6 Best Places to Shop in Albuquerque, New Mexico

This North Valley stalwart has been reviving readers' spirits for many a year in a cozy neighborhood setting. A committed independent seller, Bookworks fairly prides itself on service, and booklovers from all corners flock here for its fine stock of regional coffee-table books, a well-culled selection of modern fiction and nonfiction, architecture and design titles, well-chosen calendars and cards, and a (small) playground's worth of kids' books. Regular signings and readings draw some big guns to this compact treasure.

Ramble north on this rural stretch of Edith Boulevard and your reward is not only a bit of Albuquerque history en route (the old Camino Real ran along Edith), but the unexpected wonder that is Eldora Chocolate. The actual chocolate making happens here, too, and the many shop's many awards attest to owner Steve Prickett’s attention to quality and the nuances of the chocolate bean. This is true artisanal chocolate—any aficionado is sure to learn something special about their 70% Tanzanian, say, and tastings are offered freely.

A destination on its own, the wonderful Farm Shop at the renowned Los Poblanos Inn carries a distinctive selection of books, culinary gadgets, fine crafts from local makers (jewelry, textiles, ceramics), the same soothing and perfectly scented lavender lotions and soaps found in the inn's guestrooms, and a considerable variety of artisan jams, vinegars, and sauces. For takeaway sustenance, the inn's Campo kitchen whips up crisply crusted breads, sandwiches, coffee, tea, and cakes.

This shop carries a very special selection of fetishes, along with kachina dolls, baskets, and a small grouping of vintage and contemporary Native American jewelry and pottery, for the beginning and seasoned collector. The shop's owner, Yvonne Stokes, is well respected in this field, and presents work from all 19 pueblos as well as Hopi and Navajo pieces. Changing exhibits focus on one tradition—stone carvers, for example—and hone in on the work of one artist and perhaps that of the artist's family as well. Gorgeous hand-carved Ye’i figures by contemporary Navajo artist Sheldon Harvey are here, as are his wonderful abstraction paintings. Enter the Zuni Fetish Museum from within the gallery; an unusually fine range of historic Zuni-crafted fetishes awaits, along with those by other Native artisans. Transitions in style and theme are well-documented here, as are trends in materials and form. Visits to both the store and the museum are by advance appointment only.

With joyful designs composed in the spirit of traditional woodblock prints, whimsical pure cotton flour-sack dish towels—and yardage, napkins, potholders, and more—roll off the silk-screen presses here (don't miss their special misprint sales). While the perfectly soft and absorbent towel fabric is imported from Pakistan, the themes and attitude are purely local and New Mexico-inspired. View the printing process from their retail shop, where you will also find an irresistible selection of finely made hand-hewn products from other sustainably focused makers with keen eyes for design. The colorfully felted Flying Dragon children's mobiles (Nepal) are delightful, and the pewter animal magnets from Roofoos in Oregon are pretty cool too.

An Albuquerque mainstay since 1946, and here on Central since 1964, the Man's Hat Shop is where anyone, man or woman, who needs just the right hat, with just the right fit, will find what they're looking for—whether that's fedora, porkpie, Cossack-style, coonskin, or, of course, top-of-the-line Western felt or straw. Owner Stuart Dunlap clearly loves his business—as do costume designers from the state's expanding film industry—and will help guide you among some 5,000 styles to a new chapeau that suits, or modify one you already have.