Too many travelers assume shopping in New Orleans equals unspeakable T-shirts from the French Quarter. Wrong! New Orleans is a creative town that attracts innovative entrepreneurs and, as such, features all sorts of lovely vintage antiques, cutting-edge boutiques, functional art and amusing kitsch – and generally lacks the worst chain-store blah.
For the true-blue shopper, New Orleans doesn’t get much better than Magazine St. For some 6 miles the street courses through the Warehouse District and along the riverside edge of the Garden District and Uptown, lined nearly the entire way with small shops selling antiques, art, contemporary fashions, vintage clothing, and other odds and ends. The street hits its peak in the Lower Garden District (near Jackson Ave), the Garden District (between 1st and 7th Sts) and Uptown (from Antonine St to Napoleon Ave). No car? Take bus 11.
There are some really great awful souvenirs out there: T-shirts, foodstuffs (you’re in hot-sauce heaven, here), Mardi Gras masks, stripper outfits, voodoo paraphernalia, French Quarter–style street signs and, of course, beads, beads, beads. Besides the unintentional kitsch there’s quite a bit of intentional tackiness – this city seems to know how to mock itself.
Music makes New Orleans go round, and this is a fantastic town for buying original CDs, vinyl and the like, plus very high-quality instruments. A large literary scene has resulted in a good number of independent bookshops, some of which have evolved into unofficial anchors of their respective communities. And visual artists will find no shortage of stores selling supplies for their work.
Antiques are big business here, and sometimes it feels like you can’t walk past parts of Royal, Chartres, lower Decatur and Magazine Streets without tripping on some backyard, warehouse or studio space exhibiting beautiful examples of found furniture. Pieces tend to be relatively cheap compared to the antiques action in similarly sized metropolises, and the genre goes beyond chairs and armoires to lots of old maps, watches, prints, books and similar doodads.
French Quarter Antiques shops, souvenir stalls and art galleries.
Faubourg Marigny and Bywater Arty, eclectic emporiums and vintage.
CBD & Warehouse District Art galleries, clothing and shopping malls.
Garden, Lower Garden and Central City Boutiques, antiques and vintage.
Uptown & Riverbend More boutiques, plus student stores.
Mid-City, Bayou St John and City Park Some neat boutiques and specialty stores.
Tremé-Lafitte Light on shopping; check out the Quarter or Mid-City.
Euclid Records Awesome vinyl and old posters; knowledgeable staff.
Potsalot Get a mug, plate, vase or sink that you’ll treasure a lifetime.
Kitchen Witch It’s a bookstore – dedicated to cooking books! Brilliant.
Fifi Mahony’s Wild wigs and costuming craziness.
Tchoup Industries Handmade bags and accessories made from local materials.
SecondLine Art & Antiques Great chance to meet and mingle with the artists, and support local talent.
Bywater Bargain Center An endless emporium of found treasures and bric-a-brac from around the world.
James H Cohen & Sons Holds an enormous vault of coins, swords, maps and other objects culled from the past.
Moss Antiques Decorative arts, historic furniture and other home accoutrements.
Magazine Antique Mall Never-ending rows of trinkets that seem to have been culled from a collective city attic.
Le Garage Just what it sounds like: an endless supply of odd antiques.
Faulkner House Books The former home of the great Southern writer is now an iconic indie bookstore.
Crescent City Comics A great comic and graphic-novel store with friendly staff who know their geeky trade.
Kitchen Witch Vintage and first-edition cookbooks are the stock in trade at this speciality shop.
Tubby & Coos Every city deserves a bookshop dedicated to science fiction, fantasy and children’s books.
Euclid Records This Bywater shop is one of the iconic local record shops of the South.
Disko Obscura Funky niche shop specializing in underground synth.
Louisiana Music Factory The shop that sets the standard in collecting and selling local music.
Peaches Records & Tapes A French Quarter record shop that loves to introduce tourists to local artists.
Palace Market A boutique art market for those seeking a unique gift from New Orleans.
Simon of New Orleans Bright and beautiful hand-painted signs with cheeky messages.
Louisiana Music Factory If you need some local music, you’ve come to the right store.
Home Malone Filled to the brim with New Orleans–inspired gifts and goodness.
5 Press Gallery Original art by students and alumni of a local arts-magnet school.
I.J. Reilly’s Awesome gifts and objects d’art with an identifiable New Orleans twist.
Funky Monkey Cool, college-age-oriented clothing in the heart of Magazine St.
Trashy Diva Vintage dresses with a ’40s and ’50s feel and lots of attitude.
Bloomin’ Deals This store, run by the Junior League, offers genuine cut-rate prices for used clothes.
LA46 Funky vintage deals at the edge of Faubourg Marigny.