Shopping in Greenwich Village: The best stores and boutiques

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.

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.

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.  

This West Village smoke shop has products at every price for every type of smoker—there are glass pipes and rolling papers and hookahs and flavored tobacco and grinders and vaporizers (and more). Also, the people who work here are knowledgable and helpful about the vast inventory without being pushy, a rarity in smoke shops.

Murray’s Cheese has been New York City’s most famed and beloved, vast and varied dairy purveyor since it first opened in Greenwich Village decades ago. Today, it has additional locations in and outside of Manhattan, as well as availability via large retailers throughout the United States.  Here at home, you can still consult Murray’s top cheesemongers at its charming Bleecker Street shop, Grand Central outpost and Long Island City locale for samples, including proprietary cave-aged varieties prepared right here in town. They’ll also help you match your picks to charcuterie, jams, spreads and crackers for a veritable feast you can source all in one spot.   You can even learn a bit of the trade at Murray’s downtown flagship via burrata and mozzarella-making classes, or lessons on wine and cheese pairings. The classic address also hosts a mac and cheese pop-up, replete with that titular item, sandwich melts and cheese flights, among other menu items. 

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).

Located across the street from the Blue Ribbon flagship (home of the restaurant chain's infernal bread-baking oven), this wood-paneled shop carries a worthy selection of the crusty loaves, from white pullmans to eggy challah. That's not all. Choose from a voluminous selection of sandwiches, toasts with multiple toppings—such as Blue Ribbon's proprietary Mexican honey—and picnic baskets stuffed with goodies such as the signature fried chicken (a 24-hour advance order is required).

Shortly after Donna Karan launched the Urban Zen Initiative, a nonprofit aimed at expanding holistic health care within NYC hospitals as well as preserving African cultures, she opened this earthy boutique next door to her studio. Natural materials and wood tables from Bali adorn the whitewashed joint, which has evolved in the past year into an organic mix of clothing, furniture and home designs.

When Insoek Paek opened this luggage, handbag and travel accessories store in 1989, he wanted to create a neighborhood shop with a European feel. He’s done exactly that by stocking the neatly organized bag emporium with international brands such as Upla and Jack Gomme from France, and Italian line Mywalit. Paek draws on his hospitality experience from stints at South Korean hotels, chatting up customers to recommend items and personally delivering purchases throughout Manhattan for free. Last-minute types who always find themselves running to the gate should invest in Tumi rolling carry-ons ($395) or Samsonite hard-side bags with rotating wheels ($189) for quicker sprints. Cover and safeguard your suitcases with clear Luggage Protect bags ($30) or guard your hands from blisters with Lewis N. Clark Belle Hop cushioned handle wraps ($15).

In 1981, piantist turned model Annick Goutal opened her first perfume shop in Paris. Flash-forward to present-day, and her daughter Camille brings the eponymous label to NYC for the first time. The charming West Village outpost features a variety of women's and men's scents ($70–$250), such as florally infused eaux de parfum ($170) and strong-enough-for-a-man cinnamon-and-amber eaux de toilette ($140). Bath and body products ($48–$70) and home scents ($50–$295) round out the offerings.