Goods & Services >>

• Best Car Wash
  The Neighborhood Car Wash
  Hand car washes are for special occasions (or men who love their cars even more than their lawns). Automated drive-through car washes are a quick fix in emergency situations. Wielding a hose at self-service bays is the most common method, and if most of the equipment works most of the time,... More >>
• Best Dog Wash
  Four Muddy Paws
  Duke, unofficial canine mascot of the RFT editorial offices and habitual problem child, hates a bath. So much so that the best way to wash him is to get in the shower with him and hold him between your legs while scrubbing him down. That was before Four Muddy Paws opened. This pet boutique... More >>
• Best Shine
  James Mercer
  James Mercer has earned his keep shining shoes downtown for the better part of the past quarter-century. At present he operates a chair in a small room on the ninth floor of the Chemical Building at Eighth and Olive, next door to Marilyn Massey's Downtown Barber Shop. Shining shoes is a tough... More >>
• Best Dry Cleaner
  Klassic Cleaner
  Klassic Cleaner is a humble affair in the basement of the Gateway One Building downtown, just a counter and a hanger pole. Counter attendant Chong (she prefers a one-name moniker) has a sixth sense when it comes to knowing that a customer has arrived and appears stage-left like a game show host.... More >>
• Best Gun Shop
  Keller Gun Works Inc.
  Look to the right as you enter Keller Gun Works and admire the large stuffed bear. It's not merely a decoration. It's the original Build-a-Bear. Owner Jim Keller shot it himself. He'll tell you so, if you ask, his voice betraying no pride, just the slightest hint of amusement. Do you really... More >>
• Best Pawnshop
  First Cash
  Far too many pawnshops amount to little more than really terrible places to buy an engagement ring. First Cash, on the other hand, is a great place to do some casual shopping. A national chain with three St. Louis locations, First Cash's most popular (and best) store is its North Grand outlet.... More >>
• Best Garden Center
  Beckmann Brothers Landscaping
  If the world did indeed live in the palatial estates and country manors favored as settings in the home-improvement shows and magazines, every one of us would shop at Beckmann Brothers for our landscape needs. Massive rocks suitable for the most rustic flagstones, neat phalanxes of hedges to... More >>
• Best Hardware Store
  Southside True Value Hardware
  So, what's the longest you've waited for service at one of the big-box hardware stores? Fifteen minutes? Half an hour? An hour? Only to find that the "sales associate" doesn't know the difference between a croissant and crescent wrench? Step into Southside Hardware, and you'll be hard-pressed to... More >>
• Best Retail Experience
  Levine Hat Company
  Long before St. Louis was first in shoes, first in booze and last in the American League, the Levine Hat Company was hawking hats downtown. So perhaps it shouldn't be surprising that customers are practically swaddled in service from the moment they step through the door and are handed a plastic... More >>
• Best Frame Shop
  Artmart
  Learning to talk would have been so much more fun if only we'd done it in Artmart's Frame Center. But it's not hard to picture (har!): Wandering up and down the aisles is a tremendous exercise in vocabulary and in adjective usage, from embossed to fresco to bas relief. "Biiiiiig," you think,... More >>
• Best Soap (1 Comment)
  Hermann Handmade Soap
  Eric and Mary Brende spent a week in Tennessee learning the recipe for their Hermann Handmade Soap, which will clean and moisturize even the huskiest bear. They sell at Soulard Market, where each Saturday one of them can be found explaining the qualities of their velvety product. Eric Brende is... More >>
• Best Beads
  Lady Bug Beads
  We're not talkin' Hobby Lobby two-baggies-fer-a-dollar here, folks. Not that there's anything wrong with a bargain. But what we're talkin' here is more than 3,000 square feet of glass, silver, crystal, bone, shell, pearl and semiprecious stones. We're talkin' classes and demonstrations. We're... More >>
• Best Knitting Supplies
  Hearthstone Knits
  Knitting, yes. Why do you laugh? Knitting's hip again, my friend. Urban knitters congregate nationwide, purling under the aegis of the Stitch 'n' Bitch movement, or just casting on as rogue elements fighting against the sweat-shop standard of clothing manufacture. Hell, Brian Gibson of Lightning... More >>
• Best Art Supplies
  Artmart
  Artmart makes you question why your hobby is making meth in your kitchen and not, say, stamping or drawing with Conté crayons. You want to pick a fight with your significant other just so you have occasion to make an "I'm sorry" card. You suddenly feel bad about mocking your friends who... More >>
• Best Musical Instrument Store
  Swing City Music
  Only one kid's test-driving a guitar, and he's shredding -- and it isn't a Metallica song. There's a floor-to-ceiling wall of guitars, and they aren't all cheap. Gibson Firebirds, two color choices. Les Pauls. Epiphone Iommi and at a better price than the Big Box. Sure, they could have more... More >>
