Best Antiques Mall 2024 | The Brass Armadillo | Goods & Services | Phoenix
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Best Antiques Mall

The Brass Armadillo

Be prepared to carve out a huge chunk of your day if you want to make it through even a fraction of one of Brass Armadillo's two Valley locations. Brass Armadillo is massive. Here, you can stumble upon an antique armoire, a Littlest Pet Shop collection, rare Pokemon cards, film cameras, CDs and artwork before you've even seen a quarter of the store. Antiques are organized into individual booths by seller, so each shop has an aura of its own, and collectibles are stored behind glass in the same manner. If you're looking to decorate your space with Arizona-themed antiques, this should be your first (and might be your only) stop.

Best Antique Store

Modern Manor

Midcentury modern devotees will lose their minds in this jam-packed showroom tucked behind Valentine, one of Phoenix's top restaurants, in the delightful Melrose District thanks to its ever-morphing stellar collection. On any given day, you might encounter sleek teak dining chairs, 1950s Broyhill dressers, an Eames lounge and ottoman, a leather patchwork sofa, boomerang coffee tables, waterfall benches, various kitschy lamps and much more. This isn't a garage sale; items are impeccably sourced, restored, reupholstered and/or refinished and in pristine condition, so prices reflect that. But it also offers a quirky and affordable mix of vintage clothing and jewelry, games, bric-a-brac, housewares and even bicycles — check out the 1970s banana-seat Schwinns. Around every corner, something is guaranteed to make you go "ooh," "ahh" or "eh?" — like the old-style bikini in a wall frame. There's even a rare, retro-futuristic 1970s-era Thomas 2001 electronic organ, unless someone snapped it up by now.

  • 4130 N. 7th Ave., Phoenix, 85013 Map

Best Midcentury Modern Furniture

Red Modern Furniture

Say what you want about Jon Hamm's piercing stare or January Jones' amazing wardrobe, but for us, the best eye candy in "Mad Men" was the furniture. For top-quality, authentic midcentury modern home decor — no repros here — Red Modern Furniture is the place. The showroom near Central Avenue and Camelback Road is full of swoon-worthy pieces we can only dream of taking home. Think Eero Saarinen-designed chairs, Murano glass lamps by Alfredo Barbini, Howard Werner coffee tables and other iconic examples of midcentury design. These pieces are valuable, and the price tags are high to match. But if you're more in the market to browse and ogle, we appreciate that Red Modern Furniture's website also has a section devoted to sold items that have passed through the store, allowing us to appreciate what the midcentury era has to offer the people of today.

Best Local Art

Practical Art

We've heard it before: "I want to buy things from local artists, but I don't know where to start." And when we hear it, our answer is always the same. For more than 15 years, Practical Art has been where we go for beautiful pieces from Phoenix creatives. Prints by portraitist Antoinette Cauley, earrings by Laura Spalding Best, desert-themed works by Jake Early, sculpture, vases, mugs, shirts, books — whatever your aesthetic or budget, you can leave Practical Art with something made by a local artist. And if you really want to step up your patron game, you can join the store's Art Club. Membership gets you an exclusive item made by a different artist each month, invitations to special events and other perks.

Best Shop for Arizona Merch

The Merchantile

Looking to find a unique, local gift for an out-of-town friend? Or maybe you want to show off a little Arizona pride? The Merchantile's two Valley locations have you covered. The large stores are each filled with individual sections that display the offerings from different local vendors. One booth sells T-shirts with designs featuring disco-dancing armadillos, howling wolves and smiling saguaros. In another booth, you might find handmade cactus earrings or soaps and candles that smell like monsoon rain. The best part about shopping here — aside from all the adorable options — is that you're supporting local businesses. The items frequently celebrate Arizona, and shopping at the Merchantile helps Arizona makers. That's what we call a win-win.

  • 3965 N. Brown Ave., Scottsdale, 85251 Map

Best Indigenous-Made Goods

Native Art Market

Buying art from small, local artists keeps money and creative control in the hands of skilled craftspeople instead of corporations. Nowhere is that more important than in Indigenous art, especially in the American Southwest, where ancient cultures have lived in communion with the earth for tens of thousands of years. Native Art Market was founded in 2018 by Heather Tracy (who has Navajo roots) as a space for local artists to showcase and sell their work. Its vending project is a nonprofit and all participants must be of Native American descent. At the store's indoor market, more than 400 small businesses sell remarkable, hand-crafted goods. For quality and quantity, Native Art Market is the real deal. It also holds a seasonal outdoor market in North Scottsdale.

Best Bath and Body Goods

Strawberry Hedgehog

All the talk these days of microplastics in body scrubs and chemicals in lotion make our skin crawl. How can we stay clean and pleasant-smelling without poisoning ourselves? One answer is Strawberry Hedgehog, a local purveyor of vegan bath, body and wellness products. The coconut-almond soap leaves our hands clean, soft and smelling amazing, and the raw sugar scrub, which comes in a variety of scents, is the perfect antidote to dry skin. They say knowledge is power, and Strawberry Hedgehog owner Tracy Perkins devotes a section of the website to explaining her products' ingredients and sharing each ingredient's EWG rating, a designation given by Environmental Working Group that rates toxicity. You can order Perkins' creations online, but until we can smell things through our laptop screen, we prefer to drop by the west Phoenix storefront to inhale the goods.

Best Art Supplies

Jerry's Artarama

Artists, teachers, students and hobbyists all know where to go for any and all art supplies they might need: Jerry's Artarama. Pre-made canvases, custom-made canvases, frames, paints and brushes of every kind, art books and bags, varnishes — whatever an artisan needs, it's in this sprawling space. And there are always amazing sales (check the website for current deals): Think 50 percent off oil paints, up to 70 percent off gesso panels or free items with purchases. Browsing the aisles and all the artwork on the walls is half the fun here, but online shoppers can get free shipping on orders over $59.

Best Religious Supplies

Autom

Autom's catalog and website sell religious supplies to customers all across the country, but the company's only retail location is right here in Phoenix. And if you've never been, it's pretty interesting. Autom sells everything from hanging censers to baptismal fonts to priestly robes. For the layperson, there are stone Celtic crosses for the garden, jewelry dedicated to a variety of saints and Bible-themed coffee mugs. It even sells a set of religious-themed Croc charms. Though the website indicates that the store has been supplying the Catholic community since 1948, there's plenty at Autom to please your friends and family of other denominations.

Best Creepy Stuff

Curious Nature

When we say that Curious Nature carries some creepy stuff, we mean it as a compliment. The self-described "fine natural history emporium" in the Melrose District sells an awful lot of body parts, from wet specimens of diaphonized mice and shark pups to bear jawbones and coyote vertebrae. If you've got $3,000 laying around, Curious Nature even sells human skulls. (All physical specimens are ethically sourced.) Besides dead things, the store carries plenty of other items that appeal to the macabre customer. Depending on the day, you might find an antique Ouija board or some vintage funeral photographs. And the store has plenty of new items to browse, including a fascinating book selection and cool enamel pins. In addition to what you can buy, Curious Nature offers a stellar lineup of classes and lectures in case you ever wanted to learn taxidermy or experience a Victorian seance.

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