4 Best Shopping in Palm Springs and the Desert Resorts, California

What started as a fundraising endeavor for a high-school trip to Italy in 2006 has grown into a four-store, family-owned empire peddling the preservative-free, non-GMO, chocolate-topped toffee that has been touted by Oprah Winfrey and Martha Stewart. You can watch candy being made while enjoying toffee milk shakes, pretzels, popcorn, brownies, or ice-cream bars. You can also stock up on souvenir tins. (Good luck getting them all the way home.)

This nouveau-boho boutique carrying a little bit of everything is just the kind of shop you hope to happen upon during a vacation. Between apparel, candles, journals, art, coffee, tea, cocktail kits, felt Coachella hats, jewelry, dried flowers, and photos of desert splendor and the nearby national park, most of which are made by local creatives, you’ll likely find yourself in a “one for them, two for me” souvenir scenario.

At this downtown fine-foods market, shelves and displays are filled with small-batch snacks, sauces, and sweets that make great edible souvenirs. There's also a selection of wine and beer, and the deli case—well-stocked with nitrate-free cold cuts, cheeses from boutique creameries around the world, pickled veggies, and fancy condiments—provides the starting point for yummy sandwiches and trendy charcuterie boards that would be perfect for a picnic or a pool party. 

In-the-know interior designers, incognito celebrities, and other fashionable folk who are in the market for orange rotary phones, Italian ceramics, new rugs, peacock chairs, or a piece of statement art, head to this 30,000-square-foot treasure trove tucked behind the Agua Caliente Casino. Here, expertly sourced vintage and contemporary art, decor, and furniture are sold in a handful of stores including Hedge, Object Culture, Spaces, and JC Studio.