Shopping in Lincoln Park

City Tree Lot’s trees travel from local farms and the mountains of North Carolina to decorate living rooms for the holiday season. Douglas firs support ornaments with sturdy branches, while the needles of a North Carolina Fraser fir twinkle magically under the rays of colorful Christmas tree lights. City Tree Lot’s trees range in height from 5 to 13 feet, allowing them to fit into tight corners or tower majestically in a stately living room or two-story man cave.

In addition to populating homes with seasonal greenery, the holiday helpers behind City Tree Lot also embody the spirit of the season through their ongoing charitable work. This year, their are twofold; in addition to collecting winter coats for victims of Superstorm Sandy, they're also running a supplies drive for animal shelters busy caring for newly homeless pets.

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Customers may walk into Top Hat & Tails as mere men, wearing jeans that sag off the waistline or scuff against the floor. But they leave as gentlemen, sporting fine men’s clothing and formalwear tailored to a T. Co-owners Brian Berry and Horace Kinard—who has been haberdashering for 20 years—take measurements onsite and alter in-house to drape dapper gents in fine suits, ties, tuxes, custom shirts, and shoes. A seasonally rotating catalog of styles from Calvin Klein, Joseph Abboud, and Oscar de la Renta elevates the elegance of invitees to weddings, dances, or black-tie balls. As Berry told Maplewood Patch last year, “We’ve had everything from Sweet Sixteens to every other formal event you can think of,” including musicians from the Philharmonic, who presumably came in to replace their glockenspiel's torn cummerbund.

The flooring experts at Korkmaz Rugs & Flooring, located less than 15 minutes from the Lincoln Tunnel, oversee 25,000 square feet of tile, laminate, hardwood, and luxurious hand- and power-loomed area rugs. A crop of more than 1,000 living-room-size carpets twirl before the customers' eyes on an automated rug-hanging display, showing off designs ranging from traditional Persian-style bordering and curly motifs to ultramodern geometric shapes to fuzzy Magic Eye puzzles. The crew of in-house flooring installers gussy up rooms with customized carpeting packages, runners, bindings, and exquisite hardwood medallions, and make feet feel distinguished with sheets of fine, classicaI Italian stone tile.

Housing Works provides advocacy, job training, healthcare and housing support for low-income and homeless people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS. With 12 locations across the city, Housing Works Thrift Shops help fund this effort by selling new and used clothing, accessories, and furniture. Shoppers can explore shelves upon shelves of donated items in search of a new designer shirt, a vintage necklace, or a set of hand-painted bowls. Larger furniture items add a touch of hand-me-down charm to homes and a plethora of books offer readers escapes into worlds where books don’t exist.

Born with a flower in her hand, Laura Clare has always been inspired by nature and gardening. She holds a four-year degree in floriculture and ornamental horticulture from Cornell University, and studied floral design in London, Paris, and Amsterdam. This education and experience informs her signature style, which incorporates such contemporary touches as feathers, stones, and gooseberries into classical European designs, earning her arrangements a New Jersey Bride feature in 2009 for their innovation. Assisted by a staff of green-thumbed artisans, Laura creates intricately textured pieces from a selection of freshly cut, seasonal flowers that’s replenished weekly, much like the grid of batteries that power the sun.

Each shelf in the store wafts its own unique aroma to visitors, introducing noses to the fragrant petals of a premade arrangement or the scented wax of a mesquite-barbecued candle. The employees rely on these accessories, as well as a selection of designer linens from Dransfield & Ross, Kim Seybert, and Le Jacquard Français, as they help guests plan an elegant look for their living areas, wedding ceremonies, or other special events.