Shopping in Rosemount

The daring design duo of Michael Byzewski and Dan Ibarra creates meticulous screen-printed posters. Utilizing their mastery of the three key senses—sight, touch and paper-cut evasion—the crafty companions fabricate award-winning designs that garner attention from publications such as Rolling Stone and Print magazine. Their mutual appreciation of music and design has propelled their poster-making prowess and allowed them the opportunity to create posters for acts such as Josh Ritter ($10+), The Decemberists ($30), and The Dead Weather ($25+). Supply dull walls with interesting conversation points with a poster from Surlyfest 2010 ($20) or the Fifth Annual No Coast Craft-O-Rama ($20), or show affection for the second dimension with a Flatstock 12 poster ($20).

Yelpers give the book store a strong 4.5 stars and agree that it's a charming space with a knowledgeable staff.

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.”

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.

For more than 80 years, three generations of the Minsberg family have overseen Creative Lighting’s bright, well-stocked showroom, where attentive consultants help illuminate dark dwellings with a selection of hundreds of ceiling lights, lamps, and other twinkling light fixtures. Deftly navigating the sea of ornate, glowing décor, they work to engineer thoughtful solutions for customers’ specific lighting needs for interiors and exteriors. A resident squadron of trained designers also helps devise custom lighting plans, and further extends their interior-design wisdom with a collection of mirrors and wall art.

Creative Lighting vows to keep its inventory affordable through a best-price guarantee, and stocks its website with helpful decorating hints and tips, such as what to do when a cluster of fireflies swarms upon a wall sconce thinking it’s their mothership.