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It took a while, but we finally grew tired of the frantic, often bitter crowds and the harried help at Last Chance, and have renewed our former fondness for Dillard's Clearance Center, which is now located at Metrocenter on the east side. Neatly arranged racks of clothing, some of it very current and season-appropriate, are the order of the day here. Weekly unadvertised sales that knock up to 75 percent off of the already reduced prices make us feel like members of a special club, and we dig the impressive shoe department, arranged by size and style (rather than just tossed onto racks in piles, like at other clearance stores). Deeper discounts can be had from special racks of dresses and skirts priced as low as $4.99, and the menswear department always has a huge selection of name-brand and designer suits starting at ridiculously low prices. We're going back!

Best Teen Girls Clothing Store Where Grown-Up Gals Can Shop

Urban Angels

If you want a trendy piece but don't want to have to venture into an indoor mall, visit the teen-style store Urban Angels at Tempe Marketplace. It carries a little bit of everything, including T-shirts, dresses, jammies, and accessories of all kinds. Find a small piece to add a trend to your wardrobe or go all out with a show-stopping dress. Why leave all the good stuff for kids?
Once your eyeballs adjust, you'll realize this bounteous cavern contains more than just wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling rhinestone and crystal bibs, in every color that's ever graced a quinceañera or prom. Faux pearls, from believable to cocktail-onion size, share space with handbags drenched in satin roses, statement necklaces, and every kind of hat embellished with every kind of stud. Among the pathologically sparkly bangles, belts, cuffs, tiaras, navel jewelry, and hair ornaments, you'll even find a few baubles targeting goths and hipsters. Prices are clearly displayed, but "Ask assistance for details," as the sign obliquely suggests, to discover secret sale items. Arrrrr!

This is the place to go for straightforward, sort of old-school glasses on the cheap. How does $29 sound? They don't do your vision test, so you'll have to head to your optometrist for that, but bring in your prescription and they'll hook you up with a non-fussy pair of spectacles for a song. We've even seen a funky (in a good way) pair or two come out of Lesco.

We got roped into helping a total stranger pick out an engagement ring for his wife-to-be — not the sort of thing we would normally find ourselves doing, but that's the kind of thing that happens at family-owned and -operated C & G Jewelers. The warm, pleasant atmosphere just sort of fosters this kind of down-home friendliness from staff and customers alike. Not that people go to C & G looking for a nice place to meet others. Smart shoppers and fans of gold and diamonds head there in search of treasures — and always find them, naturally. New and vintage watches, one-of-a-kind cocktail rings and earrings, and tennis bracelets galore — that's what discerning jewelry shoppers want, and always get, from C & G. The friendly atmosphere is just a shiny bonus.
Brand X offers a 1-2-3 process to get your T-shirt made. Step one: Pick your shirt. Step two: Pick your words and images. Step three: They make it for you. All that is left to do is show off your funky style to your friends. Get what you want while not having to lift as much as a finger. Well, okay, you need to turn the pages of the store's catalog to pick what you want, but really, can't you do that much?
Red Hot Robot's website has an entire page devoted to robots. We don't really have to say much more about them than that, but we will. The store's selection of metal mechanoids is second to none (in the known universe, that is), and Red Hot Robot also carries an artful array of vinyl toys in non-robot shapes. Do you need to get creative with a Munny vinyl toy? Maybe you're looking for some Japanese cell phone straps. If it's the sort of object your inner child desires, you'll find it here. Just don't expect to pay with your lunch money. Red Hot Robot sells designer toys, meaning that (for the most part) you're going to have to pay adult prices. Thank your robot overlords for your striped, plastic credit rectangles, human.
Best of Phoenix is a special occasion. Let's be honest: Fifty-one weeks a year, we're in a bad mood over here at New Times (if we're doing our jobs right) — bursting bubbles, dashing dreams, reminding you what a godforsaken, politically backward, culturally deprived hellhole you've chosen for a home.

Ahem. Sorry, we got carried away there for a moment. Point is, once a year we take the time to celebrate the things we love about Phoenix, our very favorite things. And one of those is Changing Hands Bookstore. In a town where chains rule and originality can be all but impossible to find amid rows of sun-baked little pink houses and white church spires, this bookstore makes our job easy, for it simply is the best. Not just the best bookstore in town, but the best independent bookstore in the country. Not the biggest, no, but certainly the best, because Changing Hands is not just a business. It's a community. Whether you're selling books or looking for new ones, running into old friends or making acquaintances at one of the many workshops, readings, and other events the store offers, you can't help feeling included here, and just a little bit smarter. You can buy a book anywhere (except Border's — sorry, couldn't resist) but there aren't many places left where you can get advice about what to read next from the clerks; displays that point to genres you didn't know you love; and piles of sale books that are practically free. There's nothing automated about this place, and that's what we love. We know more than one Kindle owner who reads the e-book and buys a hard copy, just to have a reason to come to Changing Hands. That's love. That's the love.
Some may consider us dinosaurs of the digital age, but we still love our bookstores, and we even mourned the loss of the Valley's Borders mega-stores. We especially love our handful of remaining independents, including this venerable (opened in 1989) and inviting little shop that sits one long block from the hustle and bustle of Scottsdale Road near Indian School Road. The name gives a big clue as to this store's leanings — mysteries and crime novels. Also available are anything that owner Barbara Peters and her crack staff like, which can mean travel and food books and good old-fashioned wordsmithing. Every visit to the "Pen" is a wonderful adventure, whether an author, famous or obscure, is doing a reading and signing, or not. Raymond Chandler would love this place.
Our bookshelves were already groaning when we happened upon this well-lit, well-organized place, which offers new and used books, CDs, DVDs, and record albums for next-to-nothing prices. Recent bestsellers share space with grand titles you missed a few years ago, all neatly arranged by category and alphabetically by author. Our search for those few missing Anne Tyler hardcovers is over, thanks to the simply titled Used Books and Records, run by a friendly staff who appears to love books as much as we do. One of them pointed us to the rare and collectible aisle, where we scored a first edition Bobbsey Twins and an ancient biography of Thomas Hardy that smells like an old library — love it! Lately, we run straight for this stunning Camelback Road shop every payday, much to the chagrin of our poor, over-taxed bookshelves.

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