Updated November 23, 2004 -- With Christmas less than four weeks away, shoppers are in high gear ticking off items on lists as long as your arm. Gift buying doesn't have to be a chore, though, if you make it an excuse for a road trip to some of the nation's most urbane yet offbeat shopping venues. Part of the fun is discovering neighborhoods in which shopping is not merely an exercise of commerce, but one of exploration and discovery -- that, granted, might lead you to that one-of-a-kind piece of couture that would turn the ladies who lunch greener than their cucumber sandwiches with envy. The following is a cross section of some of the most original shopping neighborhoods in the United States. While some may be familiar, others are hidden treasures in their own rights, and each is a worthy destination for any holiday shopping roadtrip.
Seattle's Belltown
If you're looking for fine, arty clothes, you are for whom Belltown tolls. The area of Seattle extending north of the central business district from Stewart Street to Mercer Street is best known as the Denny Regrade, but it also incorporates the Belltown district, which was originally the area west of 2nd Ave. A combination of artist lofts and modern high rises, Belltown is a colorful mix of bohemian and trendy boutiques, but forget about grunge. Gian Decaro Sartoria, 2025 1st Ave., Suite D, (tel. 206/448-2812; www.giandecaro.com) custom-makes suits and shirts, fashioned from exclusive British and Italian fabrics. And stores like Damsel Collective, 2222 2nd Ave. (tel. 206/374-8669; www.damsel.us) display the wares of up-and-coming and aspiring designers. If Belltown had a motto, it would perhaps be the one used by Opus 204, 2004 1st Ave. (tel. 206/728-7707; www.opus204.com), a designer clothing and antique shop that combines old and new: "We are what we wear: Chic, comfortable and aware."
Miami's Upper East Side
Sure, South Beach is still hip, but it's hip in the way that SoHo in New York is hip -- as an area that once wouldn't suffer a Gap or Banana Republic in its midst but today derives much of its revenue from franchises. The good news is, when a neighborhood secedes its independence to the Gap Nation, the action moves to other districts, such as Miami's Upper East Side. Located along a gritty, albeit up and coming, stretch of Biscayne Boulevard, between 14th and 71st Streets, Miami's Upper East Side is a haven for innovative boutiques. Everything from original couture -- Julian Chang, 1071 NE 79th St.(tel. 305/751-8900; www.julianchang.com) -- to the terminally trendy, as seen in the boutique Rebel, 6669 Biscayne Blvd.(tel. 305/758-2369; www.rebelmiami.com) can be found along this fascinating corridor of urban chic. In addition to clothing, furniture stores such as Industrian, 5580 NE 4th Court (tel. 305/754-6070; www.industriandesign.com) peddle everything from vintage Charles Eames to modern Philippe Starck.
San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter
Though Wyatt Earp once operated three gambling halls in San Diego's charming Gaslamp Quarter, today the neighborhood is a safe bet for shopping. The Gaslamp is an urban consumer's Mecca, with historic Victorian-style buildings housing antique shops, galleries, boutiques, bazaars and specialty stores. Sidewalk cafes, pubs and restaurants help shoppers recharge their batteries. Everything from hip-hop gear at Dress Code, 531 Broadway (tel. 619/239-3677) to home furnishings, cigar shops and jewelry can be found in the eight block long Gaslamp Quarter. Most stores are located in the heart of downtown San Diego from Broadway to Harbor Drive in between Fourth and Sixth Avenues. For a complete listing, visit www.gaslamp.org.
Venice's Abbot Kinney Boulevard
Venice, California may conjure images of buff body builders and bikini-clad beach bunnies, but when it comes to shopping, the area continues to grow as a hotbed of cool specialty shops, art galleries, furniture stores, restaurants and boutiques, all located just five blocks east of the beach between Venice Boulevard and Main Street. Furniture fanatics revel in the fact that the legendary designer Charles Eames once had a studio on Abbot Kinney (known by locals as "The Street"), which explains why certain rare pieces of Eames's furniture still pop up from time to time in nearby stores. Places like Abbot's Habit, 1401 Abbot Kinney (tel. 310/399-1171), a funky coffeehouse, and Daisy Art, 1312 Abbot Kinney (tel. 310/396-8463; www.daisyarts.com), known for its stunning handmade Italian crafted books, journals and calendars draw bohemian-types from all over Los Angeles and beyond. Designer clothing, folk art, toys, home accessory stores, funky coffeehouses and Food Network-caliber restaurants are all located on this charming mile-long stretch.
