Shopping in Franklin Park

Franklin Nursery is a family-owned and family-operated full-service garden center and gift shop that's been serving steaming platefuls of verdant life since 1973. The nursery specializes in shade, evergreen, and ornamental trees, all of which are grown locally on the owner's farm. In addition to dendrite-based life, choose from a wide selection of decorative shrubs (starting at $25), perennials ($10–$25), roses ($20–$30), and more. Summon talking squirrels to your garden with ceramic Witchety Woodland Tinkling Toadstools ($6–$18), decorative dollops of whimsy from Kinsman Garden Company. For the discerning, biodegradable gardener, choose from a selection of FoxFarm organic soils and fertilizers.

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.

The hybrid vegan café and gift shop deals in good vibes, whether they take the form of sandwiches and soups made from scratch, eco-fashions, or candles that both soothe the senses and keep away ghosts that are wearing flammable bed sheets. After tasting the zing of a spicy plum vinaigrette or biting into organic sprouted-grains bread at the Compassionate Café, guests can browse a selection of eclectic wares. Vegan jewelry sparkles with gemstones alongside Dead Sea mineral soaps and colorful socks made from recycled cotton, which are ideal for keeping a giant caterpillar warm.

The Boardman location also delves into the world of knitting with a lounge where needle artists can pick up skeins of silk or bamboo yarn, sink into armchairs, and clack away until they have a spider web to sleep in that night.

An upscale fiber-arts boutique, Yarns By Design keeps its shelves stocked with high-quality yarns, patterns, and other supplies from all over the globe. Every month, visitors put those materials to work during a number of classes and clubs. Beginning crochet classes, for instance, cover basic techniques and stitches, and needle-felting classes teach students how to use felting needles to create 3D animals. Throughout the year, YBD also offers special workshops hosted by talented designers.

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.