Shopping in Plymouth

Buying souvenirs can get in the way of enjoying your journey, so O’Day Cache's owner handpicks the finest Asian accessories and French milled soaps for your gift-giving needs. Every year, this savvy proprietor sets off on Asia-trekking journeys, spending more than two months overseas annually to stock the Minneapolis Cache with impressive finds and self-designed jewelry, searching hidden-away enclaves and booby-trapped temples for elegant porcelain dinnerware and more. Shoppers can browse an eclectic collection of products that includes antiques, bath and body products, vases, and women’s accessories. Bring good luck with single-cast bronze money sheep covered in Chinese coins ($45), tote your lunch in a multi-tiered tiffin box used for carrying lunch ($40), or pick up a chicken paddle toy for your niece ($4.25). Ranging from everyday practicalities to museum-quality conversation pieces, O’Day Cache’s collection provides an opportunity to peruse in person, instead of venturing halfway around the room to eBay the intriguing imports.

Ciara and Jim Stockeland search under fashion runways and in the overlooked recesses of couture closets for women's designer gems to feature at closeout prices inside their well-organized boutiques. Featured on local style blog Minneapolis Picks and ignored by editors at Cat Fancy, the spacious boutiques are neatly arrayed with brand-new duds by name-brand designers, including homegoods and loads of jewelry and accessories ($9.99–$14.99). Designer fragrances ($19.99) allow shoppers to adopt the sweet aroma of a favorite fashionista without the hassle of finding a basset hound with a chemistry degree. Master a back handspring into a pair of designer jeans ($40) or gussy up torsos with an organic tee, tank, or cardigan ($9.99–$32.99).

Nielsen's first-rate framing wizards ensconce fine art, photos, mirrors, and memorable keepsakes in a flurry of fashionable custom casings. Prices vary according to materials and size, but customers can opt for offerings such as an 8”x10” plain black frame with regular glass and 2” matting ($147) or an 11”x14” olive-veneer black frame with regular glass and 2” matting ($327). Nielsen's practiced frameworkers enclose mementos with the care and precision of a silk-gloved surgeon, effortlessly easing pieces into an eye-fetching selection of sleek, stylish quadrangles devoid of garish scimitars, semi-precious gems, or distracting chrome skulls.

Googly eyes. Gas masks. Mannequin arms. Blowguns. Ax-Man Surplus Stores dares crafters, DIY enthusiasts, and tinkerers of all stripes to dream bigger, better, and weirder with an enormous stock of new surplus items. Each shop's collection of oddities and odds-and-ends resides in open-air barrels and on easily browseable shelves. Bins entice shoppers to rummage through metal bits in search of the next piece to a welded sculpture, and other aisles hold several decades’ worth of electronic wiring, fans, speakers, and fuses, perfect for building a robot that every generation can relate to. Frequent shoppers are rewarded with a new truckload of treasures every week, along with an ever-changing collection of signs that artistically warn of the hazards of shoplifting and suggest off-label uses for the merchandise. World Famous Design Junkies praised Ax-Man for its signage and its selection alike in 2009, calling it “the greatest place to buy do-hickeys in the entire world.”

On a sold-out flight, a businesswoman unpacks a laptop from her slender briefcase while a harried father of triplets rummages through a duffel bag to find his daughter's binkie. Though both are traveling, each has entirely different demands from their luggage. Noticing this reality, staffers at Luggage World MN stock their store with durable, high-quality luggage ranging from school-ready backpacks to hard-sided suitcases ready for the trials of daily commutes, business trips, and bring-your-rhino-to-work days. Brands such as Antler USA, Rick Steves, and Hartmann craft rolling suitcases, backpacks, briefcases, and purses outfitted with handy pockets, comfortable straps, and stylish colors.

Entrepreneur and frame designer David Ulrich has cleared the vision of Twin Cities citizens since 1969. Besides creating a wealth of exclusive eyeglasses frames, such as the sleek 8 Below Zero collection and the retro-inspired Studebaker line, Ulrich opened Spectacle Shoppe to serve customers’ optic needs. There, teams of certified opticians accurately assess prescriptions and fashion single-vision, progressive, or bifocal lenses in the in-house lab. Clients confer with the staff to design custom frames or choose from the shop's thousands of one-of-a-kind frames, vintage cat's-eye styles, and double monocles.