Cambridge's Central Square
Of course Harvard Square is the place for cool college sweatshirts and textbooks, but nearby Central Squares is the place for a gritty mix of thrift shops, used record stores, and used and antique furniture stores. Stores such as Bowl & Board, 1063 Massachusetts Ave. (tel. 617/661-0350; www.bowlandboard.com) for home gifts, Susanna, 1776 Massachusetts Ave. (tel. 617/492-0334) and Looks, 1607 Massachusetts Ave. (tel. 617/491-4251) for hip clothing, and Stereo Jack's, 1686 Massachusetts Ave. (tel. 617/497-9447; www.stereojacks.com) for rare, hard-to-find, used jazz and blues records make the Harvard Square area a focal point of Boston shopping. A delectable mix of bars, nightclubs, and ethnic restaurants, such as the whimsical tapas spot Cuchi Cuchi, 795 Main Street (tel. 617/864 2929; www.cuchicuchi.cc), serve as fantastic diversions from shopping when a break is absolutely necessary.
Chicago's Wicker Park/Bucktown
The word trendy doesn't do justice to this, the hippest shopping neighborhood in Chicago. Once a haven for Polish immigrants, Bucktown was named for the goats that dwelled in many residents' back yards. Today, a diverse community of artists, hipsters, clubs, restaurants, boutiques and bars exist in this neo-bohemian area whose hub of shopping activity is Milwaukee, Damen and North Avenues. There is no Gap here, only stores like p.45, 1643 N. Damen Ave. (tel. 773/862-4523; www.p45.com) for women's clothing made by local, up-and-coming designers, such as Sarah McGuire and Eugenia Kim; Una Mae's Freak Boutique, 1422 N. Milwaukee Ave. (tel. 773/276-7002) for kooky vintage clothing; and Stitch, 1723 N. Damen Ave. (tel. 773/782-1570) for gorgeous, one-of-a-kind leather accessories and fabulous gifts for under $50. Half the fun in this area is exploring.
New Orleans's Magazine Street
It's ironic that the street is named Magazine: Although the name was originally inspired by a "magazin" -- a warehouse that Spanish Governor Esteban Rodriguez Miro y Sabater built to house export products -- this stretch is often featured in hip fashion and lifestyle magazines all over the world. A gritty, albeit eclectic street, worlds away from Bourbon, Magazine Street is known for its century-old warehouses selling housewares, pottery, period furniture, chandeliers, clothing, books, fine papers, linens, glass, toys, 1800s antiques, art, clothing and jewelry. Everything from shabby chic to purely posh is to be had at stores like Bep's Antiques & Music, 2051 Magazine Street (tel. 504-525-7726; www.bepsantiques.com), Jim Russell Records, 1837 Magazine St. (tel. 504/522-2602; www.jimrussellrecords.com) for rare vinyl recordings, and Winky's, 2038 Magazine St. (tel. 504/569-1020), for hip threads for children and adults. After scoping all the antiques and boutiques on Magazine, you'll be well deserved of a few beignets at Cafe Du Monde Coffee Stand, 1039 Decatur St. (tel. 504-525-4544) in the French Quarter.
Atlanta's Buckhead/West Village
Forget the shopping malls. For more of an outing than any mall will provide, explore Atlanta's trendiest shopping neighborhood, in the heart of Buckhead, west of Peachtree and Roswell Roads and between West Paces Ferry Road and East Andrews Drive. In this area, known as the West Village, you'll find a slew of quaint and unusual boutiques, galleries, and restaurants. Stores like Crash and Burn, 1524 Hannah (tel. 404/522-BURN; www.crashandburnatlanta.com) sell the latest in ska, punk and rockabilly music as well as shoes, boots, T-shirts and accessories. And galleries like the Lagerquist, 3235 Paces Ferry Place (tel. 404/261-8273; www.lagerquistgallery.net), and Urban Frontier, 3210 Paces Ferry Place (tel. 404/240-0960) bring in the arty crowds. Antiquing is also uber popular in the West Village, where shops such as Addington Osborne, Ltd., 3226 Roswell Road NW (tel. 404/240-0291) join nearly 50 other antiques, furniture and home accessories stores in the area.
