Shopping in Eau Claire

Situated in a red-brick edifice on a cozy corner, The Valley Bookseller gives book lovers hospitable environs and heaping amounts of literature. Text-ravenous eyes can feast on the store's beefed-up inventory, which stocks lockers of bestsellers such as The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest ($27.95 for hardcover) and Dead or Alive ($28.95 for hardcover) among an already meaty collection of fiction and non-fiction favorites. Wander the written words of a favorite author, decode directions to hidden treasure in the works of Norman Mailer, or get helpful life lessons from sleazy Hollywood agents in the books of Jackie Collins. If a particular manuscript beckons but doesn't appear in-stock at the store, The Valley Bookseller will order the book at no additional cost, with the order usually arriving within a week.

Stocking shelves with new and recycled duds since 1971, Ragstock fortifies wardrobes with a storefront brimming with new and recycled men's and women's clothing and accessories. In addition to mainstream garments, stores sling eclectic outfit accouterments such as neon suspenders ($9.99) and thick-rimmed spectacles ($4.99+) that allow shoppers to evoke the air of literature professors without blithely quoting Joyce.