Page 32 - 2018 Travel Guide to California

SHOPPING
BY LENORE GREINER
A Statewide Bazaar
High fashion, outlet bargains, and everything in between
Mesopotamian palace. And super shopping
opportunities entice savvy shoppers in mil-
lions of square feet of retail space.
CALIFORNIA
SHOPPING
With California’s cultural and
agricultural riches, when you
come here you can count on
shopping sprees in one-of-a-kind,
hole-in-the-wall shops to the
grandest department stores and
shopping districts. All of the top
brands are here, from Neiman
Marcus to Nordstrom to
Bloomingdale’s, and famous
districts from Orange County
malls to Rodeo Drive in Beverly
Hills to San Francisco’s Union
Square will give you plenty to
explore.
The Golden State’s iconic malls,
bohemian shops and posh boutiques can
astound even the most jaded sophisticate.
An enticing range of California’s eclectic
creativity awaits visitors throughout the
state, from theme park collectibles to
homegrown surfing gear to fine wine.
Foodies can sample fresh-made cheeses in
artisanal food shops. Fashionistas will love
San Francisco’s luxurious haute couture
haunts. And art lovers can bring home an
original California landscape from a red-
wood-scented artists’ enclave.
California shopping safaris may entail
sighting a celebrity in a Los Angeles bou-
tique, arriving at a mall by boat or hunting
bargains behind the walls of a recreated
SoCal Glamour
Malls sprawl throughout Los Angeles,
crowned by Rodeo Drive’s stratospheric
price tags. In the historic Jewelry District,
one of the country’s largest, you’ll find sig-
nificant bargains in fine jewelry at prices up
to 70 percent less than those in Beverly
Hills. More than 1,500 jewelry showrooms
stand roughly on 5th and 8th streets to the
north and south, and Broadway and Olive
to the east and west. Behind a facade of bas-
reliefs of Babylonian princes and heraldic
griffins, the Citadel Outlets holds 700,000
square feet of retail bargains inside a one-
time 1929 tire plant modeled on an ancient
Assyrian palace. And between the Farmer’s
Market and The Grove shopping center, the
Grove Trolley provides shoppers free rides
along First Street.
The West Hollywood Design District fea-
tures high-end fashion, interior design,
furniture, decorative arts and luxury brand
stores on Melrose Avenue and Robertson and
Beverly boulevards. Sunset Boulevard’s world
famous Amoeba Music is the nation’s largest
music emporium, stocking an overwhelming
selection of vinyl, CDs, tapes, posters and col-
lectibles—at rock-bottom prices.
In Santa Monica’s breezy, three-block
pedestrian shopping mecca, Third Street
Promenade, find the usual mall suspects,
30 2018 T R AV E L G U I D E TO C A L I F O R N I A
R SCAPINELLO/SHUTTERSTOCK; VISIT CARMEL. OPPOSITE: MORRO BAY CVB