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Business & Tech

Shop Long Beach Local and Novel on Black Friday

Shopping local can not only help small businesses thrive, but it can also be a great way to find unique gifts this holiday season. Our first survey is Fourth Street and Retro Row.

Instead of waiting in line at pricy, big chain stores for Black Friday, avoid the throngs and check out some of Long Beach’s local shops--today we check out Fourth Street.

Fourth Street has a variety of boutiques, selling clothing, music, and find goodies for all of your loved ones.

For the young on your shopping list, check out Lil Devils Boutique (2218 E. 4th Street), which sells unique and handmade children’s apparel--outfits, hats, blankets and bibs. It also sells retro-looking toys and kid-friendly books. For kids with an edge, music T-shirts, like ones of punk bands and iconic venues like CBGBs, are also sold.

Women will also find a variety of clothing from thrift stores and boutiques. Blu Button and imonni Na Na La (both located at 2112 E. 4th Street) sell in-style blouses, dresses, shoes and accessories.

Vintage is also a huge draw on Fourth Street, from inretrospect (2122 E. 4th Street), which sells “vintageware with contemporary flair” to La Bomba (2222 E. 4th Street), where one can find shoes, pants, jackets and accessories. Other vintage stores on the street include Xcape (2236
E. 4th Street), The Feed Store (2001 E. 4th Street), Sneaky Tiki (2234A E. 4th Street), Meow (2210 E. 4th Street) and Liberty (2146 E. 4th Street).

The Aids Assitance Thrift Store (2011 E. 4th Street) and Assistance League of Long Beach (2100 E. 4th Street) are the go-to, nonprofit charity stores for clothing, collectibles, books and more.

For those interested in décor, Artistic Edge (2105 E. 4th Street) sells custom frames and artwork, while stores like TREVOR/NEVETS (2116 E. 4th Street) and Déjà Vu (2238 E. 4th Street) sell modern and vintage furniture and accessories.

Fingerprints (420 E. 4th Street) is the shop for music lovers. Offering a variety of genres, on both CD and record, Fingerprints is one of few prosperous independent record stores left. The store also sells books, T-shirts and movies.

Fourth Street will offer its annual Holiday Open House on Dec. 10 from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Special day-only offerings include food trucks, free gift wrapping at The Center (2017 E. 4th Street), photos with Elvis Santa at inretrospect from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., and custom pin-striping by Hooligans at Songbird (2240 E. 4th Street).

For all business listings, visit 4thstreetlongbeach.com.

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