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.

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.  

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).

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.

Gift-giving is a whole lot easier with this cozy West Village boutique, whose selection of pretty, tasteful items—ranging from handmade jewelry ($30–$150) to artisanal home goods ($15–$50)—offers something for every hostess, birthday girl and bride-to-be in your life. Reclaimed-wood shelving showcases Julie Nolan’s brass-disc pendants featuring astrological constellations ($45) and Coatt’s Morse-code necklaces that spell out love, peace and friend in gold-filled dots and dashes ($36). Considerosity also specializes in items that are practical (S’well colorful stainless-steel water bottles, $35), thoughtful (West Third Brand daily affirmation wish candles, $16) and just plain delicious (Macaron Café macaron gift boxes, $14–$49).

Local designer Hayati Banastey opens his first brick-and-mortar store, selling vintage-inspired men’s and women’s threads ($45–$99) with affordable price tags. The country-casual aesthetic of the line carries through to the shop’s decor, featuring farmhouse wood floors, custom-crafted wood display tables and antique trunks. All of the button-up shirts ($59–$89) and soft knits ($34–$79) are cut, sewn and hand-dyed in a local washhouse. Women will love effortless button-up shirts ($60–$70) and linen dresses ($80–$99), while men can score worn-in chinos ($80) and patterned shorts ($65–$70).

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.

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.

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.