City: Boulder, CO

Category: Shopping

Description: These two major north-south streets bracket Twenty Ninth Street, and a series of strip malls and freestanding stores stretch northward along the two arteries. Because most of them are fronted by parking lots, it’s not easy to wander among them. But if you take the trouble, you can find most of Boulder’s discount chains such as Target, Marshall’s, and Ross, and interesting specialty shops strung out along 28th Street.The Marshall Plaza Shopping Center is home to local outposts of nationally known chains such as REI, Bed, Bath & Beyond; Radio Shack; Office Depot; Floyd’s Barbershop and Blockbuster Video. Past Twenty Ninth Street and Target to the north is a huge Whole Foods market (which introduced Boulder shoppers to the concept of valet parking at a grocery store), Barnes & Noble books, and Vitamin Cottage.Just up 30th Street is the tiny Willow Springs shopping center, whose shops include Rocky Mountain Soccer, Abo’s, Chaz Salon and Boulder Ink, one of our city’s handful of tattoo salons.Thirtieth Street merchants include Best Buy, King Soopers, Walgreen’s, Office Max, Cloth Constructions (designer fabrics and wallpaper), and Concepts (home furnishings and gifts).