• Best Electronics for the Audiophile
  Music for Pleasure
  Love your music? Sure you do. But what have you done for your music lately? Given it anything nice? An iPod, you say? Gimme a break! What with those nasty mp3s and those skanky little earbuds, you've been mistreatin' your music, Clem. Doesn't it deserve better? How about a T+A CD player with a... More >>
• Best Baby Store
  City Sprouts
  Pity the poor sap who wasn't born in the past ten years. If you haven't been a baby, or at the very least had a baby in close proximity, in the past decade, you may not be aware of the amazing advances in kid-hip (and a parallel leap forward in what, for lack of a better term, we'll call... More >>
• Best Toy Store (for Grown-Ups)
  Toys "R" Us
  What is more important to a toy collector than a strong line of credit? Selection. A healthy Visa card is useless if the goods aren't available. This summer was rough for the collector on both fronts. Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Batman Begins and the almost-constant waves of Justice League... More >>
• Best Toy Store (for Kids)
  LagoonaMagoo Toys
  The challenge was simple: Give a six-year-old and a three-year-old each $5, enter the toy store and have everyone (adult, kids and store staff) leave happy. It was much harder than it sounds, but LagoonaMagoo did itself proud. Located just off the indoor play place at Mills Mall (very clever... More >>
• Best Role Playing Game Store
  The Fantasy Shop
  Let's face it: You hate your job. No, you loathe your job. How did it come to this? You had dreams when you were young, an imagination that made even the tedium of school bearable. And now? Staff meetings, fluorescent lighting and a cubicle have laid waste to your once-flourishing inner world.... More >>
• Best Comic Book Store
  Star Clipper Comics
  How can anyone single out a comic book store as better than any other comic book store? They all carry the same titles, they all put the books out on the same day, and they all charge the same price for each issue. Thanks to the comic book industry, it's a very level playing field. Like most... More >>
• Best Book Store
  Subterranean Books
  Oprah's best efforts notwithstanding, books have taken a serious hit at the hands of competing media. It's easier to watch a movie, listen to a CD or turn on cable than it is to read a book, and most people do prefer easy. Regardless, savvy independent book merchants have managed to ride the... More >>
• Best Used Book Store
  Patten Books
  It's located in a blink-and-you-miss it spot, but Patten Books is worth the effort (and inevitable first-time drive-by) to find. The store contains a formidable selection of the expected (walls and walls of quality fiction and nonfiction, as well as truly stellar mystery and science-fiction... More >>
• Best Newsstand
  World News Ltd.
  Still the undisputed heavyweight champion, this unassuming corner storefront in the heart of downtown Clayton is a mandatory destination before your next two-layover flight, inpatient surgery or bathroom break. The secret to its success is simply the classic newsstand formula. You'll find... More >>
• Best Window Display
  R. Ege Antiques
  The art of the window display long ago lost its luster. If you're lucky, you might spot an erect mannequin nipple, but most retailers these days design Web sites instead. The window at R. Ege Antiques in Soulard, however, is a constantly evolving still-life worthy of Joseph Cornell. Owner Rick... More >>
• Best Record/CD Store
  Vintage Vinyl
  It isn't quite Cheers, but the Loop outpost of Vintage Vinyl fosters a homey, open atmosphere that's a far cry from the snobbery of many indie stores. Whether it's the cheapo vinyl selection that resembles your parents' collection (lots of Phil Collins!) or the friendliness of patrons, the... More >>
• Best Used CD Store
  CD Reunion
  In a nondescript strip mall in the heart of north county lies one of St. Louis' best-hidden musical secrets. CD Reunion has been in business for some twenty years (counting its previous life as the Record Reunion), and like all good music stores it still has a solid base of loyal customers.... More >>
• Best Place to Buy Vinyl
  Euclid Records
  For many record stores, stocking the outdated, oversize vinyl format is almost an afterthought, an area of the store where forgotten new-wave bands and surplus Fleetwood Mac albums go to gather dust. Euclid Records, on the other hand, lovingly devotes an entire room to the platters -- arranged... More >>
• Best Video/DVD Rental
  Blockbuster Online
  Bemoaning the fact that St. Louis has no proper independent video stores, all the indie kids switched over to Netflix a couple years ago. But then they got nostalgic for the brick-and-mortar stores, because half the fun of renting is browsing the new releases. Even if you have no intention of... More >>
• Best Place to Buy Anime
  Suncoast Motion Picture Co.
