Shopping

How Artist Hector Zamora Built a House on Top of Shopping Carts

Online Shopping Taxes Kick in Saturday, L.A: That Doesn't Mean You Don't Already Owe ...

So you're rushing to make that last minute LCD TV buy from Amazon, knowing that California will start collecting taxes on such purchases starting at 12 a.m. Saturday. Well, you'd still be a tax cheat. And we're not just looking at you, Mitt Romney. No, the state of California warned this week that ... More >>

Christmas Monster

Elizabeth Macias: Pepper Spray Lady's Black Friday Gassing Under Review by L.A. City Attorney

Lalo Alcaraz​As the holiday season is upon us, we turn with warm thoughts to the case of Pepper Spray Lady, the woman who unleashed a torrent of bitter tear juice on fellow shoppers during a Black Friday sale at a Porter Ranch Walmart. National headlines ensued. As we told you previously, the ... More >>

An Anti-establishment Black Friday: A Few Foodist Places to Shop, if You Must Shop

Friday marks the beginning of the Christmas season, but just because it's time to deck the halls doesn't mean you should risk getting decked in the face. Those Black Friday sales can be downright vicious. So why not skip the bum rush and support your local purveyors of craft goods? The next month ha ... More >>

Buche de Noël Meringue Mushroom Tips From A Master Pastry Chef A Recipe

As we can imagine few things more miserable than stepping foot in any retail store on the busiest shopping day of the year, we will be spending the day after Thanksgiving drafting our holiday baking plan of action. Baking Friday, if you will. Up this year: Buche de Noël. Home baking frustrations ... More >>

Satanica Batcakes: Fire Eater to Hat Maker

Coupon & Take a Free Ride

Best Retail Site: JapanLA

Beverly Hills Shoppers go For Tarty, Cheaper Fashions (Who Knew?)

Taste and place aren't always the same.​Beverly Hills is the luxury mecca of the United States and the epicenter of a larger-than-life if not mythic lifestyle seen on TV (Beverly Hillbillies, Beverly Hills 90210, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills ... ). So a recent tracking of shopping hab ... More >>

Demon Skin Rug Redux: Melita Curphy's Home Decor Keeps Exorcist On Speed Dial

At home with the Demon Skin Rug. Sitting on top of a snake cage.​ Remember that Demon Skin Rug (by artist Melita Curphy, a.k.a. Miss Monster)? The one that made the Internet rounds a while back? The freaky rug turned one year old this year. Style Council: So, where is the Demon Skin Rug now ... More >>

Should Authorities Donate Seized Fake Goods To L.A.'s Poor?

louisvuitton.comFor real.​We reported this week how L.A. city officials boasted of a big bust of counterfeit goods right in the heart of last-minute shopping season. More than $4 million worth of fake crap was seized and 10 suspects were arrested, according to an announcement by city Controll ... More >>

Happy Holidays: L.A. Sees Record Warmth Over Weekend; More Temps In The 80s Expected Today

The sun blazes in December for L.A.​Don't worry. It's not the salvia talking. It really is 80-plus degrees in December. After a summer that saw some record low temps in late July, the heat has arrived during the holiday shopping season. The city of San Gabriel almost reached 90 degrees over t ... More >>

Exene Cervenka Live Set, Gift Giveaway Friday at Vacation Vinyl & Porterhouse Records X-Mas Party

Exene Cervenka Live Set, Gift Giveaway Friday at Vacation Vinyl & Porterhouse Records X-Mas Party

Los Angeles Gets 4G Network Via Sprint: iPhone Users Are Out Of Luck

AppleMore 'G' please.​Los Angeles is finally getting a 4G network. Yay! It's on Sprint. Pout. It's cool though. It looks like, if you're geek like that, you can buy a router and get 4G speed on your nearby iPad or laptop. But iPhones, despite being in version 4, are out of luck for now. Spr ... More >>

LAPD Hitting Jaywalkers With $190 Tickets In Downtown Crackdown

Chip YostThey're waiting for you to step off the curb.​The DUI checkpoints. The anecdotal evidence of more traffic tickets. We've given the LAPD the benefit of the doubt when it comes to its claims that it's business as usual despite the city's dire budget outlook. But the department's stance ... More >>

You Can Be Thankful For An Improving Economy, Says L.A. Business Journo Mark Lacter

You can spend a little easier. Maybe.​This recession (despite being officially over) has been dragging like a hangover from hell. If you've had enough and you're shopping like it's 1999 this holiday weekend, you might have a reason to be optimistic. Corporate profits are up, hiring seems to b ... More >>

Black Friday Shoppers Continue Their Nastiness During the Holidays

myfoxtampabay.comBlack Friday shoppers gone wild​ More consumers throughout the country are trekking to malls and shops to take advantage of super savings as part of this year's Black Friday, and in the process, causing a ruckus. The longer lines, heavier traffic and filled up parking lots at ... More >>

Synthetic Marijuana Makers Are Working Around DEA Ban (For Your Holiday Shopping Pleasure)

Man-made or synthetic?​This week we told you about how the DEA is essentially outlawing the synthetic pot known as K2 and Spice. A commenter who claims to represent an online retailer of Spice says no big: Makers are churning out new "blends" as we speak, with recipes that will sidestep the D ... More >>

