11 Best Shopping in Seattle, Washington

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.

Housed in what used to be a 75-year-old five-and-dime store, this distinctive gallery has fine ceramics, textiles, and exquisite crafts by Japanese and Northwest artists; you can also see artifacts from the old store, a part of the original Nihonmachi (Japantown). Items range from something as simple as incense from Kyoto to an enormous painted antique chest. Clothes, books, and gift options abound, all with ties to Japan or the local Japanese community.

Amateur geologists, curious kids, and anyone fascinated by fossils and gems should make a trip to this store that's almost like a museum (but a lot more fun). Between the 500-million-year-old fossils and the 250-pound amethyst geodes, there's no shortage of eye-popping items on display.

Whether you need to bring home an ironic "West Seattle Island" shirt or vintage-style Pacific Northwest hoodie, this cute neighborhood gift shop and boutique has one-of-a-kind clothes to help you remember your visit to Seattle. The rest of the shop is filled with stylish gifts for kids and adults, plenty of cards, and fun locally made products such as bath salts, candles, mugs, and more.

If there's a rocket on the roof, then you've found Burnt Sugar—or you've gone too far and are in Cape Canaveral. This hip and funky shop focuses on cool shoes but also offers a mélange of handbags, greeting cards, soaps, candles, jewelry, toys, children's gifts, makeup, and other eclectic baubles you never knew you needed.

A gurgling stone fountain stands in the center of this light-filled boutique, where airy displays showcase delicately scented European bath products by Santa Maria Novella, Tocca, and Cote Bastide. You'll find the complete line of Fresh cosmetics, handmade bed linens, women's loungewear and lingerie, delicate jewelry, and exquisitely detailed children's clothing.

Outside of San Francisco, Seattle has the largest Hawaiian population on the mainland. Hawaii General Store is a great resource for both those expats and anyone who loves Hawaii (and who doesn't?). With food, music, art, bath products, luau party supplies, and jewelry from the islands, the store is a warm little respite from Seattle's rainy winters.

This lovely store sells artisan crafts from studios in Japan and the Northwest. As at the International District branch, you'll find tasteful home wares, cute but functional gifts, and quirky pieces of furniture. After a long day of looking at retro and ironic items, this place will cleanse your palate.

In the tradition of the general store, this shipping spot also operates a sweet boutique with fashionable women's clothes, jewelry, and gifts. Come here for locally made goods, shirts emblazoned with the neighborhood name, and a unique souvenir (and ship it home, if you need).

The SpaceBase Gift Shop has the city's ultimate icon, the Space Needle, rendered in endless ways. Among the officially licensed goods are bags of Space Needle Noodles, towering wooden pepper grinders, and artsy black T-shirts.

Venue is the chic version of the Made In Washington stores: it stocks only goods made by local artists (some of whom have their studios in the sleek bilevel space), but you won't find any tacky souvenirs here. Watch the designers at work, chat with the staff (most are artists taking shifts), or just browse through artisanal chocolates, custom handbags, handmade soaps, baby wear, and colorful prints and mosaics.