Shopping in Greenwich

Jeff Lederman took a hobbyist's interest in personalized crafts more than 30 years ago, and today that hobby has blossomed into a gift mecca tinged with a distinctively masculine edge. RhinoGifts.com and its sister storefront Recognition Inc. fill orders big and small for all kinds of inscribed paraphernalia, from apparel and watches to cedar humidors for stogies, and incorporates customers’ own artwork, logos, and personalized messages to complete each gift. The outfit also emblazons trinkets for companies with no minimum order sizes, meaning big corporations and mom-and-pop shops alike can treat their employees to a commemorative pen on Dr. Spock’s half birthday.

As a 12-season veteran of the United States Cycling Federation who also holds a master’s degree in philosophy, Bicycle South Windsor LLC owner Peter Di Pietro takes a thoughtful approach to cycling. Discerning in the curation of gear, Di Pietro pilots a shop that carries new, used, and rental bicycles by brands such as Masi, Haro, Schwinn, and GT. He also oversees and performs same-day repairs and tune-ups that carry a service guarantee for a full calendar year—a generous timeframe that allows riders to cruise confidently over the course of the spring, summer, fall, winter, and bike-jousting season.

Over the course of 20 years, family-operated Just Like New has inspected apparel, accessories, and home furnishings from thousands of consigners, accepting only the pieces that meet strict quality and style standards. At the start of each fashion season, the family treks to New York City to gather enough designer duds to restock two 5,000-square-foot locations. Clothing, shoes, and accessories by classic brands such as Coach and Ann Taylor adorn shelves and keep mannequins from being charged with public indecency, and a children's section outfits youngsters in apparel purchased exclusively from catalog brands and specialty stores. Just Like New's jewelry selection glitters with 14-karat gold and sterling silver; vintage and costume jewelry occasionally makes the cut by way of jingling the shop owners' favorite songs. Vintage glassware, furniture, and artwork make unique design accents for the home.

For almost 35 years, the knowledgeable staffers at Runner’s Roost have understood that different sneakers are necessary for marathoners, trail runners, and those seeking to escape a bank heist. They call upon their personal experience and training in these nuances to pair their customers with one of more than 200 shoe models in stock.

Urban Garden Center has been repurposing city spaces for flora long before the Converse owners started turning their Chuck Taylors into flower boxes. The New York mainstay carries on a family legacy that has served the NYC gardening community for more than 50 years. As an "off the grid" business, the center relies on zero utilities to operate. What's more, with the help of a chattering of chickens, they maintain a community compost station, which diverts waste from the local marketplace and businesses in a much safer manner than launching it into lower orbit with a trebuchet.

On a mission to keep city-dwelling plant-scapes looking as vibrant and as impressive as their suburban cousins, the 20,000-square-foot facility outfits green-thumbed customers with eco-friendly soils, fertilizers, and plants. Urban Garden Center also passes its horticulture torch to future generations at its children's learning garden, where young'uns come to learn during classes, school trips, and parties. For extra assistance, or to ensure their rose beds don't end up as rose pullout couches, customers can collaborate with the center's garden gurus for design, maintenance, and installation services.

At Jerry’s Artarama, resident artists draw on personal experience and channel the shop's four decades in business to help create works in nearly any medium. Shelves bravely bear the weight of multitudinous tubes of paint ranging from traditional oil paints made from 150-year-old processes, to easy-to-use acrylic pigments. Artists can wield a Mejillo TruColor palette to serve as a launching pad for paints, or take up PrismaColor colored pencils to add vivid pigmentation to sketches. For more specialized projects, customers can stock up on the store's street-art supplies and screen-printing kits.

Meanwhile, the framing professionals at Jerry’s Artarama navigate a bounty of glass, mats, mounting, and moulding options to personalize the framing of photos, watercolor landscapes, and napping bats. Frame options include the warm whorls of wooden frames as well as silver, black, or gold aluminum frames to complement any work's color scheme.