Forget Sightseeing - California Visitors Want to Shop

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.)— From haute couture to vintage to bargains and off-the-shelf, California’s shopping is as varied as its terrain. But there’s one underlining constant and that’s shopping’s popularity with visitors. Shopping in California, likewise the country, continues to remain the most popular activity for travelers while on trips away from home, especially leisure trips. 

 

“According to the Travel Industry Association of America, Americans spend billions each year on retail purchases,” said Executive Director Caroline Beteta of the California Travel and Tourism Commission (CTTC). “What makes California shopping different is the diversity of goods offered. Visitors can shop some of the world’s finest and most expensive designers on Rodeo Drive and then head to Carmel for its one-of-a-kind, upscale boutiques and pet-friendly settings.”

 

You simply can’t talk about California shopping without leading with Beverly Hills, where Prada, Valentino, Chanel, Dior, Cartier, Versace and Louis Vuitton call Rodeo Drive home. This stretch of shops and boutiques, part of the Los Angeles County Region, is only three blocks long, but constitutes one of the most famous shopping districts in the world. For some visitors, even more thrilling than the luxury retail is the celebrities donning oversized sunglasses that shop there. Local residents recommend grabbing a table at an outdoor café, where you may spot Britney Spears or Hilary Swank among the glitzy and glamorous surroundings. For the little ones, the chic Little Aura in Santa Monica is a popular boutique and specializes in furniture, accessories and clothing for children and babies. In Los Angeles shopping is made easy with shopping tour operators, such as The Shopanista, which have customized vans and limo buses that takes groups on full weekend and one-day citywide shopping excursions. One favorite package is the “Tabloid Shopping Package” that goes to LA shopping destinations featured in the tabloids, including Melrose Avenue and Robertson Boulevard.

 

It’s no secret that San Francisco offers some of best shopping in the world, but what may surprise visitors are the many sophisticated shopping districts just outside the City by the Bay. In San Jose, part of the San Francisco Bay Area Region, travelers to Santana Row could easily mistake the area for a village in southern France, Italy or Spain. This European-inspired setting features classic architecture, 200-year-old fountains, 70 shops and boutiques, including Gucci, Salvatore Ferragamo and BCBG, along with its six spas. But not all of us shop for designer wear. There are those that shop to cook, and these folks are most at home at Copia. Located in Napa and billed as the American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts, Copia’s Cornucopia, a gift and wine store, features select wines and spices, an assortment of the latest kitchenware tools and gadgets and wine accessories – all flanked by winetasting rooms where you can taste and buy.

 

Shop by the sea – literally – in La Jolla located in the San Diego County Region. The city’s Prospect Street overlooks the Pacific Ocean and is lined with specialty shops, boutiques, antique emporiums and art galleries. Hillcrest in San Diego also offers a unique shopping experience through its tree-lined streets and quaint neighborhoods, where visitors can browse urban-style boutiques and vintage shops stocked with books, clothes and records, including Buffalo Exchange for the hippest in retro clothes. Located in the heart of historic Old Town San Diego, Old Town Market offers more than 40 unique shops representing products from Mexico, the Americas and beyond. For a charming shopping district with style and flair, travelers head north to Solana Beach, considered one of the hippest hotbeds for artistic treasures, where more than 85 shops, each with their own personality, display one-of-a-kind items. But don’t miss sauntering into the studios, small houses converted into stores and attractive boutiques, which make you feel like you’re lost on European side streets.

 

Just a few blocks from the Pacific coastline is Carmel Plaza. This luxury shopping destination features unique boutiques in a classy small village that parallels a French shopping district. Located in the Central Coast Region, Carmel Plaza also plays host to four-legged visitors, as many shoppers are often times accompanied by their furry friends, who have their own watering hole called the Fountain of Woof. Carmel Plaza’s white-gloved service pulls out all the stops with travelers enjoying high-time tea parties, trunk shows from Luis Vuitton and guided tours through individual stores. For vintage accessories Santa Barbara’s downtown State Street corridor centered around Paseo Nuevo, a sprawling Mediterranean-style structure complete with large airy courtyards ornamented with colorful tiles and lush landscaping, is ideal with its more than 50 boutiques and specialty stores. Shoppers will feel like they are in another world in Solvang, considered the Danish capital of America, with its quaint courtyards, windmills, overflowing flower boxes and cobbled streets. Local favorites include Gaveaesken (Gift Box) with its more than 400 designs of intricately cut mobiles, Danish dolls and hand-painted ceramics. The Book Loft has the largest selection of famous Danish author Hans Christian Andersen titles anywhere along with thousands of contemporary editions. The Home Collection is a must visit with is handsome array of furnishings and “Simply Amish” furniture.

 

California’s mountains aren’t just for skiing. Located in the High Sierra Region, the new Village at Northstar offers stylish boutiques, specialty retailers and outdoor clothing stores, including The North Face, Freckles Children’s Boutique, Helly Hansen and the Oakley Concept Store. Coming soon to the village are news shops and restaurants, including Mikuni Japanese Restaurant and Sushi Bar, Olivier Napa Valley and Tahoe Creamery. Coach loyalists need look no further than the Coach store at the Mammoth Lakes Luxury Outlets, where visitors can find their favorite handbags and accessories all at discounted prices. Fashion while fly-fishing isn’t so much what you wear as what you’re casting. In Mono County on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada, anglers drop into Ken’s Sporting Goods in Bridgeport to outfit themselves with locally tied, burgundy San Juan worms or hornberg rainbow flies.

