Shopping in Hopatcong

It is not difficult to find NJ Mattress Factory—simply look for a showroom with rows of blanket-less beds. Once there, you will see sewn onto bare mattresses patches with the names Sealy, Serta, Stearns & Foster, Simmons Beautyrest, and Tempur-Pedic, a who’s who of mattress brands the store is authorized to sell. Any questions can be directed to the seasoned staff, whether they are about mattresses or the shop’s bedding accessories, which include Tempur-Pedic pillows and mattress pads that can fend off water, microbes, allergens, and that one nightmare where you are forced to stuff your mattress into an airplane’s overhead compartment.

Founded by a registered nurse concerned about the chemicals found in conventional spa products, Eden Organics' award-winning spa offers services that bathe patrons in an expansive selection of organic, vegan, and gluten-free products. The oxygen facial revives skin by spraying complexions with hyperbaric oxygen, and the flower power peel which targets hyperpigmentation, age spots, and acne scarring. During the back facial, an aesthetician smoothens the dorsal plains with steam and exfoliation before extracting deposits of sebum and ingrown marionette strings. Therapeutic massages set clients atop thickly blanketed beds. All the while, dexterous hands glide over muscles with organic mineral oils, delivering fluid strokes to extract tension and melt muscles into sublime submission. High-quality waxes, exfoliating lip treatments, and fragrant scalp massages also help guests to internalize the spa's soothing atmosphere and its abundant flowers blushing over hardwood floors.

In the words of the late Dr. Daniel Messinger, whose daughter and granddaughter now helm Philadelphia Eyeglass Labs, “We’ve been doing this for 100 years—we must be doing something right.” Overseen by the fourth and fifth generation of family that founded the company in 1888, the sense of history carries over into its opticians’ daily practice—they’ve been seeing many of their clients for decades, and bestow fast emergency services upon them whenever a client damages a lens or tries to stretch their frames to fit a family portrait inside. The personalized attention heaped upon each customer shines through in the services provided, which include technicians that grind and surface all lenses on-site in the flagship location’s lab, often fitting them into frames for next-day pick-up.

Since 1988, Specs For Less has been sharpening visual acuity in Staten Island and its surrounding areas. At each of its five locations, customers' eyes are coddled by a staff of optometrists, who examine eyes aided by up-to-date equipment as well as ongoing education. Meanwhile, eyewear consultants concern themselves with keeping newly minted prescriptions stylishly adhered to faces, occupying the vanguard of frame style trends with an inventory of designs from Coach, Fendi, and Dior.

Dell Williams, founder and groundskeeper of Eve's Garden, has stocked her discreet boutique with erotic and sensual wares since 1974. An advocate for women's sexual freedom, Dell has written pieces that have made their way into the filing cabinets at Cornell University, and her acting talents have graced stages in productions of Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues. The shop's shelves reflect her celebration of female sexuality with vibrating and inert accessories and books by Vibratex, Lelo, and Je Joue that enlighten ladies as to their bodies' capacities for pleasure. Located on the 12th floor of a midtown Manhattan office building, Eve's Garden proffers a private shopping experience away from the prying eyes of street-level pedestrians and judgmental pigeons.

For more than four decades, Merion Art & Repro Center has supplied artists, engineers, architects, and other professionals with the building blocks of creativity. One needs only to look down an aisle for inspiration. In one area lie hundreds of paints and canvases ready to be transformed into watercolor masterpieces. In another, clay waits patiently for the right sculptor to come along and mold it into its true form: an even bigger ball of clay.

Beyond art supplies, Merion encompasses a fully equipped copy shop and a custom-framing center. Here, expert framers help clients select from thousands of frame and mat styles, honing in on the perfect design to preserve photos or parking tickets autographed by the best traffic cop in town.