Shopping in Greenwich Village: The best stores and boutiques

The PPB's main focus is on couples looking to invigorate their sex lives with props, potions or costumes. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable, and the store carries a huge number of toys, starting with cheap bullet vibes and topping out with $100-plus extreme dildos. The company's been in business since 1972, which makes Pink Pussycat a trusted name for dommes and submissives alike.

Here’s where the magic happens: At Jacques Torres’s Hudson Street retail location, kids can peer through the glass wall to the chocolate factory’s floor, where cocoa and sugar are processed into chocolate. (Of course, you can buy it here, too.)

You’ll be transported to Paris once you step inside this opulent bath-and-body shop. Rich burgundy carpets, gilded wallpaper, a gloriously huge chandelier and a mahogany desk that serves as the checkout area set the stage for the luxurious fragrances ($50–$300), candles ($20–$400), lotions, and soaps from brands like Diptyque and Annick Goutal. Curiosity cabinets house many of the store’s exclusives—the West Village outpost is the only location in the country to sell several items, including candles by Les Secrets Ladurée Paris.  

Sweet tooth? A Cuter Cupcake makes high-end treats that are easy on the eye. Once the pipe dream of a design student, the company has now grown into the delivery company we see today.  The designs are, as you might expect, very cute, but sometimes surprisingly complex. There’s an overall cartoony style to the decorations, which appear to come in all sizes and colours – the original box, for example, is made up of four cupcakes with rounded animals that mimic children’s toys. Traditionally items come in boxes of four, however other box sizes (e.g. eight) are stocked, too. You can also request speciality boxes tailored to you or your event, and all boxes are hand-delivered. A Cuter Cupcake also notes that their cupcakes are baked daily for freshness and that their kitchen and products are nut-free.

In operation since 1965, this friendly West Village institution sells all manner of fetish attire, as well as books, sex toys, magazines and plenty more.

Guilt-free shopping surfaces in the West Village with this nonprofit thrift shop’s second store (the original is in Gramercy). Both donate all proceeds to the United Jewish Council of the East Side (ujces.org), which works to preserve the Lower East Side community. Sift through men’s and women’s clothing ($30–$600) hanging from reclaimed pipe racks, and browse accessories ($15–$400) displayed in an original Tiffany jewelry case. We spotted accessories such as Versace ($60) and Pucci ($80) neckties, Fendi leather handbags ($95) and Givenchy platforms ($100). The threads pack the same designer punch, with 1990s Betsey Johnson grunge dresses ($120) and a ’70s Yves Saint Laurent patterned blouse ($175). An Etro military jacket ($165) and vintage Nick Cave concert tee ($65) are highlights for guys.

This stationery store—with exposed brick, cheerful floral wallpaper and a pink overhanging lamp—exudes West Village charm. It’s owned by sisters Amy Swanson and Beth Salvini, whose family has been in the printing biz for three generations, and nearly everything is designed in-house and produced on an old Gutenberg-style press. Aside from note cards and stationery, GLP also offers notebooks, rubber stamps, labels, gift tags and striking wrapping paper ($3–$5 a sheet).

Husband and wife Allison and JJ McGowan opened the second branch of their mom-and-pop boutique to balance out the big-name chain stores inhabiting the West Village. In addition to the bags that made Teich’s original East Village shop popular (such as vintage-inspired lambskin clutches, $125), the new space offers exclusive products made by other local labels, including Studio DuArte, Noli Noli and Grass & Clovers. The space is eco-friendly with recycled-rubber floors, salvaged-wood shelves and walls painted with nontoxic paint. The charming displays of unique men’s and women’s accessories attract passersby, who can get their hands on creative finds like Sherry Truitt recycled sterling-silver, vintage-NYC-map cufflinks ($50). There are also Junkprints necklaces made from a laser-cut vinyl record ($40), a Bobby Joseph stuffed bear created out of a repurposed leather skirt ($250) and an Uptown Artworks cotton West Village street-sign pillow ($120).

Look for the deep blue awning on Bleecker Street and venture inside to scope out high-end paraphernalia from brand names like Sheldon Black, Medicali and JBD. The clerks are reputably knowledgeable and can service all your tricked-out pieces and one-of-a-kind accessory needs. Make sure to ask about Illadelph Glass products—they’re beautifully crafted and come in many different iterations.

Watch your back, Claire’s: A new dirt-cheap costume-jewelry shop has surfaced. U.K. retailer Accessorize is finally bringing its trendy, affordable designs across the pond to a West Village storefront (with a Union Square location opening November 18). We’re talking chunky, jewel-covered cuffs ($25), cluster cocktail rings ($20) and sequined clutches with British flag designs ($58). Sound sparkly? The store itself is as glittery as it gets, with vintage-inspired dressing tables and classic armoires covered in antique gems. Expect to see more from Accessorize in the future; this is the first of 100 planned stores set to open in the U.S. throughout the next four years. http://us.accessorize.com/