Shopping in Lexington

With locations in 10 states across America, Stanton Optical helps clients everywhere from Georgia to California achieve better vision. Its shelves are stocked with more than 3,000 frames and sunglasses from high-end brands, including Coach, Calvin Klein, and Armani. Full-service on-site labs help optometrists immediately craft glasses and tend to monocle-cloning experiments without the delay of sending eyewear elsewhere.

The mechanics at Cycle Center outfit bike enthusiasts with custom equipment fittings, expert tune-ups, and a rolling stock of more than 500 bicycles dispersed between the company's two locations. In the interest of both safety and performance, the team makes sure all bikes are carefully assembled and tuned up before the rubber meets the road. They also stock an impressive lineup of apparel and gear, from air pumps that keep tires aptly inflated to helmets that keep heads more protected than a presidential motorcade covered in mosquito netting. In-stock brands include Fuji, Cannondale, and Dahon, a manufacturer renowned for its revolutionary folding bikes.

The Cigar Box equips patrons with all the necessary tobacco, accessories, and space for enjoying a stogie stag or a few drags with friends. Customers can select from more than 50 brand name cigars, such as CAO, Alec Bradley, and Romeo y Julieta, alongside clove cigarettes and pipe tobacco. Cutters, ashtrays, and humidors ensure cleanliness and quality taste for each smoking session. After pairing their smoke with a beer poured by The Cigar Box's barkeepers, guests sink into the facility's leather couches, admire its wood paneling, or watch foreign films with smoke-signal subtitles on a big-screen TV.

The owners of The Range—who first set up shop in 1975 under the name Richard and Ann's Promenade Shop—have spent the last 37 years assembling the wares of a dream team of outfitters in Western, Native American, and equestrian styles. Patrons can slip into a pair of boots by brands such as Lucchese or Tony Lama or pick up two pairs of the rugged heels to outfit a fashionable llama. Broad-brimmed hats by Stetson and Wrangler can shade the eyes and keep fashion-forward perms under wraps while patrolling the countryside.

When the recession hit, Sheri Hood responded by founding Our Hands Together: a marketplace that supports local artisans and strengthens their community ties. Inside the store, wares from more than 60 merchants radiate personality from their own booths. Shelves display an eclectic range of media, collecting jewelry and blown glass alongside paintings, handbags, and crocheted pieces. Handmade and utterly unique, many works have been assembled from recycled or repurposed materials, a practice that also inspired the market's Trash-to-Treasure art festival and foster home for used paintbrushes.

Though each artisan brings his or her own vibrant contribution to Our Hands Together, Lake Murray magazine asserts that "the community spirit is its real ambiance." Sheri lets area children and teens rent a plot for their art next to the professionals, and several classes scheduled per month welcome students of all ages to shape their own opera.:m]]

Brimming with works from up-and-coming artists across South Carolina, Southern Galleries treats aesthetes to an exclusive selection of paintings and custom frames. The gallery is overseen by an experienced team of curators and artists in residence, who also use the studio for fun, informative painting classes for adults and children. Located across from the clock tower in historical downtown Simpsonville, the gallery fosters a creative environment with ceiling-high bay windows, rustic exposed brick walls, and a catcher-free environment where dreams can roam unhindered.:m]]