TREE OF LIFE: BEACH HEALTH TREE NATURAL FOODS The necessary center step between the prescription conglomerates and drinking hot lemon water in your darkened sick hole: Beach Tree has a sympathetic and knowledgeable staff able to deploy their selection with precision, compassion and efficiency. Simple things they have totally covered and esoteric things they have covered, too—cures you didn’t know existed for ailments you didn’t want to admit you had. Dietary supplements and tinctures and tonics and the sun already seems brighter on your way out. 305 Redondo Ave | Long Beach 90814 | 562.434.1155 // CHRIS ZIEGLER

USED BOOKS: BERTRAND SMITH’S ACRES OF BOOKS Since 1934, this is heaven for books—where they go to live again, in a store run for book lovers by book lovers, with whole rooms of hard-to-find tomes on everything from photography to diplomacy; fiction to true crime; biography to monographs; design to survival. The city plans to buy the building and demolish it, so go now if you like a Streamline Moderne setting to match your reading material. 240 Long Beach Blvd | Long Beach 90802 | 562.437.6980 | acresofbooks.com // THEO DOUGLAS

LAST MINUTE: BLUE WINDOWS Stocking everything from candles, handmade cards, cookware, stylish clothing and jewelry to neat maps, knick-knacks and accessories (plus baby clothes), Blue Windows is my no-fail go-to gift shop. Moms, sisters, aunts, nieces, cousins, besties—there isn’t an item in the store that I haven’t pondered purchasing for a loved one. And the best part? Custom, crazy-good, complimentary gift wrapping, perfect for that last-minute stop before heading over to Grandma’s. 5276 E Second St | Long Beach 90803 | 562.434.7195 // ELLEN GRILEY

LOSE YOUR SHIRT: FANTASY CASTLE By default, the best strip club is the closest strip club. Tucked away in an industrial area, Fantasy Castle is where you go to celebrate birthdays, divorces and things of that nature. The dancers are worth the five-minute drive and all drinks (except top shelf) are $2 on Wednesdays. As if that weren’t enough, the club is dark enough to see the talent but not so bright that your boss and/or girlfriend could recognize you in the lap dance area—and the strippers act like they enjoy the customers, crucial to any titty bar. 2800 Walnut Ave | Signal Hill 90755 | 562.427.9657 | fantasyshowclubs.com // JIM HALL

CHEAP THRILLS: FERRIS WHEEL AT THE PIKE This Ferris wheel—yes, that’s right, the one right on Shoreline Drive adjacent to the fake rollercoaster—claims the best view of the entire city: once you’re up there inside a gondola, you can gaze from the cranes at the port to the Queen Mary across the Harbor, all the way to Signal Hill and, on a clear day, the Belmont Pier. Two bucks won’t go toward anything better. The Pike at Rainbow Harbor | 95 S Pine Ave | Long Beach 90802 | 562.436.4066 | open Mon-Fri & Sun noon-10pm; Sat 11am-11pm | $2 per ride // CHESNEY HIGGINS

FOOT SOLDIER: JACK’S SHOE REPAIR Once Americans made things, not just bought things, and when things broke, they knew how to fix them, too, and if any of those people were still around, I’d vote for them every time. But there’s only one, and he will fix your shoes better than anyone else could and when he is done, please salute. 4131 N Viking Way | Long Beach 90808 | 562.429.7914 // CZ

NEIGBORHOOD NIRVANA: LA DOLCE VITA You could drive by La Dolce Vita every day for a year and never quite realize what you have right there in your backyard: a laid-back, full service day spa. If that seems like an oxymoron, it’s not: it helps that the spa is housed within, uh, a house, and that Precious, the spa shih tsu is as adorable as they come—and especially that the spa is located just a few doors down from the Vintage Tea Room. Combined, you get quality spa care treatments (with great tea elixirs and delicious snack boxes on some packages) for the lowest prices in town. 927 E Broadway | Long Beach 90802 | 562.432.3760 // EG

FROU-FROU FRAULEINS: LOLA If Blue Windows is the store for cool crafty ladies, Lola is for the über girly gals among us: a sassy boutique that’s the only place you’ll need to go for essential wedding/baby shower gifts (sexy, lacy pastel lingerie; cutesy photo albums) or a little something special for yourself (affordable dresses, perfect hats, the perfect pair of earrings). Indulge your inner prom princess. 105 Linden Ave #A | Long Beach 90802 | 562.495.4201 // EG

ATTIC FANATIC: LONG BEACH ANTIQUE MALL First-timers here all think the same thoughts—it’s like visiting someone else’s completely decked-out house (or pop-art museum) and taking home anything you care to touch. Plus the argument no one seems to get—why buy prefab garbage at Ikea when you can get the better-looking real deal for less at a place like this? 3100 E Pacific Coast Hwy | Long Beach 90804 | 562.494.2526 // CZ

PIT STOP: OLIVE’S If markets like Bristol Farms are for endless gourmet spending, then Olive’s is meant for quicker trips, for the times when all you need is a good baguette or a fresh tapenade. And while Olive’s has plenty of ingredients for you to put together on your own (try the heirloom tomato sauce on anything), it also has a shifting selection of great pre-made eats that best a surprising number of restaurants. 3518 E Broadway | Long Beach 90803 | 562.439.7758 // MILES CLEMENTS

