Shopping in Mechanicsville

Bed sets, sofas, and barstools populate the showroom at Decor Furniture & Mattress Showplace, set up in arrangements of household rooms. In addition to carrying luxury furniture for living rooms, dining rooms, kitchens, and personal aircraft carriers, Decor Furniture & Mattress Showplace specializes in building custom pieces to accommodate room measurements and the creative visions of clients. With more than 300 fabric, color, and leather options, customers can match existing room decor or draw attention away from evidence left from hosting a weekly food-fight club.

Miniature humans are stylishly outfitted with bedding, transportation, and accessories at weebsworld, a boutique store specializing in "hip gear for cool babies." Friendly staff members offer numerous services, performing complimentary baby-gear consultations that help parents pick out baby bags, blankets, and high chairs. Technicians certified in child-passenger safety supply customers with weighted, life-size baby dolls to try out strollers and car seats, and a storewide stroller track lets them test baby chariots or train for upcoming carriage-pushing marathons. The staff will also assemble strollers purchased in-store or online free of charge, allowing parents and their pride and joy to wheel out of weebsworld in their stylish new ride.

Melanie "The Bead Empress" Bentley established her commonwealth of creativity after years teaching aspiring artists how to work with metal clays. Within her 3,000-square-foot embellishment emporium, Murano glass from Italy, hill tribe silver from Thailand, and Swarovski crystals fill shelves from floor to ceiling. Polymer clays, sterling silver, stringing materials, and Czech fancy glass that Melanie handpicked on a recent trip to the Czech Republic round out the store's stock and arm patrons with the materials necessary to line their family's treasure chest.

But Melanie goes beyond filling the supply boxes of local jewelry makers. She also aims to expand the crafting community by welcoming beading newcomers and showing those who don't believe in their creativity that there's an artisan inside everyone. Along with her fellow specialized jewelrysmiths, Melanie leads more than 45 classes per quarter, providing her customers with a means of acquiring jewelry that’s guaranteed to be free of curses.

Led by Tom and Donna Otis, Fast Frame Charlottesville's friendly staffers outfit pictures and beautifies abodes with ensembles that turn two-dimensional keepsakes into multidimensional treasures. With a vast selection of borders, Fast Frame tastefully accents pictures of cherished memories, safely preserves and displays sports memorabilia, and even frames flat-screen TVs so they can't leave the living room to go chill with the microwave. Under Fast Frame’s Preservation Plus program, frame craftsmen sequester artwork in an acid-free environment and use framing designed to save artifacts from UV light, ensuring that they retain their luster throughout their display and that they are safe for future removal.

Play It Again Sports overhauls lockers with high-quality gear and rescues gently used athletic equipment from untimely retirement. Products from brands such as Nike, Adidas, and Wilson make up an all-star lineup across each store's shelves, which are replenished daily with goods for a wide selection of sports that ranges from baseball and football to snowboarding and lacrosse. Treadmills and exercise bikes equip bodies with muscular suits of armor, and pintsize and adolescent equipment arms youngsters with protective padding until they eat enough bologna to grow muscles of their own. To ensure its stock remains robust, Play It Again Sports encourages athletes to collect their lightly used gear—including bicycles—and bring it into a local store to either sell or trade.

Feathernesters' proprietors, Marc Goswick and Tony Turner, scour their local farmers' market for fresh produce and eggs they transform into elegant spreads that have earned praise from RVANews. Marc, an avid gardener and cook, draws on homegrown recipes handed down from his mother and grandmother to craft the tasty creations found in Feathernesters' bakery. Among these creations, the signature buttermilk pie reigns supreme, earning a mention in Richmond magazine for the care Marc takes when making each pie fresh by hand every morning.

During afternoon tea, fingers emerge from their bowling-ball hiding places to pluck sandwiches and fresh scones from a two-tiered tea tray as loose-leaf tea blends steep in personal pots, peppering the air with floral aromas. Brunch in the tearoom plays host to a smorgasbord of all-you-can-eat goodies, including baked Virginia apples with cinnamon and brown sugar, seasonal fruit, and Southern cheese grits. After meals, patrons can peruse Feathernesters’ 5,000-square-foot shop laden with vintage jewelry, handmade folk art, and hand-painted furniture arranged in displays designed by Tony. Marc and Tony also welcome parties to the tearoom, with events for all occasions from bridal and baby showers to tea parties for children aged 5–10 and child-sized cornhusk dolls.