Shopping in West Seneca

Since 1953, the team at Perry's Nurseries and Garden Center has helped customers refine the appearances and health of their homes' precious landscapes. The greenhouse introduces local gardeners to a vast inventory of ornamental trees, roses, annuals, and perennials, while the shop's interior houses all manner of yard accents and tools. Perry's gears up for holidays with decorative items such as Thanksgiving corncobs, Mother's Day hanging plants, and Christmas wreaths and poinsettias. Hand-tuned wind chimes sing in the breeze created by a neighbor's industrial-strength hair dryer, and birdbaths and statuaries strain to remain utterly still while humans ponder their adoption.

The trained staff at Eyewear Studio enhances vision and aesthetic appeal by combining quality lenses from Nikon and Essilor with frames by top brands such as Ray-Ban, Vogue, and Columbia. The on-staff optician measures and fits single-vision, bifocal, and progressive lenses to wearers’ specific requirements and perform free adjustments for any eyewear purchased at the shop. Specialty options, such as polarized and antiglare lenses, sharpen vision while keeping eyes protected from the sunlight and wayward pencils.

Since 1951, the award-winning landscapers at Lincoln Park Nursery have assisted homeowners with landscape designs for garden and backyard projects, incorporating eye-catching elements such as outdoor goldfish ponds and fountains. With the skills of Edward Scissorhands and the added ability to shake customers’ hands safely, knowledgeable staff members offer input to help customers beautify front yards, garden paths, and secret gardens. The nursery’s two locations maintain a large, constantly updated stock of ornamentals, vines, fruiting trees, and wall stones and pavers.

Sewing machines perch atop blue-skirted tables in a brightly lit room accented with hardwood floors, bookshelves brimming with multihued material, and wall displays of buttons and sewing accessories. In these welcoming confines, the instructors of Chenoa Designs guide students through their projects, imparting techniques for attaching appliqués to homemade handbags or adjusting dress patterns to fit a pet goldfish. The team of seam sultans works to expand the stitchwork community through a roster of classes that guide newcomers on everything from the basics of operating a sewing machine to the intricacies of embroidery and appliqué. While students work, they can draw from the DIY emporium's stock of specialty embroidery machines and binding systems by Martelli along with renowned lines such as Jenny Haskins designs to ensure their projects benefit from top-notch materials and tools.

The brainchild of Dr. Joshua M. Smith, his wife Satomi Smith, and his brother Matthew Smith, Serene Gardens blends Japanese-influenced gardening, art, cuisine, and culture in a fluid space that hosts a store, café, and educational space. Influenced by Josh’s stint as an apprentice at Japanese nursery and design company Furukawa Teijuen, the garden center lures in customers with Eastern plants and design elements ready for duty in yards, homes, or cars made of old terrariums. The music of Josh’s shakuhachi bamboo flute—featured on four CDs sold in the shop—wafts through the shop, previewing the art form that clients can learn during in-store classes. Other lessons delve into flower arrangement, which Satomi has studied since she was a child, and the choreography of a Japanese tea ceremony, which demands fewer pinkie lifts and more high-fives than a British high tea.

After lessons or shopping excursions, guests can find peace between the lime-green walls of a café serving tea brewed from loose-leaf blends. At midday, Satomi also delves into family recipes to conjure lunches that incorporate dishes such as edamame, gyoza dumplings, and miso soup.

Kaboom Fireworks stocks a large assortment of pyrotechnics, including sparklers, fountains, and mortars that launch into the sky before bursting into showers of brilliant color. Shoppers can also find party favors such as confetti cannons and glow-in-the-dark jewelry. Before lighting a fuse, check out the company's safety tips where you can get information about everything from what makes a good fireworks show to where fireworks should be stored and why they aren't efficient at toasting s'mores.