Tonight: Black Mountain/Black Angels, Talib Kweli, Take, Too Rude, Fantasia

Black Mountain​Just in time for Black Friday, Black Mountain and the Black Angels hit the El Rey Theatre tonight. It's one of the stops on something called the "Dropout Boogie Tour" that pairs the Vancouver psych-rock quintet with the Austin psych-rock quintet, and, cosmically speaking, the s ... More >>

Comfort Me with Ramen: Or, Your Ramen Plan B

Ramenbox.comThe many flavors of ramen​ Instant ramen may come sealed in a paper cup or shrink wrapped in plastic, but the low-cost noodle is a comfort food that appeals to a diverse group of eaters from across the country. Granted, grabbing a late night bowl of ramen doesn't rank high on a l ... More >>

Men in Kitchens: Shop Like Marco Pierre White

Chefs like Gordon Ramsay and Marco Pierre White are changing the way people cook. Or at least the gadgets they use to do it, according to a Reuters report. More men are buying cooking equipment--like the carving knife named for White that is pictured below, which comes with a frozen blade option--an ... More >>

Name That Pastry Chef Christmas Rush Edition: Who's Macarons Are Under This Tree?

As the Christmas week countdown has begun, we're respecting your need to dash out for last-minute holiday shopping by providing this iPhone-friendly Name That Pastry Chef single-pager. In between online sweater shopping for dad (sweaters are like caviar: when in doubt, go with classic black), tell u ... More >>

Free Fried Chicken Big Discounts at Beverly Boulevard Shopping Event

When was the last time you had the chance to enjoy free food and drink while you did your holiday shopping? And no, Costco doesn't count. Tomorrow, December 17th, from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m., more than twenty Beverly Boulevard stores--from La Brea Avenue to Curson--will stay open late to offer specia ... More >>

Warm Up To Meltdown

'Hunky Santa' Show Organizer Under Investigation After Performer Falls 20 Feet

Beverly CenterAerialists of the 'Hunky Santa' show.​After a performer fell nearly two stories over the holiday break during a performance at the Beverly Center mall, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health stepped in late Monday to announce it is investigating the show's orga ... More >>

Black Wednesday at the Santa Monica Farmers Market: Come Early, Bring Your Pith Helmet

Santa Monica Farmers Market​This Friday may be Black Friday and the start of the Christmas shopping season, but tomorrow is the biggest shopping day of the year at the Wednesday Santa Monica farmers market. To accommodate the crowds shopping for Thanksgiving dinner, the market will open with t ... More >>

Market Report: New Market at Barnsdall Park

There's a new market to add to the already long list of Los Angeles farmers markets. In the heart of East Hollywood, the Los Angeles Medical Center (LAMC) Farmers Market at Barnsdall Park offers food lovers yet another opportunity to shop for local, California produce. For those of of you stuck on ... More >>

Oaxacan Art Bazaar

Mata Ortiz Pottery

This Is Not IKEA

Turning a furniture obsession into a business

THIS BLURB WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE!

Unlike a Box of Chocolates

Bank Robbers Who Make Us Laugh

Forget Willie Sutton's famous reply to the question about why he robbed banks. If it were up to alleged stickup man Robert Varela, the answer would be, "Because that's where the dye is." This afternoon the San Gabriel Valley Tribune reports that Varela is accused of botching a Whittier heist during ... More >>

It's the Economy, Moron

No one shops till they drop anymore. That's because the only thing dropping these days is the economy. Yet you wouldn't know this from bus-stop billboards across the city advertising a film called Confessions of a Shopaholic. The movie, starring Isla Fisher, is based on one of British author Sophie ... More >>

WORN OUT- Red & Green & Giggly All Over

Went Christmas shopping at the Glendale Galleria yesterday and amid the stroller-rolling chaos, pilfered product displays, endless lines and sale frenzies and fights, we were surprised to see so many holiday get-ups out there. However cheesy it sounds, seeing so many shoppers in the spirit actually ... More >>

Scenes at the Mall: Angry Black Friday

America did its patriotic duty to stimulate the national economy at the malls this past Thanksgiving weekend. Black Friday sales, you may have heard, were up 3 percent from last year, topping out at $10.6 billion. Shoppers spent $372 over the Black Friday weekend. Nevermind that nasty little busine ... More >>

Sea Creatures at the Gift Shop

Something to consider this holiday shopping season as Black Friday looms tomorrow is sea creatures. We had a rash of them recently in interior design. I'm thinking of the stuff from Roost, particularly their sea urchin tealight lanterns. When I was at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art last weeken ... More >>

Calling All Label Whores: Intermix opening in LA

Kitson is about to get some fierce competition... Intermix, the über popular NYC fashion boutique has announced it will open its first West Coast shop on Wednesday, September 26th (despite what you may have heard from Daily Candy). When I lived in NYC, Intermix was THE place to go for up-to-t ... More >>

Best Scanty Panties

Barbra Horowitz: To a Tee

Introduction

Good Friday

Retail in the Red

Shopping center at Belmont complex is no bargain