It's "Where do you shop?" Wednesday, MKF 1

[darkmagicwillow]

I thought I'd combine our Travel Tips and What do you Read daily thread ideas into a "Where do you shop?" thread. It seemed like an appropriate one with Christmas coming up, and I'm missing my favorite shops from Oregon, especially my favorite bookstore Powell's, the largest bookstore in North America. I can still shop there online but it's not the same.

However, this thread isn't just about bookstores. It's about any particularly neat or interesting shop, whether you shop there or just like to look. Another of my favorites is the Tao of Tea for its soothing atmosphere and the educational experience of learning how to make and drink the wonderful teas there.

[Dumbsaint]

One word. Blowfishies

[Rosenberg]

Well, I think everyone should shop at Kmart. Not that I have a vested interest or anything

[skittles]

#1 - my favorite place to shop, in person, is Border's Books in downtown Ann Arbor, Michigan. I will meet friends there, I will take my nephew there, I will go there for no other reason than it exists.

When I am there, I will wander around gathering a few books that I am interested in, then go to the second floor, find a table & get a grande mocha & go through the books deciding which of them shall have the honor of going home with me. They also have music & dvd's there, but my budget only allows me to purchase books at this time.

#2, Rosenberg, I have a semi-vested interest in keeping Kmart alive. In fact, I told my family & friends that all presents this year will be purchased at Kmart. Considering, I live in a town without a Kmart, this has been fun, but I do like to drive. I want my friend at HQ to still have a job for the next few years. I don't mind adding another friend to that hope either.

[relativegirl]

So Julia, if you receive Blowfishies gifts under your tree, does that mean you've been naughty or nice?

My choices for favorite stores are redundant, but hey, I'm simple: The Tattered Cover, Midnight Special, Dutton's and Rhino

[Rosenberg]

Skittles, there are Kmarts everywhere in Michigan. How can your town not have one? You have a friend who works at HQ? Maybe I know her/him.

[Hanki]

theres this really cool shop near me called "Another World" that sells cult tv stuff, rock music stuff, comic books and all that kinda stuff its wicked cool plus right next door is a shop that sells cool clothes and ear rings that i practically live in. basically its anything weird and wonderful for me!

and its my birthday today (see how i cleveraly and subtley got that in there? )

[Kalita]

Perhaps it shows my inner dyke roots, but I do like plain, practical clothing.

Such as you'll find at, say, Mountain Equipment Co-op. Lots to pore over there! Great cycling supplies, too.

And yes, the best bookstores around here are now all Chapters, but at least the selection's pretty decent. Thankfully Heather Reisman doesn't have too many foibles...

[Puff]

Good Vibrations

[ChaoticBliss]

The Bodhi Tree Bookstore. When I go home to visit the parental units, that's the first place I head to. It's on Melrose Ave... near Elixir (another shibby establishment).

I spend lots of money at Target. that store. They have tons of neat stuff. Groceries from Larry's Market... except for produce. Get those from Pike's Place or the Madison Co-Op Market across the street. Clothes... well, no store is safe! Haha.

[Dumbsaint]

Naughty and nice, of course.

[tommo]

Naughty and nice. Wow, now if only I could get me a woman who's like that. In freakin' spades.

I made a wonderful discovery today though, which partially manages to lift the depression, bleh.

French and Saunders are doing a spoof on Tipping the Velvet in their Christmas Special. I love those women. Surely, I do.

[theatremouse]

it's all about amazon.com i dont really buy anything anywhere else. i'm a massive nerd that way. and i havnt bought any clothes in like five years..... heh.
peace.

[Patches]

Great Topic!!

Naughty: Good For Her in Toronto
Nice: Good For Her Other nice: bookstores - Bakka Books amazing Sci-Fi/Fantasy source and they're great at tracking down out of print books.

As a rule, I avoid malls like the plague - they are bad, bad evil places. I like shopping on line whenever possible - saves lots of money 'cause they can't sucker me in with impulse buy items.

[darkmagicwillow]

For clothes, at least for hiking gear and outdoor wear I like REI.

I won't shop at Amazon after they started suing people for that one-click patent nonsense. I do still use them for book reviews and such, but then I go buy at Powell's who supplies almost all of their used books anyway.

Patches, you're in Toronto, right? What's the name of that huge bookstore there? I haven't been there since the early 90's but it was an amazing place, way bigger than any Borders or B&N.

[BBOvenGuy]

Here in Pasadena, we have Vroman's Bookstore, which has been around since 1894. Most of the Christmas Presents I got people this year came from there. Most of the rest came from the absolutely wonderful Trader Joe's. I have family and friends all over the country who are hooked on foods that I've gotten for them from there.

It's sunny and cold today - "cold" being defined in LA terms, which means it's around 60. Yesterday we had a big (but fortunately brief) rainstorm in the middle of the afternoon. I was walking home afterwards and saw this brilliant rainbow arcing all the way across the sky. There was even a fainter second rainbow running parallel to it. Unfortunately, by the time I got home it had started to fade, so I was only able to get a picture of part of it. It looked like this:

[img:eb65b0e0c9]http://www.eriscorp.com/canterbury/Rainbow-s.jpg[/img:eb65b0e0c9]

Just thought I'd share.

Have a great day, everybody!

[Patches]

Darkmagicwillow, it's - The World's Biggest Bookstore! Doesn't look like they have an independent web site, and they're not listed by the parent company (Chapter/Indigo). It is an amazing place, but I don't go there too often, my wallet can't take that kind of rampant abuse - it's scarry when the clerk has to call for carryout service for you; fork lift to cashier desk 5 please!

