Key West Shopping Guide: Stores and Shops in Key West, Florida

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Key West

Shopping

Cheesy tourist staples and t-shirts have taken over many of the storefronts on lower Duval Street, but there is still plenty of cool, quirky, and intensely local shopping left, especially if you're interested in places selling arts, crafts, and food products. For starters, stop by Duval Street's department-store classic, Fast-Buck Freddie's (500 Duval St.; 305/294-2007; www.fastbuckfreddies.com), which mixes the conventional with the quirky, selling everything from tropical shirts to pink flamingo lawn ornaments. Near Mallory Square at Mel Fisher's Treasure Sales (200 Greene St.; 305/296-2633; www.melfisher.org), the gift shop of the eponymous treasure museum, you can bag both replica and real booty salvaged from the sunken Spanish galleon Atocha. Nearby, the 20 or so shops and kiosks of the two-story Clinton Square Market (291 Front St.) admittedly seem aimed mostly at passengers from the cruise ships docking a few yards away, but can still make for a pleasant and interesting browse. For various and pleasantly scented lotions, soaps, perfumes, and other similar products to keep you in a tropical mood after your vacation is nothing more than a videotape, pop into Key West Aloe (540 Greene St. and 431 Front St.; 305/293-1885; www.keywestaloe.com).

If you like to haunt art galleries, you could spend a week in the dozens of venues here. Top choices include the Gingerbread Square Gallery (1207 Duval St.; 305/296-8900; www.gingerbreadsquaregallery.com); the Key West Art Center (301 Front St.; 305/294-1241); Haitian Art Company ((600 Frances St.; 305/296-8932; www.haitian-art-co.com); Island Arts Co-Op (1128 Duval St.; 305/292-9909; www.island-arts.com); and the Wave Gallery (1100 White St.; 305/293-9428; www.thewavegallery.com). Or how about tropical art to wear instead of hang on the wall? At Key West Handprint Fabric & Fashions (201 Simonton St.; 305/294-9535; www.keywestfashions.com), festive, colorful prints adorn everything from swimsuits to handbags; you can also buy whole fabric to make your own creations. Along the same lines, the cocktail-party and country-club set have worn the creations of Lily Pulitzer for decades; check out her store on Front Street (600 Front Street; 305/295-0995; www.lilypulitzer.com).

For some fairly unique edible and potable mementos, stop in at the Key West Winery (103 Simonton St.; 305/292-1717; www.thekeywestwinery.com) which sells Key lime and mango wines, among others. For goodies – and not just pies – confected from the famous local Key limes, head to the Key Lime Pie Co. (701 Caroline St. & 424 Greene St.; 305/294-6567).