Shopping

Shopping doesn’t draw a lot of people to the St. Petersburg–Clearwater area, but there are a two unique places in St. Petersburg [1] that are worth mentioning. Haslam’s Book Store (2025 Central Ave., 727/822-8616, 10 a.m.–6:30 p.m. Mon.–Sat.) was opened in 1933, and with its 30,000 square feet of floor space—all quirkily arranged into nooks, crannies, and repurposed rooms—houses 300,000 new and used titles.

An equally excellent way to spend a day indoors is at the decidedly utilitarian Banana’s Record Warehouse (2226 16th Ave. N., 727/327-4616, www.musicfinder.com [2], 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Tues.–Sat.), which is less a record store than, well, a warehouse. Actually, it’s two warehouses: One is home to 3 million vinyl LPs and 45s, the other contains 6,500 square feet of CDs. Owners Doug and Michelle Allen take excellent care of their stock and are more than likely to have the records you’re looking for, as well as the ones you didn’t know you were looking for.