Dallas
For an eye-rolling, gasp-inducing and credit-card-maxing experience, head to the Highland Park Village shopping center in upper-crust Highland Park,…
Must-see shopping in The USA
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SoHo & Chinatown
Initially an online beauty retailer, Glossier (franco-phonetically pronounced glo-see-eh) now beckons fans to its brick-and-mortar flagship, where the…
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New Orleans
They don’t make them like this anymore – neither the clothes, millinery, lingerie nor Yvonne herself, a businesswoman who has outfitted generations of…
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Adobe Books & Backroom Gallery
The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill
Wall-to-wall inspiration – just-released fiction, limited-edition art books, rare cookbooks, well-thumbed poetry – plus zine-launch parties, comedy nights…
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The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill
Star chocolatier Michael Recchiuti sells confections at the Ferry Building but invents them in Dogpatch – taste his latest concoctions here first. Go for…
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Denver
There are plenty of places to curl up with a book in Denver’s beloved independent bookstore. Bursting with new and used books, it has a good stock of…
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San Francisco
What's that alluring frosted-glass emporium – the lovechild of an Apple Store and Victorian lingerie boutique? Just as you suspected: it's America's best…
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Bound Together Anarchist Book Collective
The Haight & Hayes Valley
Since 1976 this volunteer-run, nonprofit anarchist bookstore has kept free thinkers supplied with organic-permaculture manuals, prison literature, and…
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The Haight & Hayes Valley
Enticements are hardly necessary to lure the masses to the West Coast's most eclectic collection of new and used music and video, but Amoeba offers…
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Las Vegas
File this under only-in-Vegas: this self-described 'cannabis superstore and entertainment complex' is an emporium the size of several city blocks devoted…
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Hanalei
This irresistibly upbeat gallery offers a mix of true vintage and vintage-inspired art, handicrafts, books and much more. It’s the vintage stuff that’s…
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Hanalei
Tucked at the back of the Hanalei Center and flagged by fascinating outdoor displays, this wonderful shop sells superb handcrafted Polynesian and Oceanic…
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The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill
When local collectors and retailers have too much of a good thing, they donate it to nonprofit Community Thrift, where proceeds go to 200-plus local…
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San Francisco
The Swiss Army knife of hip SF emporiums, Park Life is design store, indie publisher and art gallery rolled into one. Browse among presents too clever to…
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Savannah
Our favorite vintage shop in town occupies the sprawling 1st floor of an old Victorian home, where each room is thoughtfully curated with unique, hand…
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Hilo
Once a mom-and-pop shop, this wildly successful confectioner is now a full-fledged destination. In an immaculate showroom-factory, enjoy generous samples,…
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Atlanta
This throwback record store is stacked wall to wall with a library's worth of new pop, soul, jazz and metal, on CD or vinyl. It has a fun music-related…
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New Orleans
Peaches has been around since 1975, doing the holy work of promoting, cataloging and marketing the best in local New Orleans music. Once in the French…
The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill
This scrappy zine shop/how-to source/art gallery/publisher delivers inspiration to create your own artworks, zines and repurposed fashion statements. Nab…
San Francisco
The geodesic-dome tugboat marks the spot where ocean meets art in this surf gallery. Legendary shapers (surfboard makers) create limited-edition boards…
San Francisco
Psst…keep this SF style secret under your hat: there is no Paul. Started in 1918 by a Peruvian hatmaker named Napoleon, Paul's has been maintained by…
Seattle
Seattle's most beloved bookstore offers more than 150,000 titles in a large, airy, wood-beamed space with cozy nooks that can inspire hours of…
Bailey's Antiques & Aloha Shirts
Waikiki
Unremarkable outside, Bailey’s has the finest aloha-shirt collection on Oʻahu, possibly the world! Racks are crammed with thousands of collector-worthy…
Chicago
As if the hanging sausages, ripe cheeses and flaky pastries lining the shelves at this European market weren't enough, Gene's also rocks a rooftop summer…
Portland
Powell's is one of the USA's largest independent bookstores, with a whole city block of new and used titles, and a well-attended series of readings.
Santa Fe
Local produce, much of it heirloom and organic, is on sale at this spacious indoor-outdoor market, alongside homemade goodies, inexpensive food, natural…
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San Francisco
'Wait, I'm supposed to put that where?' The understanding salespeople in this worker-owned cooperative are used to giving rather explicit instructions, so…
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West Village, Chelsea & Meatpacking District
Founded in 1940 by Spanish Civil War veteran Murray Greenberg, this is one of New York’s best cheese shops. Former owner (now 'advisor') Rob Kaufelt is…
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Upper West Side & Central Park
A bastion of gourmet kosher foodie-ism, this sprawling local market has been a neighborhood fixture since the 1930s. And what a fixture it is! It features…
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West Village, Chelsea & Meatpacking District
Beloved and legendary, the iconic Strand embodies downtown NYC's intellectual bona fides – a bibliophile's Oz, where generations of book lovers carrying…
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Denver
The flagship store of this outdoor-equipment super-supplier is an essential stop if you are heading to the mountains or just cruising through Confluence…
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The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill
Diamond counters can't compare to the foodie dazzle of Bi-Rite's sublime wall of local artisan chocolates, treasure boxes of organic fruit and California…
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New Orleans
Owners Alex and Cindy Williams, who have made and sold pottery from their Magazine St shop since 1993, call their exquisite creations functional art…
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New Hampshire
Chocolate has a pedigree at Dancing Lion, where the passion of master chocolatier Richard Tango-Levy is just as compelling as the chocolates. Tango-Levy…
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Seattle
This newer addition to Georgetown's small vintage row manages to find a perfect balance of pleasingly cluttered yet artfully refined. There are shelves…
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Denver
So you dig crochet and quilting? You knit a mean sweater and have a few too many tattoos? Welcome to Fancy Tiger Crafts, a sophisticated remodel of granny…
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Mississippi
Square Books, one of the South's great independent bookstores, is the epicenter of Oxford's lively literary scene and a frequent stop for traveling…
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The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill
Heads will roll, fists will fly and furious vengeance will be wreaked inside this mild-mannered shop stocking big-name and indie comics. Staff picks range…
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Washington, DC
This flagship independent – which leapt into First Amendment history when it refused to release Monica Lewinsky’s book-buying list to Ken Starr's snoops –…
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Midcoast Maine
A 10ft-tall Bean Boot sits outside the flagship LL Bean store. Although a hundred other stores have joined it in Freeport, the wildly popular LL Bean is…
