Shopping in Fremont

Viaduct Gardens’ greenhouse brims with thriving flora for yards and homes. The garden center carries plants that range from annuals and perennials to fruits and roses. It also stocks plant-related accessories, including hanging baskets, tiered planters, and “plant heads”—planters that resemble people heads.

By eliminating traditional numbered sizing and adopting a user-friendly color-dot sizing system, Beyourself promotes a positive shopping experience focused on finding clothes that accentuate your shape. Rather than worrying about brands’ inconsistent measurements and complex sizing algorithms, shoppers can put down their graphing calculators and proudly proclaim they're a green, purple, or taupe. In addition to jeans ($40–$170), dresses ($35– $50), basic tees or tanks ($10–$18), and tops ($20– $40), Beyourself offers jewelry, accessories, handbags, shoes, and customized jetpack holsters, so you can fly around town in style.

Stanton Optical treats shoppers to a selection of more than 3,000 frames from designers such as BCBG, Coach, Tommy Hilfiger, and Calvin Klein. Their optometric physicians calibrate fresh prescriptions before patients browse the wealth of frames and then select from brands of lenses such as Sola, Zeiss, and Transitions, which alternate between clear and tinted to protect eyes from sun rays and help them absorb the zinc found in moon rays. For those who prefer frame-free faces, Stanton Optical also outfits eyes with contacts by Acuvue and Bausch + Lomb.

Legacy Art & Frame edges photographs, prints, and memorabilia with more than 2,000 different frame styles, matting options, and protective glass sheets. Outlining expert Michael Heaton draws on 22 years of experience as he outfits mirrors in heavy gold baroque fashions or complements cubist paintings with sleek contemporary lines and non-glare glass. Shadow boxes elegantly display sports jerseys, pressed flowers, or action figures representing the shadow government, and specialized frame assemblies help guard fading daguerreotypes against further wear and tear. Patrons can also peruse the store’s variegated collection of antiques, which includes lamps, chairs, glassware, and vintage knick-knacks.

To call The Body Shop a mere skin and body care store is to miss half of what makes it special. Late founder Dame Anita Roddick was a pioneer for ethical business practices; upon opening her first store in Brighton, England, in 1976, she developed company values such as "Defend human rights" and "Protect our planet." She somehow balanced principles and profit, partnering in global campaigns with UNICEF, Greenpeace, Amnesty International, and the United Nations, all while expanding her brand into 2,500 locations in 60 international markets. After her death in 2007, then-British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said, “She campaigned for green issues for many years before it became fashionable to do so and inspired millions to the cause by bringing sustainable products to a mass market. . . . She was an inspiration.”

Indeed, the Body Shop exhibits an eco-friendliness that's hard to come by in a company of its size. Its products have been fair-trade since 1987, and its Against Animal Testing movement led to a UK-wide ban of animal testing of cosmetics. The products are made from ingredients harvested from around the world: shea butter from Ghana goes into body scrubs and butters, and Indian artisans craft wooden massagers and tote bags that are screenprinted by hand. But all that isn't to say the company's production practices overshadow its final products. Skincare treatments such as the Blue Corn 3-in-1 deep-cleansing scrub mask often appear in Allure, Marie Claire, and other national publications.

Each Wild Willy's house of celebrations is fully stocked with a wide variety of incandescently colored explosives for any and all midsummer festivities. Noisemakers can instigate the hoopla with a 36-pack of M-70 firecrackers ($2.50), while military buffs can use the package of sparkler-wielding mini tanks ($0.25 apiece) to re-create the American-Antarctica War's decisive Battle of Dwarfish Artillery. The company also carries 200-gram and 500-gram cakes, such as the Aftershock, from which 19 nebulas of red, green, and gold explode and linger in the night sky. Find firework fountains, sparklers, and artillery shells—all ideal gifts for the Independence Day lover that already has a Bill of Rights leather jacket.