Shopping in Windsor Locks

The staff at Express, an authorized Verizon Wireless retail center, opens the lines of communication for clients with a spectrum of cellular devices and services from one of America’s largest mobile networks. Knowledgeable experts can help patrons set up the latest smartphones and tablets from brands such as Apple and Droid, and the stores' vast inventory of covers protects devices from scratches and text messages delivered tied to a brick. Wireless wizards can also help with phone upgrades, laptop cards, and warranty services, or facilitate phone trade-ins for discounts on new gizmos.:

During premieres of shop videos, Theory Skate and Snow fills with the staccato snap of wood against rails and wheels slipping away from asphalt into the air. Alongside a knowledgeable staff, patrons cheer on the store’s team of sponsored snowboarders and skaters, who appear in the clips. Around them, shelves groan beneath all manner of apparel and gear from brands such as Vans, Forum, and DC, and staff circulate, helping shoppers select a suitable deck or figure out how to out-skate their shadows. Dan and Frank, Theory’s owners, also demonstrate their love for skating by raising funds to help build local parks.

Deja Jewelz

Rows upon rows of stacked glass and beads glitter in the morning sun as Deja Jewelz’s staffers polish the store’s display cases in preparation for the day’s customers. Boasting upward of 3,000 beads and charms, the cozy shop’s vast inventory caters to all personal styles and tastes, from elegant and simple pieces to vibrantly hued sparklers that will come in handy if the sun burns out. Throughout the day, knowledgeable staffers can be found bustling about the shop helping customers pick out a signature bauble or answering questions about the store’s collection of chic handbags.

Jeff Lederman took a hobbyist's interest in personalized crafts more than 30 years ago, and today that hobby has blossomed into a gift mecca tinged with a distinctively masculine edge. RhinoGifts.com and its sister storefront Recognition Inc. fill orders big and small for all kinds of inscribed paraphernalia, from apparel and watches to cedar humidors for stogies, and incorporates customers’ own artwork, logos, and personalized messages to complete each gift. The outfit also emblazons trinkets for companies with no minimum order sizes, meaning big corporations and mom-and-pop shops alike can treat their employees to a commemorative pen on Dr. Spock’s half birthday.

Joining the witness-protection program is the best way to disguise your identity, but the vast array of costumes at Halloween Express gives the program a run for its money. For more than two decades, the chain’s 300+ stores have supplied customers with costumes year-round from vampire capes for Halloween to Caesar togas for the Ides of March.

In preparation for the fall of 2012, they’ve added new items to their Halloween collection. These costumes range from fuzzy blue monsters to skeleton zombies and can transform groups of four into Raggedy Andy and three clones spawned from his DNA. The store’s party supplies add a spooky touch to festivities and include tombstones, rotting pumpkins, and giant hairy spiders.

David Art Center, in business for more than four decades, stocks a deluge of quality art supplies from name brands including Liquitex, Winsor & Newton, Daler-Rowney, and PrismaColor. Located just a few minutes from downtown New Orleans, the art-savvy staff also helps visitors to dress up artwork, photography, and two-dimensional dolls with a selection of more than 1,000 styles of moldings and mats, custom-cut glass, and dry-mounting materials.