Shopping

Nordstrom, Eddie Bauer, REI -- these names are familiar to shoppers all across the country. They're also the names of stores that got their start here in Seattle. Throw in such regional favorites as Pendleton, Nike, and Filson, and you'll find that Seattle is a great place to shop, especially if you're in the market for recreational and outdoor gear and clothing.

As the Northwest's largest city, Seattle has also become home to all the national retail chains you would expect to find in a major metropolitan area. These chains have opened flashy stores and taken over many of the downtown storefronts. They include Banana Republic, Old Navy, Levi Strauss, Ann Taylor, Coach, St. John, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany, and Barneys New York. If you forgot to pick up that dress in Chicago or those running shoes in New York, have no fear -- you can find them here.

Seattle does, however, have one last bastion of local merchandising: Pike Place Market. Whether shopping is your passion or just an occasional indulgence, you shouldn't miss this historic market, which is one of Seattle's top attractions. Once the city's main produce market (and quite a few produce stalls remain), this sprawling collection of buildings is today filled with hundreds of unusual shops, including the Market Magic Shop, for magicians and aspiring magicians (tel. 206/624-4271; www.generalrubric.com); Tenzing Momo, which sells body oils, incense, herbs, and the like (tel. 206/623-9837; www.tenzingmomo.com); and Left Bank Books, a bookstore for anarchists and their kin (tel. 206/622-0195; www.leftbankbooks.com).

After tasting the bounties of the Northwest, it's hard to go back to Safeway, Sanka, and Chicken of the Sea. Sure you can get wine, coffee, and seafood where you live, but do a little food shopping in Seattle and you'll be tapping the source. Washington State wines, coffee from the original Starbucks, and fish that fly -- these are a just few of the culinary treats that await you here.

The Shopping Scene

Although Seattle is a city of neighborhoods, many of which have great little shops, the nexus of the Seattle shopping scene is the corner of Pine Street and Fifth Avenue. Within 2 blocks of this intersection are two major department stores (Nordstrom and Macy's) and two upscale urban shopping malls (Westlake Center and Pacific Place). A sky bridge between Nordstrom and Pacific Place makes shopping that much easier. Fanning out east and south from this intersection are blocks of upscale stores that have started to look more and more familiar as small, local shops are gradually replaced by national and international boutiques and megastores. Here in this neighborhood, you can now find Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, Barneys New York, Coach, Gap, and Niketown. Among these, a few local independents remain.

Within this downtown shopping district, you also find the loosely affiliated shops of Rainier Square (www.rainier-square.com). Although not actually a shopping mall, Rainier Square, which is bordered by University and Union streets and Fourth and Sixth avenues, is packed with great upscale shops and boutiques, including Brooks Brothers, Louis Vuitton, Northwest Pendleton, and St. John.

The city's main tourist shopping district is the Pike Place Market neighborhood, with dozens of T-shirt and souvenir shops, as well as import shops and stores appealing to teenagers and 20-somethings. Pike Place Market is a fascinating warren of cubbyholes that pass for shops. While produce isn't usually something you stock up on during a vacation, several market shops sell ethnic cooking supplies that are less perishable than a dozen oysters or a king salmon. You may not find anything here you really need, but it's fun to look.

Just west of and downhill from Pike Place Market is the Seattle waterfront, site of many more gift and souvenir shops. This is the city's tackiest and most touristy neighborhood--save your money for somewhere else.

South of downtown, in the historic Pioneer Square area, you'll find numerous art galleries, some of which specialize in Native American art. This neighborhood has several antiques stores, but is also home to a dozen or more bars and attracts a lot of homeless people. It's fun to explore by day but strictly for young partiers by night.

As the center of both the gay community and the city's youth culture, Capitol Hill has the most eclectic selection of shops in Seattle. Beads, imports, CDs, vintage clothing, politically correct merchandise, and gay-oriented goods fill the shops along Broadway. Capitol Hill's main shopping plaza is the Broadway Market, which has lots of small shops. The Pike-Pine District, a pair of streets connecting downtown with Capitol Hill, is my favorite shopping neighborhood in this area. Lots of small, independently owned shops offer a very eclectic variety of gifts and other goods.

The Fremont neighborhood, just north of Lake Union, is filled with retro stores selling vintage clothing, curious crafts, and mid-20th-century furniture and collectibles. However, in the past decade, the neighborhood has become somewhat gentrified, forcing many of the smaller and more unusual shops out of the neighborhood. Keep looking; you'll still find some of the holdouts.

A couple of miles east of Fremont is the Wallingford neighborhood, anchored by an old school building that has been converted into a shopping arcade with boutiques selling interesting crafts, fashions, and gifts. This area seems to be most popular with young moms and their kids.

To the west of Fremont, you'll find Ballard, a former Scandinavian neighborhood that is currently my favorite shopping district in Seattle. Tree-shaded Ballard Avenue NW is lined with historic brick buildings, most of which now are home to great little shops operated by highly creative individuals. You never know what you'll find in these shops, which is why it's so fun to shop here.

The University District, also in North Seattle, has everything necessary to support a student population -- and also goes upscale at the University Village shopping center.