BOUND FOR GLORY: ONCE READ BOOKS Once Read is where I find and have found first-edition golden sci-fi paperbacks and stacks of pulp obscurities and hard-boiled classics and the kind of random ephemera (“Hillbilly Hit Songs” sheet music, Hooey mags from the ’30s, James Garner theater posters, a giant Aubrey Beardsley catalog) you never knew you needed so fiercely. Walk in with an open mind and you won’t leave empty-handed. 5422 E Village Dr | Long Beach 90808 | 562.420.1034 | oncereadbooks.com // CZ

OPEN MINDED: {open} {open}’s new location anchoring the east end of Retro Row is the physical position that matches the philosophical place they first planted their flag: the inclusive creative heart of a new Long Beach community, where selling hand-picked used books—so hand-picked they’re often waiting behind the counter for particular customers—is only part of the real operation. {open} brings locals together (their constant art shows, their all-ages concert series) and links Long Beach to the larger world (their Soundwalk-connected events, their readings and screenings) and multiplies all possibilities for any creative collaborators it comes to contact. Even just walking in and finding a book offers some extra connection—{open} doesn’t cultivate customers, it attracts an audience—and anyone who just walks in for a book one day probably comes back for the art shows or the one-of-a-kind performances or maybe to perform something themselves. Co-founders Shea M Gauer and Se Reed have found fierce future potential—for the entire city—in what could have been just a cute little shop, and the things that will happen at {open} are the kind of things I’d only before ever read about in books. 2226 E Fourth St | Long Beach 90814 | 562.499.OPEN | thestoryofopen.com // CZ

NICE VASE: RICK WICKED’S PREMIUM CIGARS & GIFTS Most headshops are a trip, thanks to conversations between customers and employees that are straight out of Abbott and Costello’s “Who’s On First?” school of communication. Not Rick’s: the staff is easy to talk to and their selection is unrivaled, thanks to numerous pipes ranging in size from the most incredibly small sneak-a-tokes to ridiculously large five-foot bongs. The store also carries adult toys, knives, cigars and other knick-knacks, but I can get those anywhere. What I can’t get everywhere are back issues of High Times and T-shirts that say “Blueberry” and “NYC Sour Diesel.” 3410 E 11th St | Long Beach 90804 | 562.856.4919 | and 2037 Pacific Ave | Long Beach 90806 | 562.989.4742 | myspace.com/rickwickeds // JH

HOME SWEET HOME: SALON POP You won’t find a sweeter grouping of talented (and tattooed!) guys and gals, all of whom are quick with a smile and a beer (and sometimes, even a song). Filled with one-of-a-kind vintage vanities and painted in truly the best color scheme in town, this is the salon you’ve been waiting for your entire life. Book your appointment today. 1085 Redondo Ave | Long Beach 90804 | 562.987.9200 | salonpopandbarbershop.com // EG

GOOD AS NEW: SANDOVAL’S TAILOR SHOP Before skinny jeans were being sold at Target, scorn for flared pants that make my ass look sumptuous led me to a Mexican suit-maker on Seventh Street where I explained how I wanted my jeans transformed into more-flattering denim. A week later, he pulled my steam-pressed jeans off a rack full of Italian suits. My ass has never been happier. 245 E Seventh St | Long Beach 90813 | 562.432.2010 // SARAH BENNETT

NEVER CHANGE: SPIN CYCLE You get used to doing laundry a certain way: slide in some quarters, dump in your clothes, watch everything tumble around and repeat. But what makes Spin Cycle the best laundromat is that there’s so much more than that: free wireless Internet, arcade games, Starbucks coffee. Plus, the whole place is run off of a debit card-type system—no quarters involved. 715 Termino Ave | Long Beach 90804 | spin-cycle.com // MC

TWO BITS: SYNDICATE BARBER SHOP Four years ago, a friend told me the barbers at Syndicate didn’t blink when he asked for a Ronald Reagan cut, so I went in hopes of an early Elvis ’do. I haven’t been to another barber since. Sure, heavily tattooed barbers and non-stop car talk can be overwhelming to someone who simply want his ears lowered, but this ain’t no holier-than-thou establishment—how can it be? The walls are lined with tattoo art and there are issues of Playboy and Penthouse at the ready. With a clientele that’s a who’s-who of Long Beach, customers can’t sit in Pedro’s chair for more than three minutes without a pedestrian popping in to say hello. 2749 E Broadway | Long Beach 90803 | 562.433.7733 | syndicatebarbershop.com // JH

THOR ANTIQUES Cultural Heritage Commissioner E. Thor Carlson’s little store feels exactly the way an antiques emporium should. There’s pieces of silver, inscrutable abstracts, an impenetrable hush—and that expensive smell these stores are supposed to have, almost like being locked in a cedar chest. Also: Thor’s dog, who never, ever barks. 4122 Atlantic Ave | Long Beach 90807 | 562.981.3223 | thorantiques.com // TD

Tags: acres of books, best of, Commerce, fantasy castle, Long Beach, stores, {open}