Echo Park Time Travel Mart

At first glance, the inside of this storefront resembles any other market in the area—but look closer and you’ll find a collection of “time travel” curiosities that one might need in order to visit the distant past or future. For example, Robot Toupees, Barbarian Repellent, Primordial Soup In a Can and vast collection of books. What gives? The place is a cover business: While everything in it is indeed for sale, the store is actually a front for 826LA, a literary nonprofit founded by author Dave Eggers. Enter through a secret door in the back of the shop, and you'll find a classroom, where free tutoring and creative writing classes are offered to kids ages 6 to 18; in fact, all the books in the store are written by those kids. (Many are even professionally published and sold on Amazon). Another inside tip: If you come up with a cool idea for a product to sell in the mart, employees will help you design it for sale to the public. Which might spur others to drop some dough and thus contribute to this awesome nonprofit. The Time Travel Mart is one of seven themed stores from 826 National, including Brooklyn's Superhero Supply Co. and DC's Museum of Unnatural History.