Shopping in Albany

Behind Magical Child's enchanting green and gold, Main Street–esque storefront, sunlight floods shelves of educational and imagination-stimulating toys, books, and games. Towering stuffed animals peer down on train sets—the way Clifford the Dog peers down on real trains—and puzzles from Melissa and Doug, alongside packages of Legos and Hasbro board games. A cornucopia of colorful wares permeates the shop, in which eyes can turn in no direction without meeting the glare of an alluring item. Racks of gently used clothing outfit children of up to 6 years of age, and a selection of more mature gag gifts and brainteasers grants older patrons diversion from humdrum office lives and asparagus-steaming socials.

Shipments of clothing arrive daily at Miss Scarlett Boutique's two locations, and each box brims with designer fashions for women and children. A majority of packages originate from Ya Los Angeles, a company that produces on-trend fashions for women of all body types and fruit of all women types. Miss Scarlett Boutique also carries apparel and home goods from Anthropologie, which is known for its boho-chic style.

Passonno Paints has equipped brush wielders with high-quality paint for more than 80 years. A friendly, knowledgeable staff helps patrons navigate thousands of hues from series such as Rustic Colors and The Historic Colour Collection, which includes all 149 colors of President Lincoln’s pet rainbow. In addition to transforming dwellings with vivid colors and equipping windows with blinds, Passonno Paints has also created an award-winning latex-paint-recycling program.