Shopping in Anoka

Googly eyes. Gas masks. Mannequin arms. Blowguns. Ax-Man Surplus Stores dares crafters, DIY enthusiasts, and tinkerers of all stripes to dream bigger, better, and weirder with an enormous stock of new surplus items. Each shop's collection of oddities and odds-and-ends resides in open-air barrels and on easily browseable shelves. Bins entice shoppers to rummage through metal bits in search of the next piece to a welded sculpture, and other aisles hold several decades’ worth of electronic wiring, fans, speakers, and fuses, perfect for building a robot that every generation can relate to. Frequent shoppers are rewarded with a new truckload of treasures every week, along with an ever-changing collection of signs that artistically warn of the hazards of shoplifting and suggest off-label uses for the merchandise. World Famous Design Junkies praised Ax-Man for its signage and its selection alike in 2009, calling it “the greatest place to buy do-hickeys in the entire world.”

Entrepreneur and frame designer David Ulrich has cleared the vision of Twin Cities citizens since 1969. Besides creating a wealth of exclusive eyeglasses frames, such as the sleek 8 Below Zero collection and the retro-inspired Studebaker line, Ulrich opened Spectacle Shoppe to serve customers’ optic needs. There, teams of certified opticians accurately assess prescriptions and fashion single-vision, progressive, or bifocal lenses in the in-house lab. Clients confer with the staff to design custom frames or choose from the shop's thousands of one-of-a-kind frames, vintage cat's-eye styles, and double monocles.

The 2nd Annual Minnesota Monthly GrillFest is all about teaching you how to grill like a master. The festival showcases the latest grill models, barbecuing techniques, and succulent barbecue recipes, arming you with everything you need to wow your family and friends’ taste buds. Oh and, you’ll get to chow down on samples from local barbecue gurus and wash down the sauce with swigs of beer, all to a soundtrack of live local music.

Vendors pour samples of Goose Island and Schell beer and summery wines from Barefoot and Amara, perfect for pairing with bites from Butcher & the Boar and Down Under BBQ. Grilling exhibitions from the Minnesota Pork Board and The Home Depot demonstrate mouth-watering recipes and grilling techniques, such as searing perfect cross-hatch grill marks and asking the grill nicely to heat up to the proper temperature. Festivalgoers also gain access to discounts on grills and grilling equipment, so you can take what you’ve learned to your own backyard.

Midwest Mountaineering can trace its origins back to 1970, when avid rock climber Rod Johnson found himself frustrated with the lack of climbing equipment available in Minneapolis. When Johnson returned from a voyage to California with a backpack full of gear, he decided to sell his accumulated goodies to friends and local climbers out of his own kitchen, calling his operation The Johnson Company. As his business grew, so did its inventory—expanding to include tents, skis, kayaks, and canoes. Rod’s business quickly became too big for his kitchen, eventually landing at its current location under the name Midwest Mountaineering.

Today, the store continues to equip outdoor adventurers with quality gear and apparel. A cheerful blue-and-red sign splays across its historic storefront, which houses racks of apparel and specialty equipment for an array of extreme sports that includes long-distance backpacking, paddling, and ice climbing. Kayaks and canoes, which customers may try out before purchasing during regular boat demonstrations, dangle from ceilings next to life preservers, and shoes, coats, and athletic gear line the exposed-brick walls. An enthusiastic staff of outdoor aficionados stands by to offer customers tips on finding optimal products and the best clothing lines to impress fashion-conscious wildlife, as well as lead regular instructional workshops, hands-on clinics, and special events.

As the state's flagship news organization, the Star Tribune's steadfast coverage of local, national, and worldwide events predates the city’s fire department. Tracing its lineage all the way back to 1867, the newspaper easily displaced its contemporary competitors, signal fires and news-bearing sparrow hawks, establishing a tradition of trusted reporting. The newspaper enhances its regular chronicles of Twin Cities news with sections focused on specific geographic regions and suburbs while dutifully drawing national and global politics into perspective. Thoughtful editorials challenge inquiring minds or put news into context, and extensive lifestyle, entertainment, and sports sections keep readers abreast of the latest developments in leisure.

When Max Schneiderman began his family’s business, it was a grocery store first and foremost. Then Schneiderman’s began to carry a few furniture items and slowly these grew to overshadow the cans of soup and produce until the furnishings finally swallowed the foodstuffs whole.

Now, Schneiderman's Furniture has spread from the Iron Range to spots throughout the Twin Cities. The showrooms stock local and foreign furniture from more than 100 manufacturers. Many items in stock can be customized in color and texture to match a homeowner's current obsession with plastic flamingos.