Shopping in Vail

After completing optometry school, Dr. Barry Blonder polished his prescription skills in the Army Medical Corps and at Sears Optical before opening his very own practice, Fashion Eye Center, in 1978. Now with two shop locations, he and his team of optometrists help sharpen patients' vision with contacts and glasses in myriad material and corrective combinations. Their large selection of frames includes basic and designer specs and nonprescription sunglasses great for playing sports, sitting on the beach, or protecting eyes from soap in the shower.

A Southwest-based company for more than a century, Frazee Paint and its team of manufacturers are well acquainted with the unique climactic conditions of the region. Always pulling from the latest technology, their technicians design each of their paint and coating products to withstand dry heat, sparse rainfall, and showers of chewing tobacco from passing cowboys. Their quality paints, wall-coverings, wood-care products, and painter's tools stock the shelves of more than 125 retail locations throughout California, Arizona, and Nevada, as well as international dealers in Mexico, China, and Guam.

To call The Body Shop a mere skin and body care store is to miss half of what makes it special. Late founder Dame Anita Roddick was a pioneer for ethical business practices; upon opening her first store in Brighton, England, in 1976, she developed company values such as "Defend human rights" and "Protect our planet." She somehow balanced principles and profit, partnering in global campaigns with UNICEF, Greenpeace, Amnesty International, and the United Nations, all while expanding her brand into 2,500 locations in 60 international markets. After her death in 2007, then-British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said, “She campaigned for green issues for many years before it became fashionable to do so and inspired millions to the cause by bringing sustainable products to a mass market. . . . She was an inspiration.”

Indeed, the Body Shop exhibits an eco-friendliness that's hard to come by in a company of its size. Its products have been fair-trade since 1987, and its Against Animal Testing movement led to a UK-wide ban of animal testing of cosmetics. The products are made from ingredients harvested from around the world: shea butter from Ghana goes into body scrubs and butters, and Indian artisans craft wooden massagers and tote bags that are screenprinted by hand. But all that isn't to say the company's production practices overshadow its final products. Skincare treatments such as the Blue Corn 3-in-1 deep-cleansing scrub mask often appear in Allure, Marie Claire, and other national publications.

Inspired and informed by her time spent in Rio de Janeiro, owner Carolyn Maloney takes care in selecting stylish jewelry, decorative home accessories, fun hooks and knobs, vibrant lighting fixtures and candle holders, and beautiful textiles that will elegantly samba through your home and bossa nova in your wardrobe. Give a room a warm glow with a vintage cowgirl candle ($18), or let your collarbones glow with a glam six-strand necklace ($24). For an addition to your home that will never forget to brush its teeth, pick up a shabby chic bird vanity mirror, made with special glass that adapts to whatever room it inhabits ($32).

In August 2006, Dress Code opened its doors to a small collection of T-shirts boasting the names and logos of the owner's favorite bands. After a slow start, it gradually expanded its selection, adding body jewelry and duds from popular brands such as Addicted, Atticus, Diesel, Fossil, and Oakley. Now, the airy boutique is lined with a wealth of punk-themed apparel and accessories that encourage customers to develop their own individual styles and that combine the owners’ passions for fashion, music, and clothes hangers.

Arid Lands Greenhouses curates a stock of foreign succulents and cacti for avid and casual collectors. Owners and chlorophyll-enthusiasts Bob Webb and Toni Yocum travel extensively throughout Africa and the Middle East, building relationships with the regions' nurseries while seeking out intriguing seeds and cuttings to import back to their greenhouses. The two oversee 18,000 square feet of greenhouse space, where they care for plants until they become mature enough to change their own soil. Their extensive collection even attracts interest from area botanists looking to perform research with some of the more obscure species in stock.