Shopping in Fort Collins

Akinz began in a studio apartment in Houston, Texas, where founder Suzanne Akin designed T-shirts and tank tops to sell from the back of her purple Mini Cooper. After peddling her colorful wares at bars and wakeboarding events, Suzanne moved to Colorado, where she fell in love with snowboarding culture and expanded her clothing repertoire to include stylish beanies, hoodies, and jewelry—all knit, acid-washed, and crocheted by hand.

Like Theodore Roosevelt's early years taming wild grizzlies in the Pacific Northwest, each item of clothing exudes a free-spirited, peaceful aesthetic, as exhibited by the company's encouraging slogan, "Find Your Wings." In addition to outfitting customers with trendy active wear and outdoor apparel, Akinz adamantly supports the local bike culture, sponsoring Fort Collins-area Bike to Work events and the Fort Collins Bike Co-op.

For over 30 years, 3 Day Blinds' technicians have sift through samples and unreel measuring tapes during in-home consultations, custom-fitting abodes with blinds, shutters, and shades. They handcraft and cut treatments such as faux wood blinds, vertical blinds, and flexcell honeycomb blinds that reduce light and are energy efficient. As they tailor-make each order, the staffers dress windows of all shapes and sizes, from an arch above a doorway to a misshapen wormhole in the attic. All of 3 Day Blinds’ products come with a limited lifetime warranty. After clients have made a selection, the team shows up just two days later to install the new window dressings or let customers do it themselves.

Operating under the mantra that fly-fishing isn't a hobby but instead a lifestyle, St. Peter's Fly Shop prepares anglers of all experience levels for success on the stream with classes, gear, and an encyclopedic knowledge of man's gilled adversary. Two Fort Collins locations sit within close proximity of local fishing hot spots, including the waters of Rocky Mountain National Park—famous for its placid lakes made from pastels on canvas—and the Poudre River. There, the staff leads educational courses and guided trips that spend equal time with instruction and hands-on fishing practice, allowing students to perfect the often-difficult art of casting with finesse and accuracy. Back at the shop, customers reel in top-notch equipment such as Winston rods, Simms waders, and Brodin nets, which are sturdy enough to secure a bucking trout as it tries to nestle in the hammock.

When Nicole Joelle's parents placed a slim, pink 110 camera into her 6-year-old hands, it was love at first sight. As she watched her first photos materialize underneath the chemicals of her 7th-grade darkroom, she knew her life would revolve around her passion. And it has. Since graduating from the Art Institute of Colorado, Nicole (or Nikki to her friends) has captured intimate images of families and young couples at Contemporary Photography while striking a subtle balance between her subjects and their environment. Family portraits pop out against a simple black background or studio setting, while engagement photos travel to sentimental locales to pick up the textured exterior of a red-brick wall or the peeling paint on an old storefront. At Contemporary Photography, Nicole presents a distinctly modern and mature take on boudoir sessions, framing skin and lace in soft folds of studio lighting. Her photo studio also hosts workshops with trained instructors, helping gets students past questions like "When should I use flash?" and "How do I Photoshop the lens cap out of my self-portrait?"

Since its 1963 debut, Lee's Cyclery has aided athletes in their quests for comfortable bikes and high-quality cycling accessories. Before customers pick out a bike, employees conduct fittings that could affect the customer’s bicycle selection and help evaluate a person's ability to warn fellow cyclists of wormholes lurking ahead. Riders then choose from a variety of brand-name cycles from companies such as Trek, which created the two-wheeler that made Lance Armstrong a champion, and Electra, which crafts stylish and comfortable commuter bikes. Patrons can take roadsters for test drives before committing to a purchase, and all bike purchases include a free tune-up and a lifetime's worth of adjustments.

The shop also carries biking accessories and gear, including high-performance racing apparel from Pearl Izumi. Lee’s Cyclery lets customers practice wheelies in Riding 101, a two-part bike-safety class that combines classroom learning with on-the-road practice. Meanwhile, the service department happily performs 26-point inspections and routine tune-ups to keep axles spinning more smoothly than the spindles of Rumpelstiltskin's BMX bike.

Though the aroma of fresh-cut flowers has drifted from its doors for more than 60 years, Earles Loveland Floral & Gifts has not been quite the same since 1993, when United Floral Industry School graduate Elizabeth Parker took charge of operations. The time-honored flower and gift shop has blossomed under her guidance, experiencing a meteoric rise in popularity that recently culminated in its winning the Reporter-Herald’s Reader's Choice award for best local florist in 2011.

Parker went to school for floral wedding design, and it’s no secret that her field of study has become one of the shop’s strong suits. Along with her dedicated team of florists, she can turn any wedding venue into a lush garden of bridal bouquets, corsages, and elegant reception centerpieces. The shop's everyday bouquets hardly suffer from comparison, bundling together natural, seasonal flowers in arrangements available for pickup or delivery by a well-trained swarm of bees. Before whisking away a bouquet of grab 'n' go flowers, peruse Earles's eclectic selection of gifts and household accouterments, which includes flower-print tote bags, beaded jewelry, and gel candles.