Shopping in Sarnia

Peanut Centre Nursery has prepared horticulturists for the growing season with their vast selection of plants, supplies, and services for the garden and yard since 1973. They grow the majority of their plants locally—including shrubs, shade trees, and perennials—and ensure that they are well-adjusted to the surrounding environs. They also offer landscape design services, as well as a rewards program, which allows frequent shoppers to exchange Green Card loyalty points for free merchandise and insider tips on how to paint their thumbs green like the pros.

Discovering new fashion across the world, the buyers for Royal Dutchess have accrued an ever-changing collection of haute couture, with selections including the latest tops, bottoms, dresses, and eveningwear. Fashion has been a lifelong passion for Royal Dutchess owners Leslie Binno and Candice Binno Pattah, who told The Oakland Press, “We treat every woman with world-class service. We want them to walk in and feel like royalty and walk out feeling like a duchess.” The boutique also dabbles in shoes and accessories, covering wrists, feet, and New Coke tattoos in outfit-perfecting accouterments, such as a line of brimmed hats and lacey headbands by Jovan Jane, or stunning belt buckles loaded with Swarovski crystals and precious metals by Nikalet.

The equipment experts at MTEC (Midwest Tool & Equipment Center) have rented, sold, and fixed everything from lawn edgers to rough terrain forklifts for more than three decades. They turn DIY projects from drawings in ketchup on the backs of placemats into vivid reality by supplying homeowners with rental equipment ranging from rug cleaners to drywall sanders for hours, days, weeks, or weekends. The company’s technicians also sell industrious contraptions to committed handymen and fix equipment that has begun to rebel.

Sibling trio Tim, David, and Harry Jr. oversees Karagosian Jewelers' sparkling empire, maintaining a tradition of knowledgeable gem dealing set by their parents—who began the then-small jewelry business in their Oakland County home in 1950. Since 1968, the current Orchard Lake Road location has expanded three times to accommodate an ever-expanding hoard of designer jewels and constant bouts of brotherly horseplay. Beyond a sizeable inventory, the Karagosians and their staff strive to outclass other jewelry retailers by stamping their direct-from-Belgium diamonds with a guarantee to beat any competitor's price. Personalized customer service includes fiancé-jeweler collaborations that yield custom engagement rings, and the store's GIA-certified gemologist Tim Karagosian can explain various cuts and carats and suggest hip baby names such as Ruby and That One

Body Boutique Activewear curates an inventory of women's fitness-focused loungewear and yoga apparel that resides "where Couture meets Comfort." Staff members utilize their comprehensive product knowledge to guide customers through the form-fitting apparel from top brands such as Planet Body and Soybu. On Sundays, shoppers can call ahead and arrange shopping sessions by appointment for personalized, leisurely store experiences unhurried by weekday schedules packed with work and crowd-surfing classes.

Inside a bright, serenely organized shop, long rows of BMX bikes salute riders with glossy frames and titled handlebars capped with colorful grips. Graffiti-style boards pepper the walls with skulls, sharks, and kaleidoscopic scripts, and marine adventuring beckons in the form of stand-up paddleboards and specialty surfboards. A staff of athletes of all stripes and terrain preferences helps guests sail through their wealth of options, special-order from hundreds of thousands of components not currently in stock, and discuss the practicality of converting the local public pool into a vert ramp. Buyers cull much of their men's and women's apparel from the Detroit area, including several hard-to-find brands.