Lakeshore is a great resource for wonderful kids' games and puzzles. Shout out to AIDEN who was so…read morehelpful and so courteous.

How have I never heard of this place before? I've driven by it a million times, so I feel like I'm…read morejust silly for not noticing it. Lakeshore is geared towards teachers, however it's open to the public, so anyone can visit. (Also anyone can join their club which gives rewards and a free tote on your first visit!) They have tons of fun stuff for various grades (Pre-K to elementary age), tons of art supplies (paint, glittery stuff, poster board, etc), tons of school supplies (birthday certificates, wall certificates, etc), and books and toys galore! Some of the stuff can be $$$ (for example a book that was $17 here was $7 on Amazon) but other stuff is much more reasonably priced. We got some school work books for $3.50 each! Service was extra friendly, they have Covid protocols in place (masks required, sanitizer available), and the store was extra bright and clean. I can't wait to go back

This miniso is so big and has lots of cute inventory!! Lots of cool stuff and the store is very…read moreclean and organized.

Absolutely mind blown by the size of this Miniso store!! This one is located in downtown Santa…read moreMonica on 3rd street promenade. We were hanging out at the Pier with some friends from out of town during Pokemon Go Tour: Unova and headed over here to try to catch more pokemon but also check out some shops! I was super surprised to even find a Miniso out here since they are typically only inside malls. I guess technically this is a type of outdoor mall. Miniso is a great place to shop for some of your favorite things like Disney, Sanrio, and Harry Potter items. They had a few blind boxes and anime figures but everything was laid out so nicely! Super organized and overall nice to the eye. This store makes a great shopping spree for gifts since everything is pretty cheap. Great location and store overall! Didn't buy anything this time but maybe next time! IG: @ammysalamii

First time at the paper source from a coworker recommendation, and certainly not the last. This…read morelocation was especially amazing thanks to Bella. She's a true gem. I walked in frantically needed a gift wrapped. She did everything and was kind, helpful, delicate. Truly the best! Because of her, I am now a customer for life!

The woman working was so nice and kind especially to my toddler which is always appreciated. We…read morewere offered the opportunity to do a craft but sadly we were running out of time so we were unable to do. Also I felt we could actually browse and I wasn't worried about feeling rushed in the store. It was a nice experience.

A brand new bookstore at the promenade that opened last year. There are two levels (there's a…read morebasement) loaded with books, and all kinds of gift options. A wonderful addition to 3rd street promenade!

Great addition to third street promenade area. Two levels with all the recent popular books and…read moreliterature. Great for gifts and perusing. Friendly staff. Both adults and kids sections for all interests

I cannot wait to bring my daughter here once she's old enough to pick out toys on her own. The…read moreemployee was so nice and attentive. There is a plethora of different types of squishable for everyone.

For over 30 years, I've been making gift baskets for unhoused and homeless children. I've seen some…read moreadorable stuffed animals over the years, but when I was in Joanne's Fabrics, I saw an avocado stuffie. I have never seen a stuffed avocado. I will definitely be including them in my gift baskets for children from now on. They are colorful and playful and soft. That is the winning combination of a perfect stuffie. The interesting thing is that I also bought three avocados mini purses so I will have an avocado themed basket. It was meant for me to find it because it was the last one in the store. I will be visiting Squishable tomorrow.

The fun thing about Abbot Kinney is that there's so much in one area. Delicious places to grab a…read morebite, fun art, & cute places to shop such as this store! Happened to stumble into this store after a lunch with a friend and worked out perfectly as she was in need of a birthday card. Charming store with plenty of fun and cute gifts. From books, to stationary, to jewelry this store has it all. They also had a lovely variety of cards for all occasions. The staff are friendly and welcoming and the prices vary depending on what you're looking for. Some items are pricier but to be expected due to location.

We happened to drop by Thai place when we were killing time till our reservation but what a cute…read morefun stationary store! I would come just for this store as they have a lot of fun varieties of things perfect for gifts. Baby toys, kids books, adult stationary goods, beautiful cards, and more. We didn't spend too long but this store is already in my bookmark! Will definitely come back when I want to get something nice for a friend or family. They do have some expensive items but the selection is amazing. The staff made sure to keep everything neat at all time. This place is beautiful. Some items are still affordable. We found some baby word books that had beautiful illustrations that my mom loved. We thought we would have to drive to the bookstore in Solvang where we found it but they had the same series! Something tells me they will have new things next time I will be here. Fantastic place for special shopping for yourself or others.