 

The Fly Shop, in Redding, is the world’s largest fly-fishing store. Upon entering, customers are immediately dazzled by the thousands of multicolored feathery bugs overflowing the store’s cubbyholes. In this part of the Shasta Cascade Region you can find a fly for any water, fresh or salt, and any type of fish that would be attracted by a lure tied to resemble living bait. Even folks who don’t like shopping have to be dragged away from the shop’s many rods, reels, waders and creels. Every salesman is also an expert fly fisherman and several do double-duty guiding drift boats of anglers to the salmon and steelhead that populate the nearby Sacramento River beneath Redding’s famous Sundial Bridge.

 

More discounts can be found in Barstow. The Barstow Outlets LLC, located between Los Angeles and Las Vegas in the Desert Region, offers designer brands up to 70 percent off regular retail at a variety of shops, including Izod, Toys Unlimited and the Sunglass Hut. In Palm Springs, shopping is all about Main Street. Approximately six blocks in length, Main Street, which is within walking distance of many area hotels and its connecting avenues, is made up of specialty and boutique shops, as well as al fresco restaurants. Local favorites are Shoe La La for, of course, shoes; Crystal Fantasy for the must-have jewelry; and Good Gauze in historic La Plaza for the perfect desert-wear.

 

Step back in time while shopping in Eureka’s preserved and restored Victorian district named Old Town. Here along the historic waterfront in the North Coast Region, shoppers will find new and old books, art, beads, birdhouses and even pirate flags. Popular spots to relieve tired feet and fill up on fine dining are the Avalon and Restaurant 301. After-dinner treats mean a scrumptious banana slug at Sjaak’s Chocolates next to the gazebo. In the quiet hamlet of Valley Ford in Sonoma County, West County Design is becoming increasingly popular for its custom pieces for homes and offices, including its handcrafted mirrors, blown glass vases and lamps, many of which are created from natural elements – wood, stone, river aggregate and minerals. In Sonoma, Cornerstone Place is an unusual collection of independent home furnishing galleries and shops, exclusive tasting rooms and an upscale café situated on the lushly landscaped grounds of Cornerstone Gardens, originally designed to showcase the work of leading landscapers.

 

Get your retail therapy on in the Orange County Region where Newport Beach’s Fashion Island boasts nearly 200 specialty shops, department stores and a vast array of restaurants and cafes in a sophisticated yet relaxed atmosphere that is distinctively Southern California. In Costa Mesa, travelers will find Orange County’s largest fashion malls with top anchor stores Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale’s and Nordstrom. Throughout the shopping district, stores run the spectrum and include A Pea in the Pod, Tiffany & Co., Christian Dior, Jimmy Choo and Valentino. The Fairmont Newport Beach even provides a personal shopper option via their concierge. Guests consult with the property’s personal shopper regarding style, who then gets their shopping done and returns with a selection of clothes placed in-room for consideration.

 

Anaheim GardenWalk, a unique outdoor shopping and dining experience among beautifully manicured garden walkways, is slated to open its first phase by the end of 2007. This phase will include restaurants located along Katella Avenue. The remaining space will open in May 2008, featuring popular retailers, more restaurants and a few Orange County originals: Aveda, Banana Republic, Bar Louie, Brian Wilson’s Surfin’ Beach Party, Defy Board Shop, Harley Davidson, Heat Ultra Lounge, OC Gift, White House/Black Market and XP Apparel. The final phase of this project will include 866 hotel rooms – set to open in late 2009 with an additional 400 timeshare units scheduled to open mid-2010.

 

You don’t have to head to the big city to immerse yourself in California shopping; small towns also offer unique shopping venues, including downtown Davis with its alternative, funky and eclectic edge. Shops are all within walking distance in this part of the Central Valley Region where visitors will find unusual stores including Pink-A-Dot that carries all things pink and feminine, the Wardrobe that offers clothing with a 1920s touch and modern edge and Watermelon Music with its instruments both common and rare. Nearby historic Winters offers small town charm and a bevy of antique stores filled with relics from as early as the 1900s. 

 

Another small town popular for its historic district is Placerville’s Main Street, located in the Gold Country Region, with its 100 retail shops that include clothing, toys, antiques, art and hardware. Placerville is also home to a variety of downtown festivals, including the Bell Tower Brewfest, Art on Parade and the Festival of Lights. In nearby Folsom, shoppers will find discounted wares at the Folsom Premium Outlets. Some of the center’s more popular stores include Calvin Klein, Bebe, Nike and Guess.

 

The Inland Empire Region has a large variety of shopping locations. Antique and specialty shops can be found on Mission Inn Avenue and Main Street in Riverside and up in the mountains on Moonridge Road and the Village in Big Bear Lake. Downtown and old town shopping venues are also popular with travelers, including historic downtown Lake Elsinore and Old Town Temecula, as well as Old Town Redlands and Victorville.

 

The CTTC is a non-profit organization with a mission to develop and maintain marketing programs - in partnership with the state's travel industry - that keep California top-of-mind as a premier travel destination. According to the CTTC, travel and tourism expenditures total $88.1 billion annually in California, support jobs for 911,800 Californians and generate $5.3 billion in state and local tax revenues. For more information about the CTTC and for a free California vacation packet, go to www.visitcalifornia.com. 

 

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Media Contact: Jennifer Jasper, 916-319-5428 or Sam Caygill, 916-319-5424.

 

Forget Sightseeing - California Visitors Want To Shop