  We can't pinpoint the precise moment, but sometime during the past half-decade, anime gained a rather large foothold in the American pop-culture consciousness. This is a good thing -- the Japanese cartoons counter the Disneyfication of animation as a storytelling medium. Which means that people... More >>
• Best Mall
  Westfield Northwest (Northwest Plaza)
  Chris Rock is fond of saying that "there ain't nothing in the black mall but sneakers and baby clothes." But north county's best black mall, Northwest Plaza -- which just happens to be the best mall in the St. Louis area -- has much, much more: at least four stores for the fashionable black man... More >>
• Best Mall Sculpture
  Jamestown Mall
  As if to cover up a small tinge of capitalist guilt, most American malls dedicate a few square feet to the cultured arts. This usually manifests as an ignored sculpture in the center court fountain. When Jamestown Mall opened in 1974, they went full-on hallucinogenic with four ultramodern... More >>
• Best Bike Shop
  Maplewood Bicycle
  Whether you could name every rider in the peloton at this year's Tour de France or you just look longingly at passing bicycles as you fill your car with $3.50-a-gallon gas, you will find a bicycle at Maplewood Bicycle. Yes, even you there in the back, fondly remembering the first bike you ever... More >>
• Best Sporting Goods Store
  Johnny Mac's
  Long before the advent of the sports superstore, there was Johnny Mac's. In business for some 37 years, the original Sunset Hills store has given rise to four additional outlets. Johnny Mac's caters primarily to team sports, with darn near everything you need for baseball, softball, football,... More >>
• Best Skate Shop
  Infinity Skateshop
  Skate rats don't care about gimmicky watches and sunglasses, snowboards, fashionable clothing or the latest shoes in a bazillion different colors. They simply want to get what they need without having to deal with 40-year-old geezers and non-skating teenage girls trying to peddle shit they know... More >>
• Best Tattoo Parlor (1 Comment)
  Goldenlands Tattoos and Accessories
  Ink spots staffed by purple-haired, barbell-lipped anarchists are so 2004! Make getting your next tat a family affair at Goldenlands Tattoos and Accessories. Founded by brothers Gary and Mitch Glatstein in 1988, Goldenlands goes above and beyond the cleanliness call of duty, and while most pain... More >>
• Best Body Piercing
  Cheap TRX
  Ready for a piercing, are we? You've prayed on it. Now you're ready to plunk down your jack and part your flesh with a piece of steel. Poke your head (or whatever part you plan to puncture) into Cheap TRX, South Grand's piercing emporium. Navel or tongue, brow or labret -- if you can pinch it,... More >>
• Best Tobacconist
  G.A.D. Cigars
  In the realm of tobacconists, there are cigar shops, and then there's G.A.D. Cigars. Founded five years ago by Baton Rouge transplant George Duvic, the cigar shop on the Hill consists of one enormous humidor. G.A.D. has even contracted with a Honduran cigar maker to create its own "G.A.D.... More >>
• Best Liquor Store
  Starrs
  If you're looking for a bottle of Captain Morgan's, by all means try Schnucks. But if you're one of those rare imbibers who relish the honeyed punch of aged rum, you'd do better to lift your snifter toward Starrs. The store, which also carries a small selection of gourmet goods, boasts one heck... More >>
• Best Wine Store
  33 Wine Shop & Tasting Bar
  Notes from a wine sociopath, as written by 33 owner Jake Hafner (this year's Best Bartender), reprinted (without permission) from his four-year-old wine shop's fifteen-page wine/beer/cheese list: — "We have over 600 wine selections on our extended wine list.... Wines are stored at 55... More >>
• Best Adult Video Store (1 Comment)
  Spankys Video