My favorite thing about melrose is the fun little boutiques. Nothing says LA than art in my book,…read moreso TAG was a great addition to this shopping area. Melrose is already home to Kidrobot and MunkyKing (which is now closed! wah!), which are awesome art toy stores. TAG offers a selection of Kidrobot toys and toys alike-- yet they offer other local, independent work done by other artists. These handmade, original items can cost a pretty penny but they are definitely a sight to see even if you are not planning to pick any of these up at the moment. It seems that they move the displays around quite frequently as they are always changing up their consignment art. Every so often they have an event for artists to showcase their work. I have not been to one of these events yet, but I plan to make it out for one eventually. Now, while I have love for street art and toy art-- I am not a huge collector. My collection is really small and I only collect the things that I like. With that being said, TAG is really nice about exchanging blind box toys from their case. For example, you purchase a blind box and you get a character or a toy that you did not want, but in the display case they have one that you would rather have, they will trade you for it. You can even ask to just purchase the one in the case as well. Kidrobot, will not sell you things out of their display case if it is a blind box. This is one of the reasons why I miss MunkyKing, they were so cool about that. If you are already cruising Melrose with your pals one day, I suggest you give this place a chance. Even if you do not really like this kind of art, at least you can stop by and use it as a conversational piece. It is a one of a kind store!

Hard to believe that this business is already open. We're not even in the middle of August, so…read morenothing is sacred anymore right? In any case well I didn't buy anything on this trip, I did mosey about and saw some pretty cool animatronics, along with the New York subway theme for this year. Spirit Halloween does put out a consistent product, and usually has something for everybody including the adults such as myself. If you're a fan of Halloween, I definitely suggest you roll through here or any of their other nearby locations. Lastly, I was greeted upon entry, so that in and of itself was somewhat refreshing considering they're still tearing down a thousand boxes and setting up the shelves.

DO NOT BUY FROM THIS SHADY COMPANY. I paid for an item in cash in store and literally two minutes…read moreafter discovering a manufacturer defect on the product, I immediately returned it the very exact same time (same day). When I went in, I told the cashier about it and she asked me if I wanted to grab a different one. I told her no because I didn't want to deal with the same product discovering more problems later on. She asked "Do you have the card ending in..." as she was looking for it on my receipt I told her I paid in cash. She confused me and I thought I paid with my card so I told her to hold on and I went back to the car to get my wallet. As soon as I went back to the store I saw the cashier on the phone. Standing there confused I thought she was on the phone with a customer. It turns out she was talking to her manager MATT. I found it odd as I was standing there waiting for her to finish her conversation with the manager. She then tells me "Yeah we can't give you cash refund, we can only refund you back with any type of card" I told her "I literally just bought it a few minutes ago and I gave you cash" She goes "yeah I know but there's a lot of scams going on right now" So in my head either she thinks I was trying to pull a fast one on the store or both the manager and the employee is doing something shady. That detail on their return policy is not even indicated on the receipt or not mentioned when I check out. I tried to reason with her that I literally just bought it in cash she can just give me the cash I paid her with. If the store is worried about scammers then I don't understand her logic at all why she wouldn't just give me back my money. I had to give her any type of debit or credit card to get the money back. Now I had to wait for the stupid bank to clear to even get it. I was pretty upset and I told her "So now I have to wait for the bank to get the money?" She nonchalantly says "Yeah probably within 3-5 business days. Like wtf? Either the employees from that particular store are stealing HARD CASH in their registers, or this company is downright just taking HARD CASH payments and using the company credit to return refunds. This doesn't make any sense. This leaves a bad impression for the company brand. I have been a Spirit Halloween guest for many years and this is the first time I've ever heard of it. I understand there have been more scams over the years, but to insinuate that towards me while I'm returning a defective product on behalf of this store is unacceptable. I was just trying to return a pos product the store is selling so I can get my money back. But it turns out this company is full of greed. The staff needs to be investigated. It felt like I was the one that got scammed here. I found it really odd the cashier phoned the manager and discussed something when I briefly left and came back. What did she need to talk to him for? If this was their policy she should already know. Store should ONLY accept card payments NOT CASH--if refunding back to a card is your ONLY method of refunds. Put up a sign that says "Card Payment Only" or at least reference this to every guest that pays with cash every single time. When they check someone out paying with cash, tell them PRIOR that refunds can only be processed through a card.