Best Bargain Record Bin
MetaVinyl
Upon entering MetaVinyl, it’s immediately clear you’re in the connoisseur’s domain: the walls straight ahead are lined with an impeccably curated selection of new and used records. If you’re in the mood for a hunt, though, make a quarter turn to the right and rifle through the rack of dollar records. There you’ll find Eric Clapton next to Bill Cosby comedy albums, Oklahoma! performed by the original cast sidling up to Death Row records and Styx rubbing up against Baroque Harp. Legend has it the stash started as excessive inventory bought when The Krate on Pacific Avenue sold its vinyl inventory. At $1 a pop, it’s a low-risk way to try on some new musical tastes. (TS)
320 Cedar St, Santa Cruz.
Best Health Food/Convenience Store Hybrid
Food Bin
Sometimes I call the Food Bin an organic 7-Eleven. It’s small, convenient and open late. OK, it can be pricey, like a convenience store, too. But the Food Bin is so very Santa Cruz. Where else can you get raw milk, kombucha on tap and vegan chocolate while the eccentric staff spins Joni Mitchell on the stereo? (SH)
1130 Mission St, Santa Cruz. 831.423.5526
Best Non-Independently Owned Bargain Shopping
Cost Plus World Market
Snap up those incredibly cheap little mini-champagnes clustered around the checkout counters, or collect ridiculously gaudy and fun jewelry from the wall of cut-rate imports. Replace those kitchen throw rugs for under $14 and add to your decent, but not too decent, stemware from the well-stocked glassware section. Holiday special cookies, candies and tablewares practically slap your eyes senseless and hop into your shopping cart all by themselves. For holiday shopping that goes light years beyond Peeps and mere panettone, Cost Plus just plain excels. And while you’re there, yes, you really do need to check out some unknown New Zealand grenache for under $10. Why not? Everybody else does. (CW)
450 River St, Santa Cruz. 831.466.9188
Best Place to Pick Up Boots, A Buckle and A Tee
Idle Hands Dry Goods
It’s been trickling for a while, but now it’s at full tilt: Americana in all its dusty glory is back in style. The kids are listening to Hank, wearing boots that were made for working and rocking belt buckles that would make an old school truck-driver proud. Keeping Santa Cruz in the mix, the fine folks at Idle Hands have created a roots-fabulous, one-stop Americana shop. They have choice vintage T-shirts, boots to make a hillbilly swoon, one-of-a-kind trinkets and an atmosphere that just oozes down-home charm. (CJ)
803 Pacific Ave, Santa Cruz. 831.466.9305
Best Place to Get Off The Grid
Mountain Feed and Farm Supply
So eclectic is the selection at the little compound just off Highway 9 in Ben Lomond that this award could just as easily be called Best Place to Ready Yourself for The Apocalypse And/Or Find A Nice Gift for Your Mother-in-Law. There are four buildings on the property. In the first, bags of pet food and litter are stacked floor to ceiling next to collars and leashes; in the next you can find bonemeal, seeds and saplings for your organic garden; the cozy cottage in front is filled with gift soaps, candles, letterpress cards and jewelry; and tucked in back is the homesteading shop, where the shelves are lined with guides to curing your own meats, culturing your own cheese, canning, jamming, keeping bees and collecting honey—everything you need to fill your home with sweetness and light come what may, be it the apocalypse or your sweetie’s mama. (TS)
9550 Hwy 9, Ben Lomond. 831.336.8876
Best Rock & Roll Gear For A Toddler
Baby Shoppe Santa Cruz
Some kids are made of sugar and spice and puppy dog tails and all that, but here in Santa Cruz, our kids are made of awesome swells, Santa Cruz pride and a premature appreciation of local culture. To get your youngster outfitted in the styles worthy of the hip and happening scenester he or she will surely become, there’s Baby Shoppe. From rock & roll onesies to the classic Santa Cruz red dot toddler tees, they’ve got the goods to gear up the littlest ones in style. (CJ)
1101 B Pacific Ave, Santa Cruz. 831.600.8406
110 B Stockton Ave, Capitola. 831.479.9062
Best Source for Vintage Postcards
The Antique Faire
For appreciators of the old, weird and wonderful, collecting vintage postcards is a totally addictive and affordable way to get a hold of some unique remnants of the sepia-toned days of old, and our local once-a-month antique faire is a great place to get a collection started. From one-off photo cards featuring faces long forgotten to hand-tinted tourist cards from the terrific ‘’0s and even tintypes from the Civil War, the faire is a treasure-trove of photographic and postal delights, but be warned: it’s hard to buy just one. (CJ)
Lincoln and Cedar streets, Santa Cruz, the second Sunday of every month.
Best Textile Treasure Trove
Rivendell
A trip to Rivendell is an adventure in textiles, exotic jewelry and an extensive selection of Chinese teas. Tucked away on Squid Row, Rivendell beckons to the shopper who would rather adorn his or her living room with African batiks than whatever’s in store at the Pottery Barn. Aside from the awe-inspiring selection of rugs and fabric trimmings, the $10 sale rack and the $2 sale basket, where I scored my silk paisley pants, are especially noteworthy. (MW)
Squid Row Alley, Santa Cruz. 831.425.8522
Best Westside Gourmet Shopping
Westside New Leaf
Living on the Westside, I don’t like to leave my zip code, and that means I was willing to suffer through the too-narrow aisles of the old New Leaf Market on Mission Boulevard. So when the bigger and better New Leaf opened on Fair Avenue, I felt like I’d earned it. The new New Leaf has it all: bigger aisles, more stuff, roast chickens, a bigger wine selection, and my favorite, the seriously addictive coastal kale salad. (SH)
1101 Fair Ave, Santa Cruz. 831.426.1306
—Paul M. Davis, Maria Grusauskas, Stett Holbrook, Traci Hukill, Cat Johnson, Eric Johnson, Stephen Kessler, Tessa Stuart, Christina Waters, Maya Weeks
