Shopping in Arlington

When she opened the first Redenta’s Garden location in 1992, Ruth Kinler made sure to hire only experienced gardeners. She believed then—and still does—that her employees should be as passionate about the ins and outs of gardening as they are about frolicking among the first buds of spring. Very little has changed in the ensuing two decades; the shop continues to specialize in 100% organic plants and delight area gardeners with its unique varietals. Among the fragrant aisles, one can expect to find rare annuals growing alongside native and water-wise plants, the latter celebrated for their disciplined sipping habits.

As organic gardeners themselves, the store’s staff educates customers on seasonal blooms and holds regular classes and events. Though class topics vary, they often include helpful instruction in areas such as organic vegetable gardening, cooking with herbs and vegetables, and safely removing one’s hand from a flytrap. Redenta’s Garden also assists homeowners with modern landscape design that aims for low-maintenance, eco-friendly solutions.:

Since 1972, Mountain Sports has been furnishing outdoor enthusiasts with a wide range of apparel and gear designed to withstand extreme environments. Their wide selection of rock-climbing, camping, kayaking, and snow-sports gear includes Patagonia and North Face apparel, tents and camp stoves, and sleeping bags.

Teeming with precisely organized lighting fixtures, Passion Lighting's 9,000-square-foot retail show room—a multiple-year finalist of Residential Lighting magazine’s Showroom of the Year award—is designed to demystify home lighting and interior design for the everyday customer. Owner Bruce Paul—one of only 125 ALA-certified lighting consultants in the nation—uses his years of illumination expertise to help customers solve their interior-design conundrums. In addition to his company’s website, Paul maintains the video blog LightingGourmet.com, where he doles out expert advice on household lighting strategies and irresistible video clips of kittens installing solar panels.

Browsing the spacious showrooms at Heritage Furniture Galleries’ two locations truly ignites the imagination to start thinking about what your living room or bedroom could look like. Throughout the space, sofas, sectionals, bedroom sets, and tables crafted by brands such as Coaster, Ashley, and Broyhill sit in cozy arrangements. Shoppers can mentally place a new couch in their family room and choose which beanie-baby portraits to display on nesting coffee tables. The helpful staff can come up with decorating ideas and suggest pieces to suit any aesthetic, whether contemporary or traditional, masculine or feminine.

For more than 30 years, 1st Eye Care's trained team of optical technicians has sharpened eyes’ style and focus. State-of-the-art diagnostic equipment assists the technicians during eye exams, which check each eye for signs of glaucoma and clear fingerprints from smudged lenses. 

Appointments don’t stop there—the staff prides itself on outfitting each pair of eyes with its complimentary frame, and they will take as long as necessary to walk each customer through the boutique’s eclectic collection. Personal style and current trends converge in frames from designers such as Prada, Coach, and Nautica and prescription sunglasses styled by Ray-Ban and Ed Hardy. After customers select a set of frames or invisible contact lenses, lab technicians housed in a 7,000-square-foot optical laboratory carefully customize them to match the unique contours of the wearer’s face.