Shopping in Waukesha

One Tooth Activewear borrows its moniker from an ancient tribe’s tale about the importance of truthfulness and infuses good-faith, good-fortune values into each piece of active and casual wear. Crafted in Canada from high-quality materials, garments bend and flex with yoga students, busy parents, or hokey-pokey instructors. All activewear is designed with four-way compression technology that doesn't pull against you and limits resistance during movement. Garments are constructed from materials such as Supplex, which offers a cottony feel that protects wearers from wind and water, and cotton terry, which is pillowy soft and pre-washed to resist shrinkage. These materials help the activewear retain its color and shape, even after months and months of wear.

The Milwaukee location, the first to open in America, holds one of the largest collections of activewear garb in the city, outfitting women, men, and teens. One Tooth Activewear also offers tall sizes for women, custom designed active-wear, and team jacket design services.

The varied stock at Urban Laundry, named one of Milwaukee’s Best Women’s Boutiques by CityVoter, bedecks women in contemporary duds from renowned designers. The boutique sets up shop in a restored 19th-century building with exposed Cream City brick and wood-beamed ceilings, from which vintage chandeliers and artwork beam down on a collection of Lola and Sophie blouses and dresses, Free People graphic tops, and denim from 7 For All Mankind. A variety of jewelry and belts accents ensembles, and a selection of vegan handbags basks in cruelty-free materials, daydreaming of bottle feeding baby giraffes.

The staff members at Cyclesmith use knowledge gleaned from their own cycling lives and participation in local races to furnish athletes with the necessities for off- or on-road excursions, from Trek and Haro BMX bikes to apparel and accessories from Mavic and Bontrager. Armed with the Fit Kit bicycle-fitting system, technicians tailor new rides to individual frames, providing a ride as custom and smooth as a RoboCop's uniform. Once techs have helped patrons to select fresh cycles from their top-shelf assortment, customers can apply credit from trading in old bikes toward their purchase. The shop also offers repair services to keep cycles running smoothly.

Since opening in the early 1990s, Manhattan Textiles has dazzled guests with its large assortment of reasonably priced, designer-inspired fabrics. Fueled by a passion for fine textiles, owner Judy and her two daughters traveled the globe in search of distinctive fabrics worthy of display inside their expansive show room. In addition to fabrics, they hand select trims, create custom bedding, and hand loom rugs from a variety of yarns, dyes, patterns, and magic-carpet blueprints.

In 1955, James and Gladys Bluemel opened a small nursery dedicated to growing trees and shrubs and to helping locals with landscaping projects. Now, their son, Mike, runs the much-expanded family business, which thrives on bulk-supply sales, playground resurfacing, lawn care, and snow and ice control during snowman uprisings. Though he’s moved away from the nursery’s original shrub and tree business, he and his green-thumbed staff still maintain a garden center stocked with seasonal plants, garden décor, and essential supplies.

While customers browse Bluemel’s aisles, they'll likely spot a commonality between the perennials, annuals, flowers, herbs, and vegetables: a sticker reading “Dome Grown.” This label marks a plant born and raised in the garden center, which accounts for about 85% of the center’s living merchandise. Having tended and nurtured the plants since their geneses, the staff—who share 35 years of experience—can dispense tips on how to properly care for them, as well as share adorable baby-plant photos.