Shopping in Fairmont

Typhoon Lighting especially specializes in everything light related: repair services, refurbished antique lighting fixtures, and classic and contemporary new designs to lustrously illuminate any roost. The company's domestic fixtures include pendants, chandeliers, sconces, and lamps that, when nicely light-bulbed, scare ghosts and shed light on ping-pong balls' hidden hideaways (prices vary, depending on limited items and specialty lines). Luxurious lampshades are available to enhance any immodest bare bulb ($30 to $50 on average). The radiant retailer also stocks a wide selection of accessories, including finials and hard-to-find antique bulbs (average $50–$200). If you already have an item that needs fixing or you would like to have a unit customized or embellished with a handmade lampshade, Typhoon's friendly, experienced staff is also eager to lend a hand ($70/hour). All repair and fabrication services are done in-house by highly skilled craftspeople, ensuring special attention and glowing service.

The Book Cellar escapes the curse afflicting many book fairs of being littered with endless copies of Dianetics and Windows 95 for Dummies through support from vivacious readers whose donations have created an intriguingly eclectic selection of literary milestones, pulp-fiction treats, and fascinating non-fiction. With the store's pleasant pricing, your $10 voucher could have you walking home with shelves' worth of material. Kindle and iPad owners can pick up analog copies of their digital favorites, since coverless tablets offer no way to broadcast to your coworkers that you're reading Nabokov.

After working at eyewear centers for three years, a 21-year-old Norman Childs took a tremendous leap of faith when he opened his own in 1979. In the inaugural years, Norman developed close relationships with his customers and began building Eyetique’s reputation for carrying high-fashion frames by the likes of Oliver Peoples, Prada, and Chanel––brand names that were hard to find in the area. Norman’s brainchild grew even larger with the help of a massive ad campaign showing more than 600 actors, musicians, and local celebrities donning the shop’s eyewear. With an entrepreneurial spirit that never yields, Norman also developed his own brand of eyeglasses, the Norman Childs line, which features frames made in the USA.

Today, Eyetique has since expanded to eight locations and continues to outfit visitors in sunglasses and prescription eyeglasses, which empower wearers with 20/20 vision and the ability to always spot Waldo in games of hide-and-seek. Staff members work one-on-one with customers to ensure that frames reflect the their personality, helping guests choose from a variety of designer brands including Coach, Gucci, Ray-Ban, and Silhouette.

Wild Birds Unlimited stocks a wide variety of supplies to please serious hobbyists and ornithological amateurs alike. Based on more than 30 years of research, their cache of supplies is designed to please and attract flocks of all forms, with types of birdseed specially formulated to the season that feature 100% edible seeds. They also carry high-quality feeding equipment, birdbaths, and viewing gear such as binoculars and books on various species and their native regions.

Biketek welcomes all cyclists for supplies, repairs, and tune-ups, whether they ride recreationally or compete in triathlons. In addition to road, triathlon, mountain, single-speed, and hybrid bikes from Felt, Jamis, and Raleigh, the shop stocks a sizeable collection of gear from Giro, Sidi, Topeak, and Shimano. GU and Hammer Nutrition products, meanwhile, give riders the power necessary to win races and corral herds of stampeding tricycles. For six months after they purchase a new bicycle, buyers can come back to the shop for free maintenance and fit adjustments.

On the upkeep side of Biketek’s coin, technicians repair and maintain rides with tune-ups, part installations, and other services. They also fit bikes to riders with Body Scanning CRM technology, which uses software and noninvasive laser-pointer body measurements to determine the ideal saddle height, angle, and fore-aft position, as well as handlebar height and rotation. Although everyone can purchase a fitting session, Biketek offers one free to anyone buying a new road, triathlon, or cyclocross bike.

The Alki Beach boutique boasts a bounty of women's, men's, and children's clothing and swimwear. Familiar beach brands bounce alongside smaller swimwear labels in the cheerful shop. Buy the special gentleman in your life a pair of black-and-white Quicksilver board shorts ($52) for his surf across the fjords of Bergen or suit up in a colorful Billabong Indian paradise bikini ($86) and be prepared for impromptu beach romances or fierce swim-fashion walk-offs. Coastal also has gale-shielding coverups and fashionable footwear to protect delicate soles from harsh granules of sand or ant insurrections (black-and-pink Reef Seaside sandals cost $24).