Smiley Pete's Best of Lex: Shopping

For the inaugural Smiley Pete's Best of Lex issue (April 2024), we compiled more than 260,000 votes from our readers in 8 different category groups, to highlight the best local businesses, organizations, artists and more. Click here for links to all categories!

Spending money at local businesses helps build a strong community. From furniture to houseplants to vintage clothing, we’ve highlighted dozens of Lexington’s favorite local spots to burn some hard-earned cash, as voted on by our readers!

Best Antique Shop

1. Peddler’s Mall

2. Scout Antique and Modern

3. Another Man’s Treasure

Honorable mentions:

• Room Service

• Thoroughbred Antiques

Best Book Store

1. Joseph Beth Booksellers

2. sQecial Media

3. Black Swan

Honorable mentions:

• Glover’s Bookery

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Ode to sQecial Media  

~Smiley Pete staff salute

While roaming around the campus-area gift and oddities shop sQecial Media, you would be forgiven for getting lost in their impressive book section, which easily takes up half of the store. New and used books on all sorts of genres and topics, from Jean-Michael Basquiat to John Prine, line the walls. In a time of digital downloads, Kindle and audiobooks, good old-fashioned leather bound ink-on-paper books can seem...well...old-fashioned. Sometimes a good book selection can be a temple to a bygone era of the printed word. However, sQecial Media is no mere bookstore but a conduit to the tangible, analog world we left behind at the dawn of the digital age. 

The store has beautiful stationery and journals, recalling an era when we took time to put pen to paper. There are sections of various spiritual essentials — oils, herbs, crystals and gems and other metaphysical ephemera — harkening back to a time when we didn’t have all the answers on our phones and the world seemed a little more mysterious. 

The store’s beautiful uniqueness owes a direct debt to owner Mary Morgan, who has worked at sQecial Media for most of the store’s lifespan and has managed the day-to-day operations since 1977, under original owner David Adams. Without Mary’s leadership, it’s hard to imagine the store would have evolved to the local pillar it has become, nor maintain the timeless relevance that brought sQecial Media to recently celebrate 52 years of business.

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Best Car Wash

1. Jeff’s Car Wash

2. Clean Sweep

3. Mr. Sparkle

Honorable mentions:

• Zips Car Wash

Best Caterer

1. The Apiary

2. DaRae and Friends

3. Selma’s Catering

Honorable mentions:

• Dupree Catering

Best Day Spa

1. Woodhouse Spa

2. The Kentucky Castle

3. Privé

Honorable mentions:

• Golden Aesthetic Atelier

Best Florist

1. Michler’s

2. Oram’s

3. Best of Flowers

Best Furniture or Home Accessories Store

1. Interior Yardage

2. Suff’s

3. Another Man’s Treasure

Honorable mentions:

• Scout Antique and Modern

• Burke’s

• My Favorite Things

• Lexington Furniture

Best Garden Store or Nursery

1. Michler’s Floris, Greenhouse & Garden Design

2. Pemberton’s Greenhouses

3. Wilson’s Nursery

4. King’s Gardens

Best Jewelry Store

1. Farmer’s Jewelry

2. Rivard’s Jewelry

3. Savane Silver

Honorable mentions:

• Artique

• Scout Antique and Modern

Best Kentucky Themed / Local Artists Shop

1. Kentucky for Kentucky

2. Artique

3. Third Street Stuff

Best Boutique

1. The Front Porch

2. World’s Apart

3. Peggy’s

Honorable mentions:

• The Black Market

• Poppy and Pomelo

• The Cotton Patch

• The Blushery

Best Men’s Clothing

1. Logan’s of Lexington

2. Stuart Mercer

3. Albert Couture

Honorable mentions:

• Howard Miller

• Mac and Clay

Best Pet Store

1. Pet Wants

2. Southern Barker

3. Animal House

Honorable mentions:

• Savvy Pet Supply

Best Specialty Home Remodeling Store

1. Wiseway Supply

2. Housewarmings

3. Brecher’s Lighting

Honorable mentions:

• Su Casa Tile & Granite

• Granite Depot

Best Sporting Goods Store

1. J&H Outfitters

2. John’s Run-Walk Shop

3. Pedal Power Bike Shop

Best Used Furniture or Accessories Store

1. Another Man’s Treasure

2. The Peddler’s Mall

3. Scout Antique & Modern

Best Vintage Store

1. Scout Antique & Modern

2. Street Scene Vintage

3. Pops Resale

Honorable mentions:

• Sassy Fox

• The Domestic

Best Wine Shop or Liquor Store

1. Liquor Barn

2. Corner Wine

3. Ernie’s Spirits

4. Vine & Branch Wine

Best Women’s Clothing Store

1. Worlds Apart

2. Bella Rose

3. The Black Market

Honorable mentions:

• Peacocks and Pearls

• Cotton Patch

• Peggy’s Gifts & Accessories

• Steel Mill & Co.

Click here to view the next group of categories (Family)