Since 2005, Liberty has been producing heirloom-worthy wooden jigsaw puzzles, all with fancifully shaped pieces that are satisfying to put into place. Themes include seasons, animals, botanicals, art nouveau and vintage travel posters. Visit the flagship store on the Pearl Street Mall or the factory location, where you can choose from a huge selection and take a ten-minute tour. Custom jobs are also possible!
1468 Pearl Street, Boulder
Wax Trax is a mere year from the half-century mark: It was founded in 1975 by Jim Nash and Dannie Flesher, who sold it to current owners Dave Stidman and Duane Davis three years later. (Nash and Flesher moved to Chicago, where they founded the iconic Wax Trax! record label.) Customers who visit Wax Trax can instantly feel all that history — but they can also take pieces of it home without breaking the bank. The used annex, just steps from the new-music base of operations, offers up a steady flow of vintage vinyl on various formats at incredibly reasonable prices. No wonder record geeks from around the country and the world traveling through Denver always put a stop at Wax Trax at the top of their agenda.
There are bigger record stores in the area. But Paradise Found is as special as its name, and easily proves that size doesn't (always) matter. The retailer took on its new identity in 2016, when Will Paradise purchased Bart's Record Shop from its owners, who had decided to move east after a quarter of a century on the Boulder retail scene. The Pearl Street setting that Paradise chose is warm and inviting, and so are the staffers, who offer both a deep knowledge of stock that's curated with taste and smarts, and an enthusiasm for the sounds of yesterday and today that's positively infectious.
1646 Pearl Street, Boulder
PosterScene focuses on commercial placards from music and film — and the amazing range of imagery truly runs the gamut. Customers will find concert keepsakes from shows in the Denver area and beyond whose artistry demands framing, as well as posters from movies so cheesy, they'd barely deserve thumbtacks if it wasn't for the smiles they produce. The store also sells vintage press kits, pins, T-shirts and other memorabilia, and deep discounts on select merch (some posters can be had for $10 or less) make PosterScene a go-to spot for shoppers decorating everything from dorm rooms to living rooms.
1505 Pearl Street, Boulder
The Archive Aurora is the equivalent of a time machine to the 1990s, when streaming was still mainly associated with fishing. The store celebrates the time not so long ago when people actually purchased physical products that allowed them to watch movies and listen to music in the privacy of their own home. Included are plenty of DVDs and stacks upon stacks of videotapes — big hits, non-hits and cult classics assembled by employees with a keen sense of cool — along with enough vinyl to keep any turntable busy. Shoppers with fond memories of the twentieth century will feel a welcome jolt of nostalgia the second they step through the Archive Aurora's front door.
1431 Dayton Street, Aurora
Since 2008, Dream Books has accepted donated books from libraries, schools and individual households to stock its bookstore with 10,000 or so books, all priced under $5. The donations that are unsuitable for resale (about 30 percent) are recycled, diverting over 95 percent of the donations from a landfill. Donate books, media or video games with a free pickup (ten boxes or more), or drop them off at a donation station.
4455 Grape Street
After spending four decades in the printing business, John Frantzen finally decided to realize a dream by opening a bookstore. He was joined in the enterprise by journalist Dan Danbom, another book lover. At Printed Page Bookshop, they stock interesting books, price them affordably, and put them in the hands of readers and collectors...always keeping in mind who might want what. And for added info about the trade, pick up a copy of I Met Another Dead Man Today, a lively chapbook by Danbom based on his experiences appraising and buying estates that offers endless insight into what people's book collections reveal about them.
Film cameras are back in style, and this spot provides the fastest turnaround in town. Take your film to Not Another Film Lab and you'll get scans in around three days (that's days, not weeks); pay extra to get them in as little as one hour. The shop at 743 Kalamath Street has limited hours, but you can mail in film or leave it at dropbox locations from RiNo to Littleton to Boulder. The shop also offers printing, sells film and cameras, returns negatives and, most important, provides kind guidance for novices with disposable cameras from Urban Outfitters.
743 Kalamath Street
In response to the foodie phenomenon, many kitchen-supply stores have gravitated toward the highest end of the economic spectrum, valuing even the most modest culinary tools as if they were encrusted with diamonds. But not Peppercorn, whose two floors of merchandise space display excellent items accessible to those on limited budgets as well as state-of-the-art gadgets designed for folks who don't even bother to look at the price tags. Also available: a mouthwatering array of cookbooks, plus a great collection of puzzles and other pop-culture products that make browsing at Peppercorn diverting even for those who can't tell a spatula from an egg beater.
Becoming a good cook takes wise guidance — and that's precisely what the instructors at Create Kitchen & Bar provide. They stage classes in nearly every cuisine imaginable: turning out Italian pasta, picking up the basics of Korean barbecue, mastering sushi, even making the perfect empanada. The Create experts empathetically oversee each step in the process, allowing students to learn by doing. The results are typically complete meals that are not only delectable, but can be reproduced without supervision.
2501 Dallas Street, #128, Aurora
