The partylike Saturday edition of the city's most upscale and expensive farmers' market places baked goods, gourmet cheeses, smoked fish, and fancy pots of jam alongside organic basil, specialty mushrooms, heirloom tomatoes, and juicy-ripe locally grown fruit. Smaller markets also take place on Tuesday and Thursday year-round, rain or shine—and the many passionate San Francisco home cooks who frequent them will come even in a rainstorm.

Hollywood vintage hunters and collectors love this hip open-air market. You're likely to find recycled rock T-shirts or some vinyl to complete your collection, in addition to antique furniture and quirky arts and crafts. This popular market is open from 9 am to 5 pm every Sunday—rain or shine—at Fairfax High School's parking lot and admission is $6 at entrance.

Since 1955, this bookstore has been the heart of Menlo Park. The store has many mainstream books, yet also maintains the independent, intellectual side that made it popular with the Beat Generation and activists (even the Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia would play his guitar here). Author talks are a big draw at what continues to be one of the Bay Area’s definitive local bookstores.

Avalon's favorite candy store (since 1941) still has the iconic salt water taffy–pulling machine in the front window. Besides selling Lloyd's Famous Salt Water Taffy, they sell fresh bakery items, gourmet candy apples, fudge, coffee, frozen drinks, and ice cream.

Archestratus is one of those rare neighborhood gems that becomes a true community hub—particularly for hardcore foodies. More than a tiny bookstore specializing in cookbooks and culinary writings, it also offers a well-curated selection of kitchenware and groceries, from pastas to tinned fish. There's also a small children's reading section and adequate meeting space for their culinary- and literary-inspired events. While their sit down café component is no longer open, they still offer daily artisanal sandwiches to go.

If your life is missing a punching-nun puppet, an Edgar Allen Poe action figure, or a bacon-scented air freshener, there's hope. Leave your cares and woes at the door and step into a warehouse of the weird and wonderful. It's nearly impossible to feel bad while perusing stacks of armadillo handbags, demon rubber duckies, handerpants (don't ask), and homicidal unicorn play sets. Grab a cat-in-a-can to keep you company or leave with a dramatic chipmunk oil painting. You'll feel better. Trust us.

Santa Fe is well-known for its mystical side and the Ark is where locals go to feed their spiritual souls. Mainly a metaphysical bookstore, the Ark also offers a diverse selection of cards, gemstones, candles, and crystals as well as gifts of all kinds, from Tibetan prayer flags and wind chimes to yoga mats and clothing.

Famed Santa Fe resident George R. R. Martin owns this fantasy-and-science-fiction-focused bookstore as well as Jean Cocteau Cinema next-door. Named after Cocteau’s 1946 classic Beauty and the Beast (which was also a television show the Game of Thrones author worked on in the 1980s), the shop features books of all genres, each signed by its writer. This, of course, includes Martin’s many offerings, but also books by Diana Gabaldon, Leonard Maltin, Erica Jong, and Walter Jon Williams.

Both a farm market popular with kids and a craft distillery that's a hit with adults, this family-owned apple orchard on the main road between Lynden and Bellingham is a fun stop for stocking up on fresh produce and gourmet snacks and sampling house-made brandy, vodka, and gin. The on-site café is popular for breakfast and lunch, offers hard ciders and beers on tap, and—naturally—serves delicious apple pie.

South Congress is filled with shops that pack a nostalgia factor, but none is quite as sweet as this place, where bins upon bins of colorful sour candies, chocolates, and lollipops line the oh-so-colorful walls. There’s Shakespearean Insult Gum, Texas-made Chick-O-Sticks, and gobs of themed candy. Beat the heat on a hot day here at the old-fashioned soda fountain counter, where you can order classic egg creams, homemade cherry limeades, ice cream sundaes, and an expanded menu of boozy milkshakes and handmade hard seltzers.

This beloved community insitution creates custom-made kites you can fly or display. Appliqués are sewn onto the kites in the small workroom in the back, and designs range from Hawaiian flags to Hawaiian animals like pueo (owls)—with a little bit of mermaid fun in between. Also in stock are paper kites, mini kites, and wind socks. The adjacent gallery sells locally made crafts, Hawaiian books and CDs, jewelry, and other souvenirs.

Upper East Siders shop at this pricey French children's boutique for the beautiful designs and impeccable workmanship—think leather baby booties, hand-embroidered jumpers, and cashmere onesies. The NYC flagship has a loftlike design with whimsical touches, such as a large indoor tree and a cloud sculpture.