A two story warehouse filled top to bottom with books, books, books, books, books

[dulcinea]

real groovy - what more could a girl need? music, books & movies - free postage, overnight delivery, and second hand CDs.

nothing beats spending a Saturday morning in this shop, but I don't live near it anymore, so I just have to make do with the website

[Xanadu21]

Barnes & Noble is the biggest bookstore in my town, so that's my favorite place to shop. Rows and rows of books...The only thing I don't like about it is the gay/lesbain section is rather small At least it has one though, it's the only one in town that does.

There's a part of my town called the Haymarket, where all the buildings are really old and there's a whole bunch if independent stores with cool artwork and trinkets. At least I think they're independent. My favorites are:
Ten Thousand Villages-they sell things made in third world countries, support free trade and are staffed by volunteers. Awesome store.
Serendipity- Cool clothes and blankets, candles, other artsy stuff
Euphoria- The sell insense, hippie-style clothing(lots of tie-dye) beads, jewlery, herbs, etc.
A Novel Idea- The best used bookstore ever. The selection is fairly good, the atmosphere rocks, everyone working there is really nice, they remember your name if you go there a lot. Oh, and they have two cats who come with the owner of the shop to work everyday.

Thanks for the rainbow pic BBOvenGuy, it's very lovely!

[darkmagicwillow]

Ok, that was obvious. I remember them claiming to be the world's biggest, but I forgot that was their name too.

Trader Joe's is definitely one of my favorites; I love their tamales, the tiramisu gelato, the little mint chocolate UFO's, and so many other foods.

[mscheckmate]

If I'm shopping for my gf, I go to REI, which is like Disneyland for the outdoorsy set. GF loves to mountain bike, and the salespeople there are friendly and knowledgable.

For my house, I go to Restoration Hardware. They have a lot of cool retro furnishings and toys. If I need automotive tools, I go to Sears. Their stuff is less expensive than Snap-On (love that name), and everything comes with a lifetime guarantee. I broke my clamp remover and my spark plug socket, and they replaced them, no questions asked. And I love the looks I get from the salesmen when I hand them whatever tool I'm buying and tell them that, no, it's not for my husband.

For books, I find something I like at Borders or Barnes and Noble, then shop online for the best deal for that title. For computers, I go to Best Buy and look for open stock items that have been discounted.

And for food, I'm right there with Bob and darkmagicwillow: Trader Joe's.

[bronwyn]

Kalita - MEC rocks. When I die they'll have to surgically remove my MEC shoulder bag from my body. I love their stuff.

Patches (hi!) - my sister in bookdom, Bakka is great. Other Toronto faves for books include: This Ain't the Rosedale Library, Atticus, Wonderworks, Elliots (for 2nd hand stuff), The Constant Reader (for kids books) and Nicholas Hoare down on Front Street.

-Bronwyn

[Warduke]

I just saw The Two Towers and all I can say is WOW

It was amazing, truly a worthy sequel, I don't want to spoil anything for those who haven't seen it, but I'll just say that the battle of Helm's Deep was just incredible, Legolas is so the man and just watching Gollum move onscreen was a treat and his facial expressions were unbelievable, still hard to believe this was all done with CGI.

The comic relief from Gimly was very funny, every time he'd say something, everyone in the theater would bust out laughing, I could go on and on...but I'll save that for chat tonight

[darkmagicwillow]

Sounds great. I'm going to see it on Saturday. I can't believe it's finally here after waiting all year.

[seurat]

Toronto bookstores, what can i say? We are pretty lucky here. Bakka was a great store when it was on queen street, and it's still decent now. This Ain't The Rosedale LIbrary is a wonderful store. I also like Pages, the Beguiling and Silver Snail for comics and other oddities, Rotate This and Penguin for cd's, David Mirvish Books On Art and the AGO bookstore for art books, and the Eaton's Centre for people watching.

Edited to add:Soundscapes on college street, another great place for cd's.

[kpmuse]

Thanks for letting me say this here. I miss Amber and Tara so much today. Major sigh

[LeBuffster]

I do my shopping (clothes) mostly at two little punk shops, they're small but have everything I need.
Blerk, I'm kinda angry right now cause i read some spoilers (never gonna do that again, just pisses me off) and my love interest just made out with her new "boytoy", sooo I think I had the perfect day (NOT!)
Well, I hope everyones day was better than mine!

&
Diane

[theatremouse]

xanadu, are you in noho too?
curiouser and curioser....

[WiccansIllusion]

Where do I shop?

well, REI is a given.

Am I the only one here who dislikes Trader Joes?
For food I prefer Peoples Market ( Wild Oats ) or if I have too Whole Foods for a wider ranger in selection and their juice bar!

For Wicca stuff I go to the shop I work at, www.kamala.com
sorry I know, advertising again, gotta stop that. It's just a really good place for herbs and oils as well as magick books, insence etc.

I also like Borders over Barnes and Noble any day, or for Sci Fi stuff there's two stores:
Something Wicked or Stars are Destination.

Clothing? Ragstock or other vintage/hippie places.

[Xanadu21]

[quote:654b0c1c1a]Quote:

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xanadu, are you in noho too?

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[/quote:654b0c1c1a]

theatremouse- I'm sorry, I'm kinda dense, I wasn't quite sure what you meant by noho! I live in Nebraska, if that's what you wanted to know. Are you nearby?