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.)

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.

Ladies and gents looking to add some variety to their wardrobes will love the selection at Star Struck—expect to find everything from well-worn Fleetwood Mac, GNR and Pink Floyd concert tees to vintage Christian Dior silk scarves. Complete your rock-star look with a vintage brass belt buckle and a hat from the extensive collection that includes cowboy hats, top hats in a range of neutrals, goes-with-everything fedoras and even pork pies.

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.  

By law, SoHo Trees—with nine tree-stand locations and one huge SoHo store—can’t officially open until after Thanksgiving, so hold off on heading over until then. When it does open, go wander among the trees and decorations to pick and choose—or have the store take care of all the trimming and shipping for you. You’re also welcome to just wander around and pretend you’re walking in a winter wonderland.

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).

Founded by London tastemaker and former facialist Jo Malone in 1994, this eponymous beauty brand has evolved into a global fragrance empire. The label’s third NYC store (it joins boutiques in Grand Central Terminal and on the Upper East Side) provides New Yorkers with exquisite, straight-from-an-English-garden aromas, and encourages customers to blend colognes to create a bespoke scent. Woodsy Wild Fig & Cassis, spicy Vanilla & Anise and floral Vintage Gardenia ($55 for 30ml, $110 for 100ml) lead the pack of classics, but it’s not all about the perfumes. Also look for gift-perfect Roasted Chestnut Deluxe candles ($130) and nourishing, avocado-laden vitamin E face and body products ($25–$90). Dominated by Jo Malone’s signature shades of white, black and cream, the apartment-like space mixes design elements both modern (coal-black corbeled walls and chandeliers, midcentury-style seating) and classic (heritage cabinetry, elaborately carved sconce shelving). A so-called tasting bar offers complimentary services, such as relaxing hand and arm massages using the brand’s luxurious skin smoothers.

Owner Joshua Suzanne Ethier began her career in what she calls “the rag business” as the manager of now-defunct Alice Underground, and it’s clear she takes pride in her chosen field: Ethier hand-selects her merchandise directly from textile houses, wholesalers and warehouses for a mix of unworn dead stock and well-preserved secondhand goods. Unlike most of the city’s cluttered thrift stores, items are meticulously organized by clothing type (oxford shoes on one shelf, flannels on another) in a color-coded rainbow, making sifting through the men’s and women’s garb here a breeze. What’s more, like items are all priced the same, with logo tees marked $18 each or two for $30, Levi’s jeans and denim jackets tagged $35 and cut-off shorts costing a mere $10 to $20. Urban cowboys, take note: the store is known for its killer selection of cowboy boots ($65) and other Western apparel (hello, fringe!).