South Main (Soma) and Commercial are some of the coolest places to shop in Vancouver right now.
Misc Shops
Doggy Style Deli
If you love your dog, you’ll go here.
985 Denman. (604) 488-0388.
Mountain Equipment Co-Op - Adventure gear
MEC has absolutely everything you need to go hiking, camping, cycling or whatever else on the wet coast, plus their website has information about the outdoors to get you started. MEC is cool because they offer their own brand of gear at great prices, and they're a non-profit Canadian organization dedicated to getting people out into nature and encouraging environmental responsability!
http://www.mec.ca - online store, activity info, resources etc ↑
Little Sister’s - Queer literature & media
Little Sisters is well known for its challenges to Canadian Customs’ right to censor literature it deems obscene. These challenges have been brought on due to biases in the censorship of queer literature and pornography that are not present in similar heterosexual materials. For this reason Little Sister’s gay, lesbian bisexual and transgendered books (fiction, x-rated and academic), gifts, video rentals, clothes, music and art among other things are all the more interesting.
1238 Davie Street. (604) 669-1753.
Voltage - Bikes
This place specializes in electric bikes and scooters but for some reason it also sells tee shirts and plastic toys.
4346 Main St. 604-709-8214.
Womyn’s Ware - Sex shop
Consistently voted the best sex shop in Vancouver, Womyn’s Ware is a woman owned and operated business that focuses on empowering and educating women and their sexual partners. Womyn’s Ware offers seminars, an advice column, and unlike most other sex toy stores will never sell you poor quality or dangerous products. Plus they have an emphasis on fair trade.
896 Commercial Dr. (604) 254-2543 or toll free 1-866-WYM-WARE.
Ethical Local Clothing!
Smoking Lily
Yes it’s in Vancouver too. In a bigger store. With more stuff.
3634 Main Street
Pleasant Girl
If you are pleasant, and a girl, this is the place to shop. Seriously though, Pleasant Girl sells unique up and coming designers’ clothing, including a lot of Vancouver designers.
2539 Main Street.
Twigg and Hottie
Possibly one of the coolest names for a clothing store ever (named after owners Glencora Twigg and Christine Hotton). Twigg and Hottie showcases original Vancouver fashion and reworked vintage.
Welcome Home Eugene Choo.
Kinda pricey, Kinda fantastic. Beautiful designed clothing with a focus on Vancouver and essentially Canadian designers.
Main and 21st.
Music Shops
Zulu Records
Remember in the Movie High Fidelity and that guy comes in and is looking for the song “I Just called to Say I Love You” and Barry refuses to sell it to him because he thinks it’s such a terrible song? And it was a really funny scene, because who would do that? Yeah. Well no one is probably going to make a scene but, you can expect a lot of eye rolls if the staff disapproves of your record choices. On the other hand, the selection is good, and the decor is all cool and retro with a spiral staircase and vintage arcade games.
1972 West 4th Ave. (604) 738-3232.
Scratch Records
Scratch isn’t quite as intimidating as Zulu despite the long hallway that gives some people the shivers. I find the long hallway to be a good place to swipe band posters unwatched. Scratch is usually cheaper than Zulu. It’s smaller too, with very little natural light, probably to protect the deathly pallor of all the indie kids looking for, I don’t know, whatever it is they look for.
726 Richards St. (604) 687-6355.
Red Cat Records.
Maybe it’s the pet cat that hangs out in the back all day, or maybe it’s because the store is so small and cozy, but Red Cat is one of the user-friendliest record stores in Vancouver. The people who work there, make conversation with the customers, and sometimes they even smile, once I even saw one of them laugh.
4307 Main St. (604) 708-9422.
Virgin Megastore.
So maybe you’re tired of record store staff being shocked that you haven’t heard the latest EP by Looking at you Looking at Me Looking Back at You, or maybe you don’t want to spend twenty-two dollars for a Smiths CD when you can get it on sale for fifteen, or maybe you’re looking for Mariah Carey’s Greatest Hits. Either way this is the place to go. You’ll also find DVDs, books, clothing, and of course stuffed animals.
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