Austin's West End
Antiques are to the West End what gasoline is to a Chevron. This area, located on West 6th Street west of North Lamar Boulevard and extending to West Lynn Street, is teeming with boutiques and stores housed in tidy cottages and storefronts built back in the '30s selling art, antiques and collectibles. One such place is Whit Hanks Antiques, 1009 W. 6th St. (tel. 512/478-2101), where more than 70 top-notch dealers gather with their priceless stashes of fine crystal, vases, neoclassical columns, Chinese cabinets and more. Nearby is Marco Polo's Attic, 1105 N. Lamar. (tel. 512/236-1320; www.marcopolosattic.com), a massive space featuring fine antiques hailing from exotic places such as Tibet, Morocco, Thailand and India.
Houston's The Heights
Originally planned as a rural retreat from the frenetic pace of 1887 Houston, The Heights is now a shopping district that offers window shoppers and determined buyers a fantastic array of galleries, shops and restaurants. In addition to parks and gorgeous Victorian homes, The Heights boasts everything from antique stores such as Chippendale, Eastlake, Louis & Phyfe, 250 W. 19th St. (tel. 713/869-8633), to trendy, cutting-edge clothing stores like Jubilee, 321 W. 19th St. (tel. 713/869-5885). Found somewhere in between the mix are vintage stores, art galleries and curiosity shops selling anything from the obvious to the bizarre. On December 4-5, you can enjoy First Saturday, an open house and tour of the neighborhood; visit www.heightsfirstsaturday.com.
Brooklyn's Williamsburg
A decade ago, if you would have told any chic Manhattanite they'd be crossing the Brooklyn Bridge to go shopping, they would have laughed in your face. Today, those people are eating their words as Williamsburg, Brooklyn, has become one of the state's hottest shopping neighborhoods. Williamsburg is now known for everything from vintage clothing, as seen in stores like Beacon's Closet, 88 N. 11th St. (tel. 718/486-0816; https://beaconscloset.com), which also buys and trades clothing on a daily basis, and Fluke, 186 Bedford Ave. (tel. 718/486-3166), with clothing priced between $8 and $50, to edgy, hipster clothing as seen on the racks of Landing, 242 Wythe Ave. (tel. 718/218-9449). Stores like MiniMiniMarket, 218 Bedford Ave. (tel. 718/302-9337; www.miniminimarket.com) carry everything from Hello Kitty notebooks and gothic platform books to laminated newspaper purses and clothing by local designers. For all your funky fabulous home furniture and accessories. Two Jakes, 320 Wythe Ave. (tel. 718/782-7780; www.twojakes.com) warehouses more than 10,000 square feet of inventory, including 20th century modern and vintage pieces by Herman Miller, Knoll, Steelaces, Eames and Kittenger. The store also offers services for reupholstering, metal stripping and design help.
San Francisco's Hayes Valley
According to Bay Area hipsters, Hayes Valley is an area that has undergone a Times Square-esque renaissance, transforming itself from a seedy crime and drug riddled area to one that is now a haven for trendy fashion boutiques, funky art galleries, interior decorating shops, great restaurants and cool nightspots. What makes Hayes Valley such a great place to explore is its diversity, which juxtaposes hangouts like the uber hip, high end bar Absinthe Brasserie and Bar with places like Powell's Place, a soul food restaurant where an entire meal costs the same as a single drink in Absinthe. Eclectic stores such as The African Outlet, 524 Octavia St. (tel. 415/864-3576) sell everything from incense and woven fabrics to Ethiopian prayer books and drums. Alabaster, 597 Hayes St. (tel. 415/558-0482; www.alabastersf.com) has old Italian alabaster lamps from the '30s and '40s as well as late 1920s French Art Deco furniture and Vietnamese laquer boxes. For oenophiles, Arlequin Wine Merchant, 384 Hayes St. (tel. 415/863-1104; www.amphorawine.com) saves you a trip to Napa Valley, with their incredible stock of local vineyards, as well as international selections. Also from across the globe are the goods sold at Buu, 506 Hayes St. (tel. 415/626-1503), where glassware, candles, watches, women's clothes, jewelry, lotions and perfumes hail from Europe and Japan. For jet setters, Flight 001, 525 Hayes (tel. 415/487-1001; www.flight001.com) fills its 747-shaped interior with globes, maps, watches, luggage, and other travel accessories made for traveling more fashionably. Throw in countless other clothing stores, stores devoted to Asian culture, psychic curiosities and shoes and a few fabulous bars such as Place Pigalle, 520 Hayes St. (tel. 415/552-2671), a boutique wine and microbrew hangout, and you'll understand why shoppers consider this the Valley of the Gods, not the dolls.