Best Local Bookstore: A cozy shop, knowledgeable employees, and some of the city’s biggest author events have made Rainy Day Books an independent bookselling authority in Kansas City.

Best Kids’ Store: From Legos to alligator skulls, Brookside Toy and Science has it all — when you manage to tear yourself away, you just might be taking most of the playful inventory with you.

Best Lingerie Haven: Birdie’s stocks an impressive array of practical and sexy lingerie and swimwear.

Best Picnic Supplies: Choose from fruits, veggies, bread, local cheese, and wine at the City Market and plop down in the adjacent park for a relaxing, sumptuous picnic.

Best Home Decor: Asian antiques and home decor create a luxe, stylish environment within Black Bamboo that provides plenty of ideas for redecorating your entire home.

Best Local Boutique: Bon Bon Atelier is the boutique of dreams, artfully stocked with art books, sewing supplies, home accessories, and locally made jewelry, as well as a fabric department that will make you want to spend hours at a sewing machine.

Best Candles: One whiff of 5B & Co. Candle Makers’ happy camper candle and you’ll wonder how a scent so realistic can be re-created in a burning pillar of wax.

Best Paper Products: The work of an enterprising Kansas City Art Institute graduate, Hammerpress is a paper lover’s dream, stocked with cards, concert posters, and prints created on letterpress plates.

Best Edible Artwork: It’s hard to eat the exquisite works of art available at Christopher Elbow Artisanal Chocolates, but with ingredients like fleur de sel caramel and champagne, resistance is futile.

Best Pet Treats: Stop in at Three Dog Bakery for delicious homemade dog and cat treats.

Best Local Shops: Pint-sized fashion boutiques that pack a punch create a cosmopolitan shopping aura along 18th and Wyandotte that’s not to be missed.