The 25 Best Cities for Shopping

1:00 PM, February 6 2012

By Natalie Matthews and Lauren Sherman

Now, here's a surprise: At Lucky, we love to shop. And we love unearthing the coolest, most unique spots in the country to do just that. So it was only a matter of time before we created a definitive guide to the Best Cities for Shopping.

To figure out which cities really are the best, we factored in several variables. First, to determine which places have the lowest number of empty stores (i.e., low vacancy rates), we culled data from real estate research firms, including REIS, CoStar and the National Association of Realtors. We then looked to Yelp.com to see where in the U.S. people were talking—a lot—about shopping. We also considered the sheer number of women’s clothing stores and department stores, from discount warehouses like Costco to fancy spots like Saks. Finally, we thought about the little things: Are the stores in these cities where we, as Lucky editors, want to shop? How easy is it to get around from store to store? And do these towns offer the right mix of boutiques, fast fashion and more traditional retailers?

We might have crunched some numbers, but more than anything, this list is totally editorial. (Meaning, subjective.) We love these cities and think that if you live nearby one of them, you should spend Saturday exploring the shopping scene.

What do you think? Did we miss one of your favorites? Let us know in the comments below.

Why We Love It: Indianapolis doesn't have the sprawling malls and zillions of boutiques that most major urban areas do. Browsing Circle Centre's big name stores—or independent boutiques in Broad Ripple—is a more relaxed affair.

Places to Try: Sage, N. Rue & Co. (for boutique-style shopping of contemporary labels like Yoana Baraschi and Splendid); Redemption (for locally-designed, independent labels); Circle Centre (for Banana Republic, Victoria's Secret and familiar names).

Visions of America/Joe Storm