This exceptional bookstore offers well-curated local-interest materials, best sellers, and an excellent children's section. Puzzle enthusiasts will appreciate the unique jigsaw selection, guaranteed to keep you challenged. Don't miss the back room with its selection of local clothing and gifts.

Shop for gifts or yourself at this cozy independent bookstore, which feels more like a small-town library, welcoming browsers to linger. It sells new and secondhand books, and the children's section is filled with both books and toys.

This independent bookstore may be small in size, but it is big in prestige. Thanks to its knowledgeable owners, many famous authors love this place and tend to include it on their publicity tours. Once you've bought books here a time or two, the staff will be able to recommend ones you'll like with amazing accuracy.

Established in 1970, Texas's largest independent bookstore is a homegrown alternative to Amazon and corporate chains. The quirky bookshop, staffed with a passionate team of dedicated booksellers, has been voted Austin's best bookstore for more than 20 years, stocking bestsellers along with books on topics from celebrity memoirs to alternative home-building texts; there's also an incredible children's section. Browse magazines; shop for literary-inspired tchotchkes and Austin- and Texas-centric gifts; and catch readings and signings by local and touring authors. Heavy-hitting literati luminaries, including former presidents, make stops here while on book tours.

Greater Miami's only independent English-language bookshop specializes in contemporary and classical literature as well as books on the arts, architecture, Florida, and Cuba. The Coral Gables store is the largest of several South Florida locations. Here, you can sip and read in the courtyard lounge or dine at the old-fashioned in-store café while browsing the photography gallery. Multiple rooms are filled with myriad genres; plus there's an entire area dedicated to kids. There are book signings, literary events, poetry, and other readings, too.

This nonprofit, independently minded, neighborhood bookstore is the brainchild of a small group of local booklovers, led by authors and Key West residents Judy Blume and her husband George Cooper. It is affiliated with the Miami-based book store of the same name and is in The Studios of Key West, a nonprofit arts center providing artist-in-residency opportunities for artists and writers. If you stop by, you might find Judy behind the register or stocking books.

Readers young and old delight in Manhattan's oldest and largest independent children's bookstore. The friendly, knowledgeable staff can help select gifts for all reading levels. Don't miss the extensive Oz section, plus the collection of old, rare, and collectible children's books and original children's book art.

This bustling farmers' market brings a hive of activity to 13th Street between Arapahoe Avenue and Canyon Boulevard on Wednesday afternoon from early May to early October, and on Saturday, from April through mid-November. This growers-only market, which has been named the number one farmers' market in the country, features produce, baked goods, flowers, wines and spirits, cheeses, meats, and more straight from the local producers (cherries and peaches are prime in late summer).

A special place, Brewster Book Store is filled to the rafters with books by local and international authors, with an extensive fiction selection and kids' section. Author signings and children's story times and craft sessions take place year-round.

South Carolina's only Hard Rock Cafe and Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville restaurant are among the many themed restaurants at this shopping complex set around Lake Broadway, where you can soar through the sky on a zipline or take a dizzying speedboat ride. It's the area's biggest mall, with shops ranging from the Man Cave Store and a Harley-Davidson outfitter to the Southern Living store, featuring home items curated by the magazine. Among the many attractions in the complex are Pavilion Park's kids' and thrill rides, a Topgolf, and the WonderWorks interactive museum, where kids can spend hours exploring and adults can strap into one of several simulators that send you twirling at dizzying speeds.

Originally started more than 25 years ago as a specialty Asian grocery, the Buford Highway Farmers Market has grown into a full-blown international marketplace; a turn down each aisle is like a trip to a different country. Make sure to stop at the Eastern European deli counter.

New and out-of-print titles are sold here; the store hosts regular author appearances.

Shops don't get more adorable than this downtown candy store with the bright pink awning, winning sweet-toothed fans since 1955 for their slow-cooked, small-batch confections. Their version of a clambake is a too-cute assortment of chocolate sea creatures on a bed of chocolate rocks. Sea salt caramels, made with local sea salt, are a favorite, and they stay open year-round.

With an emphasis on interior design, this boutique stocks lovely French bed linens, artful personal jewelry, home-decor accents, and specialty soaps and toiletries. There's also a selection of simply irresistible kids' clothing.