Shopping in Cutlerville

For more than two decades, Play It Again Sports has facilitated grand-slam moments and outfitted future champions with new, used, and gently used sports gear and apparel. Youngsters who have outgrown their gear and adults picking up a new sport can outfit themselves with selections from popular makers such as Bauer, Easton, and K2. This gear helps equip competitive athletes playing sports such as soccer and golf as well as noncompetitive sportspeople who prefer wearing football helmets while driving their golf carts. Patrons can also trade in or sell their equipment and put that money toward new gear.

Since 1989, Play It Again Sports has been keeping sports green, recycling gently used athletic equipment into new-to-you gear. Products from brands such as Nike, Adidas, and Wilson make up each store's enormous selection of new and recycled gear, which is replenished daily with goods for a wide selection of sports that ranges from baseball and football to snowboarding, skis, and ice skates. Treadmills and exercise bikes equip bodies with muscular suits of armor, and pintsize and adolescent equipment arms youngsters with protective padding until they eat enough bologna to grow muscles of their own. Knowledgeable staffers man each location, ready to answer questions, arrange gear deliveries or pick-ups, and even sharpen skates or wax snowboards. To ensure their stock remains robust, they also encourage athletes to collect their lightly used gear—including bicycles—and bring it into a local store to either sell or trade.

At Play It Again Sports, knowledgeable equipment masters outfit athletes of all sports with new and used gear from major-league brands such as Nike, Callaway Golf, Adidas, Easton, and Bauer. An ever-rotating inventory keeps lockers stocked with spare balls, dressers filled with run-ready shorts, and secret laboratories populated with gleaming treadmills. Proud recipients of the Gold Standard Store award, amiable staffers stand ready to answer questions or assist with fittings, ensuring that each athlete leaves with the appropriate helmet, bat, or free-weight set. The shop also doles out cash or credit for trade-in gear, completing the ethereal circle of sports.

A congregation of antique dealers sells their vintage wares at the annual Grand Rapids Antiques Market, which is fueled by nostalgia's fumes and hosts time travelers as they venture into the rich history of Americana. The market dips buyers and sellers alike into an antiques-filled reservoir overflowing with the past's furnishings, accessories, sporting goods, and two-year-old laptops. Professional appraisers check out homeowners' potential gems, and live auctioneers corral the highest bid with lassos woven from their own bristly mustache hairs.

“Cliché” and “mundane” are not words one would use to describe The Look’s cache of chic clothing, lingerie, and adult products. The 7,000-square-foot boutique houses rack upon rack of fashionable streetwear alongside sensual bras, panties, and costumes. It also stocks hard-to-find adult accessories such as massage oils, lotions, and incense designed to enhance romance. Garments’ tags reveal upscale brands such as Obey, Lucky-13, Dreamgirl, and Seven ‘til Midnight.