Shopping in Racine

Just around the corner from historic Woodstock Square, the wall-hanging haven of Fox Frame Shop houses a team of edging experts who help clients to navigate more than 1,500 styles of frames and shadowboxes. The professionals outfit diplomas and artwork with conservation-quality materials such as acid-free foam board, UV-blocking glass, and 100% cotton rag mats, ensuring that future generations can appreciate the college degrees and cable bills of their ancestors. The framers can also turn jerseys and needlepoint into hangable art, edge mirrors, and even outline flat-screen televisions with modern or baroque frames, transforming Wheel of Fortune into postmodern art.

Owner Anna Zuckerman's late husband opened Sydney b. A Children's Boutique to make a mark on the world with "Sydney", their daughter's name, on it. Today, Anna and her staff keep the boutique stocked with hard-to-find, high-quality children's clothes from brands such as Zutano and Deux par Deux. They travel to New York, Atlanta, Chicago, and elsewhere to keep the shop filled with dresses, tutus, and charm bracelets, and there are plenty of toys, outfits for boys, and baby gifts as well. The team has a rule of thumb that customers shouldn't be able to find anything in the shop at a big-box store—they exclusively seek out unique finds that are well worth the expense.

As customers admire rows of Primigi shoes or Hello Kitty–themed goodies, tykes can watch kid-friendly shows or assemble puzzles. The staff also offers ear piercing to help little ladies pair their couture finds with a pair of pearls or their grandmother's heirloom gauges.

This newly remodeled boutique is paradise for lovers of casual yet stylish garb, housing brands such as Alternative, Big Star, and Silver Jeans. Though most of the men’s, women’s, and kids’ clothing fuses informality with a subtle hint of punk-rock grit, other items play it safe with colors and styles to suit every taste. The shop even boasts its own signature line of novelty T-shirts emblazoned with slogans that are as playful and risqué as a tattooed kitten.

In 1958, Guy Day and Dale Williams founded their mattress store with a focus on high-quality products and excellent customer service. After 10 years, the partners unveiled their line of handcrafted, personalized mattress sets under the name Verlo, a combination of their wives' names—Verna and Lois. After more than 40 years, the company has perfected its craft, manufacturing customized mattresses and selling them directly through their show rooms. The stock ranges from plush pillowtops to firm sets, both capable of supporting healthy sleeping patterns and cutthroat pillow fights for years to come.

Alpine Accessories owner Rick broke into the business more than 30 years ago, when he began working part-time at a ski shop. In 1993 he decided to strike out on his own, operating a mail-order catalog for ski accessories out of his basement and garage. Two years later, Rick set up an online store that quickly outsold his catalog, making it more obsolete than an eight-track tape crammed inside a VCR.

The website’s success led to the first brick-and-mortar Alpine Accessories, which opened in 2003. Eventually, its inventory grew beyond ski accessories to also include ski and snowboarding equipment, apparel, and rentals. Today, Alpine Accessories sells and rents K2 skis, Flow snowboards, and mountain garb such as battery-heated gloves and mittens. The store's five standup-paddleboard instructors have introduced the sport to more than 300 students this summer through its lesson and rental program. In addition, its service department tunes and waxes equipment, so skiers can show off their like-new gear when slushing down the slopes or walking along city sidewalks.