  It was very late and we were very bored and Hemingway suggested we rent a porn. It was a very good idea. We got a taxi and went across the very wide river to the east side but Hemingway said no. He said we must go somewhere else. We were almost there already but he said, "You do not understand.... More >>
• Best Place to Buy Sex Toys
  Spankys Gifts
  One might think that St. Louisans didn't purchase sex toys until 2001, the year this here particular category first began appearing in our annual kudosfest. But purchase them we do, and there's no better place to stock up on vibrating remote-control panties, glass phalli and Rabbits both Jack... More >>
• Best Flea Market
  Riverbend Flea Market
  Like any standout bazaar, the Riverbend Flea Market in Alton proffers a hodgepodge of the predictable -- cheesy cell-phone skins, T-shirts you wouldn't be caught dead cleaning your bathroom in, woefully faux designer handbags -- and the unexpected. That batch of goodies includes... More >>
• Best Thrift Store
  Unique Thrift
  Hell, we might as well bestow the crossroads of St. Charles Rock Road and Lynntown Drive with the Best Thrift Intersection award. Not only can you pinch your pennies at Family Dollar, Aldi's and Rocky Road Thrift Store, but these wallet-friendly four corners are also home to Unique Thrift. Worth... More >>
• Best Junk Store
  Isn't It Grand
  Long before South Grand was deemed a "Loop," Just Pictures was a frame shop that morphed into a junk store occupying three storefronts in the block between Connecticut and Wyoming streets. Today the place has shrunk to two storefronts and changed its name to Isn't It Grand -- and it's still this... More >>
• Best Place to Buy Used Clothing
  Value Village Thrift Store
  From utilitarian to Halloween to high-end clothing, one place is guaranteed to have it all. Tucked into the backside of Kenrick Plaza, Value Village Thrift Store's Shrewsbury outpost (one of three VVTSes) is better than a department store when it comes to all manner of clothes shopping. Not only... More >>
• Best Virtual Boutique
  Beqi
  When most girls are little, they dream about growing up to be princesses and supermodels, picture-perfect brides and pageant queens. When 35-year-old Lou native Beqi Brinkhorst was a kid, she dreamed of running her own business. Brinkhorst fulfilled that childhood fantasy five years ago, when... More >>
• Best Gift Store
  Plowsharing Crafts
  You just got the dinner invite -- another birthday. You know what you should do: Head to the "Best Art Supply Store," pick up some materials and march right home to fashion a homemade card from the heart that will be pretty enough to frame. Yeah, right. You know what you're tempted to do: the... More >>
• Best Place to Buy Your Mother a Teapot
  Cornucopia
  Cornucopia is a charming little shop in the heart of downtown Kirkwood that appears to contain every kitchen utensil ever created. An afternoon spent browsing in the closely packed aisles turned up glassware, cookie cutters for every holiday and a very impressive selection of coffees and teas.... More >>
• Best Antique Store
  Antique Menagerie
  Some so-called antique stores scare our pants off, so packed are they with ancient kitchen utensils and cracked china dolls, so filled to the brim with rusty this and half-broken that. What if everything came to life, The Sorcerer's Apprentice-style, and knocked us unconscious? That's no way to... More >>
• Best Kitchen Kitsch
  Hearthbeats
  Ever find yourself wandering dazed through Bed Bath & Beyond, dreaming about how cool and cozy your abode would be if only you owned this cake caddy or that set of butter warmers? If so, do yourself a favor and avoid Hearthbeats. Not only will your heart go all a-flutter at the sight of the... More >>
• Best Florist (1 Comment)
  Studio Flora
  Three years ago Lori Cox was robbed at gunpoint coming out of her new Lafayette Square shop, Studio Flora, on the eve of its grand-opening bash. She threw the party anyway -- and the karma at her adorable floral outpost has been splendid ever since. Cox grew up identifying flowers before foods.... More >>