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New York City has more stores than anyone could physically tackle, but somehow we always keep returning to the usual suspects. To break out of the rut, we've asked some local shopping and fashion gurus to provide their hidden retail gems—those unique stores around our fantastic city that we might not all know about. Cue the Beatles: We're about to get a little help from our friends.
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Image via Yelp
Alice Waese has been trained in both garment design and fine art, and her background in drawing, sculpture, and working with raw materials set the foundation for her namesake artisinal line of jewelry. One of her favorite places to find fresh inspiration is Rock Star Crystals, a museum-like shop in Chelsea.
Rock Star Crystals is a tiny store that is stacked with crystals, fossils, minerals, meteorites, and healing stones. It's a magical little place and the light is always sparkly and dreamy. It's a good store to just look around and get inspiration. I often just go for ideas on colors and textures, and the staff doesn't seem to mind me browsing and hanging out. It's like a little museum in there, which is always the best kind of store—a retail cabinet of curiosity.
They carry the widest selection of crystals I've ever seen and in rare varieties. It is all well organized, so if you go with a specific structure, color, or cluster type it's easy navigate. The staff is super knowledgable and genuinely interested in their rocks, and the scientific and healing aspects of the crystals are all part of the story. I always leave happy with handfuls of treasures.
· Rock Star Crystals [Official Site]
· Alice Waese [Official Site]
· All Shopping Confidential Posts [Racked NY]