Art Stores
A list of the coolest art shops around.
Adobe Books
The Mission - San Francisco, CA United StatesWhen a local artist wanted to do an art installation by rearranging all the books in a bookstore by color, Adobe Books agreed and the result was magical. Can you imagine a corporate store ever agreeing to such a thing? The delightful bookstore...
Amaridian
SoHo - New York, NY United StatesIt's a fair bet that most of wont get to visit Africa in our lifetime, but that doesn't mean we can't get a taste of immense cultural richness of the continent. Enter Amaridian, conceived by a native South African and featuring the...
Arundel
Mid City/Beverly - Los Angeles, CA United StatesDo you really need a 150,000 square foot mega-bookstore to have something for everybody? Arundel Books proves that you don't. The store stocks new, used and rare books but does so in way as to not artificially bulk up their shelves with any...
Bluebottle Art Gallery and Store
Capitol Hill - Seattle, WA United StatesFor many in the fine art world, functional art is anathema. For Bluebottle functional art seems a perfect, easy opportunity to introduce people to talented local artists. Come in to look at a coin purse, creative postcards and greeting cards and...
Compound
Old Town/Chinatown - Portland, OR United StatesReader Suggested: Dope kicks and art gallery.
Crewest
Downtown - Los Angeles, CA United StatesGraffiti art meet fine art. Before Crewest we more used to seeing graffiti on freeway overpasses and building faces. The airy, shop/gallery is a one stop shop for graffiti art. There are paints and caps, t-shirts and hoodies, books and posters,...
David Mirvish Books
The Annex - Toronto, ON CanadaThere's a subtle art to picking the perfect coffee table book--it must be substantive, but easy to digest, intriguing, yet relatable. David Mirvish Books has about a thousand iterations of the perfect coffee table book. For those in the art...
Distill
Distillery District - Toronto, ON CanadaReader Suggested: Our mandate is to show the individual handmade works by over 100 Canadian emerging artists/craftspeople/designers contributing to contemporary material and visual culture. There is everything from clothing, jewellery and accessories to ceramics, glass, furniture to paintings, mixed media and...
Equator Books
Abbot Kinney - Venice, CA United StatesEquator Books is one of the most beautiful bookstores you're likely to come across. The center of the tall, airy store includes a gallery wall featuring monthly exhibitions of original artwork. The gallery space is flanked on either side by...
Family
Fairfax - Los Angeles, CA United StatesThink of Family as the official library of a sprawling, makeshift family of artists from Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, or Tokyo. Here the staggering creative output of the talented group is cataloged and celebrated. Hard to come by art...
Gargoyles, Grotesques and Chimeras
Back Bay - Boston, MA United StatesA few steps away from the hustle bustle of Newbury Street lies a gothic, multi-denominational church's dusty storeroom. Gargoyles, Grotesques, and Chimeras is truly a store unlike any other. The space is full of gothic, often religious,...
Giant Robot
West LA - Los Angeles, CA United StatesIf Giant Robot the magazine began as an ode to Asian pop culture, then Giant Robot the store is now a mecca for the same. Alongside copies of the latest issue of GR you'll find all sorts of pop-y Asian items (and some American stuff that is...
Giant Robot
Haight - San Francisco, CA United StatesIf Giant Robot the magazine began as an ode to Asian pop culture, then Giant Robot the store is now a mecca for the same. Alongside copies of the latest issue of GR you'll find all sorts of pop-y Asian items (and some American stuff that is...
Giant Robot
Silverlake - Los Angeles, CA United StatesIf Giant Robot the magazine began as an ode to Asian pop culture, then Giant Robot the store is now a mecca for the same. Alongside copies of the latest issue of GR you'll find all sorts of pop-y Asian items (and some American stuff that is...
Giant Robot
East Village - New York, NY United StatesIf Giant Robot the magazine began as an ode to Asian pop culture, then Giant Robot the store is now a mecca for the same. Alongside copies of the latest issue of GR you'll find all sorts of pop-y Asian items (and some American stuff that is...
GR2
West LA - Los Angeles, CA United StatesIf Giant Robot the magazine began as an ode to Asian pop culture, then Giant Robot the store is now a mecca for the same. Alongside copies of the latest issue of GR you'll find all sorts of pop-y Asian items (and some American stuff that is...
Here
Stokes Croft - Bristol, United KingdomReader Suggested: Here Gallery showcases indie designers, zines and more. They also have a gallery that features many up and coming artists!
Igloo Shop
Little Italy - San Diego, CA United StatesReader Suggested: By far one of the coolest (and least pretentious) stores in downtown San Diego. They carry a pretty fresh collection of T-shirts, sweatshirts, handmade prints, and other accessories (such as limited-edition skateboards and ping-pong paddles). For the record, I do not own this store–-I'm...
INOPERAbLE
Neubau - Vienna, AustriaReader Suggested: This place is cool. Tons of small-run shirts, posters, "stuff" like playing cards, etc... The theme is street art and there are monthly gallery events to bring all the artists together.
Kobo
Capitol Hill - Seattle, WA United StatesReader Suggested: I like this store because it features modern goods with a strong love of nature and design, which is the way of the Japanese aesthetic. With two locations in Seattle, one in Capitol Hill and a larger historic store in the International District...