As well as fantastic restaurants and great sightseeing opportunities, Detroit is home to a number of unique stores. Whether you’re a used book collector, foodie, shoe-lover or about to redecorate your living room, the Motor City offers plenty of places where you can spend your hard-earned cash. SHEI presents a sample of these shopping venues that everybody in the area – homegrown Michiganders or out-of-town visitors alike – should consider visiting.

John King Books

Think all used book stores are the same? Get your head checked. John K. King Books at 901 W. Lafayette Blvd. stuffs the four floors of what used to be a glove factory full of used books AND has a special rare books room in another old factory building it. You can spend hours here browsing the collection, trying not to get lost in the maze of bookshelves. Unlike wandering the stacks in U-M’s Hatcher Graduate Library, however, you won’t feel trapped by any research papers looming on the horizon.

John King Books is such a Detroit icon that the cast and crew of “The Double” (featuring Richard Gere and Martin Sheen) took over the rare book room.

Mezzanine

Sometimes building houses and making them “all pretty” in The Sims just doesn’t cut it anymore. This is when your inner interior designer has to step out into the real world, with real money, and fashion your home into something fabulous. If you have a lot of real money, Detroit’s Mezzanine is a good place to go*. They sell fancy, modern furniture like the ultra-minimalist Visser Sofa/Daybed and the Paper Cupboard made of paper, cardboard and honeycomb – just hope that the Honeycomb cereal monster isn’t lurking in your house. Mezzanine also stocks lighting fixtures, as well as bar accessories like shakers (for those occasions when James Bond is over and would like a martini) and wine tools.

*If you don’t have a lot of real money, try Ikea, where you have the added joy of assembling purchases yourself.

City Slicker Shoes

Speaking of heading into the real world, City Slicker sells the perfect shoes in which to step out. They’re the kind of shoes you’d expect to find on the feet of the bass player in a funk band, a flamboyant interior designer, or a pimp circa 1973. They stock alligator skin shoes in every color and style imaginable. Cognac-colored ostrich leg dress shoes? Check. Red women’s gator skin sneaks? Chhheck. For those with less exotic tastes, City Slicker sells tamer footwear like suede Lacoste sneakers and leather wedge sandals.

Eastern Market

This is the place to go if you want cheap, fresh, local produce, evidenced by the fact that around 40,000 shoppers (including Ann Arborites) flock there every weekend. The market is open from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. every Saturday, but plan on getting there early if you want the best deals. You might even want to make a day-trip out of it, as there are plenty of dining options in the market and things to do in the area.

Words: Rhiannon Haller

Photos: Chelsea Brown, SHEI Photography Editor