AliShopsBlog.com - The Twin Cities Shopping Blog

A reason to shop downtown

Stepping into the new J.B. Hudson store on opening day Tuesday, I felt like I'd been transported to Chicago's Michigan Avenue - and that's saying a lot for Nicollet Mall, which recently weathered the closing of Crate & Barrel and just can't seem to find the shopping groove you'd expect in a respectable downtown. The jewelry store has a big city, luxurious feel that is desperately lacking in downtown Minneapolis shopping. Let's hope this is the beginning of more good shopping to come. While I like convenient suburban parking as much as the next shopper, there's just no substitute for a stately downtown presence. Read more about J.B. Hudson on AliShops.com.

Losing the love

Needed some bangles in a hurry for a fashion shoot. When I'm organized, I make arrangements to borrow merchandise from stores and most, local or national, are happy to accomodate. Without time to go through proper channels, I ran to Mall of America and gathered up everything I needed at For Love 21 (sister store to Forever 21) where $20 could buy you five bracelets, a hangbag and sunglasses. I found all the current looks I wanted to show -- wood bangles, clear bangles, silver and gold. I was feeling quite satisfied at the cash register - until the salesperson mentioned that there are no returns on jewlery. Come again? No returns? As in, never? Not with a receipt? Not within 14 days? Nope. Never. Handbags and a few other things can be returned for store credit only. Yikes. I suppose that's the price we pay for cheap accessories - (perhaps they know they'll fall apart in two minutes, and don't want to chance returns?) - but, wow that seems extremely unfriendly. I took my business to Aldo Accessories - equally cheap, not nearly the selection, but they do take returns with receipts.

New shoes

It hit me last week during a fashion show for top customers at Anthropologie (thanks, Mom, for making me your plus one) that I am in dire need of transitional shoes. Somehow, this seems to happen every spring -- I've got my boots; I've got my sandals. But what to wear when it's 50-60ish? I needed ballet flats, peep toes, something! I hit the jackpot at my new favorite Mall of America shoe store One Thousand Steps. Along with the usual Steve Madden platforms and Puma sneakers are brands you don't see elsewhere in town. I immediately zeroed in on the most adorable pair of round toe yellow wedges by Vagabond for $70. Before I made it to the checkout counter, I noticed a light blue suede peep toe with a big button by Nana. At just $55, how could I resist? Blue can be a neutral. It can! Nordstrom is no longer the only place to shop for shoes at MOA.  Besides One Thousand Shoes, Aldo has two new shoe stores at the mall: First, blending style and comfort, and Spring, for younger trendsetters. Staccato, the Hong Kong based fashion footwear chain, is also worth a stop, and how convenient, it's located right between Nordstrom and DSW!

Layers of gold

I love the look of layered necklaces, but I don't have the money or time to stock up on complementary ( not too matchy-matchy) strand upon strand. So it's great to have a relative who designs jewelry. My sister-in-law Tonia Kim of the Toki Collection is doing these cool multi-layer chains in various shades of gold. I only recently started wearing gold again (yes, I realize I'm a bit late to the game) so this is a nice, not overly glitzy way to ease in. I like the piece because it's more fashionable than a single chain, yet subtle enough to wear with just about anything -- day or night.

You don't have to be related to Tonia to get one. The Toki Collection is available at the Walker Art Center Shop, where a new shipment just arrived. Tonia says the spring collection emphasizes delicate details and 10k gold shaped into twig like forms, tentacles, and tiny seed like shapes juxtaposed against structural forms. Her multi-layer necklaces sell for $162 to $182

Charmed, for sure

When it comes to the Mall of America, it's tough to stump the shopping columnist. I'm like a walking directory of that place (should I be admitting this?). I know what's coming and going; the elevator no one uses; the best bathrooms; the locally owned stores.

So when the staff of Local Charm contacted me to request a mention on AliShops, I explained that I am familiar with the store -- and aware that it is one of the few at the mall that is locally owned -- but I'm not including bead stores on my website at this time.

Thank you, they replied, with a polite correction: Local Charm is not a bead store.

Well what do you know. I've walked by a thousand times, but I finally went in for a serious look the other day. The shop is bigger than I realized and extremely inviting with plenty of seating, cool ambiance and jewelry cases that are open to the public. A novel idea!

Those cases contain affordable jewelry -- mostly silver and stone -- created by artisans from Minnesota and beyond. Simple stuff, for the most part, but the kind of necklaces and earrings you might wear every day.

When I'm wrong, I'm wrong. Local Charm has been added to AliShops.