Best gift shops: West Village/Greenwich Village

This shop is like Toys “R” Us for adults. The futuristic space offers the newest electronics, cool gadgets and fun tchotchkes from around the world. Explore the headphones selection by trying on one of the high-end brands, like the popular Zumreeds that come in a range of punchy colors ($40–$60). Check out the best-selling Bandai Gun o’Clock ($90), an alarm clock with a pop-up target and toy gun—so when that dreaded sound goes off in the wee hours of the morning, just reach for the gun and shoot the damn thing. More playful items include limited-edition Mimobot Star Wars–themed memory drives ($46), Kikkerland robot pencil sharpeners ($13) and disappearing glow-in-the-dark graffiti paint from Suck UK ($66).

Watch your back, Claire’s: A new dirt-cheap costume-jewelry shop has surfaced. U.K. retailer Accessorize is finally bringing its trendy, affordable designs across the pond to a West Village storefront (with a Union Square location opening November 18). We’re talking chunky, jewel-covered cuffs ($25), cluster cocktail rings ($20) and sequined clutches with British flag designs ($58). Sound sparkly? The store itself is as glittery as it gets, with vintage-inspired dressing tables and classic armoires covered in antique gems. Expect to see more from Accessorize in the future; this is the first of 100 planned stores set to open in the U.S. throughout the next four years.

Designer Marc Jacobs’s West Village empire continues to expand with the opening of this high-fashion bookstore, which has replaced the beloved Biography Book Shop. Though Biography’s blond-wood shelving remains, its memoirs have been replaced with coffee-table tomes, such as House of Versace ($26), artist Dawn Mellor’s namesake book depicting nightmarish renditions of pop icons ($35), and shutterbug Mario Testino’s photographic ode to muse Kate Moss ($700). It’s not all glossy photos, though: Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl ($25) leans against a dishy book about Hollywood scandals ($25). There’s also Marc Jacobs–branded souvenirs galore, including condoms packaged in matchbooks ($2), broken-heart compacts ($5), USB cassette tapes ($15), lipstick-shaped pens ($4) and canvas Bookmarc totes emblazoned with a pixelated lightbulb ($20)—perhaps the only MJ handbag that falls within your budget.

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).

This Parisian perfumer, known for its high-end handmade candles, lights up Bleecker Street with its first NYC store. Reminiscent of a modern-day boudoir, the cozy space is decked out in white-feathered crystal chandeliers, Lucite furniture and fabric-covered walls. Lining the modular shelves is the brand’s full collection of sweet-smelling home and body-care products, as well as limited-edition holiday 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).

What started with two Austrian students discovering a small Russian camera in the 1990s resulted in a company, community and movement based on experimental, color-saturated snapshots taken with Lomo cameras. This one-stop analog shop attracts everyone from amateur photogs to School of Visual Art professors with its diverse array of color-splash, instant and fish-eye point-and-shoots; instructive and historical photo books; and easy-to-use Diana, Action and 35mm cams. While the “Lomowall” covered in prints lends the store a distinct gallery vibe, the shop also offers weekly workshops, negative processing ($7–$20) and monthly DJ parties.

Underground in more ways than one (the shop is below street level, and it’s as indie as they come), this Laundromat turned reading room is the latest project to come from Aaron “A-Ron the Downtown Don” Bondaroff. Since getting his start as the face of streetwear brand Supreme in the early ’90s, the native New Yorker has become a fixture in the international art scene, having curated shows for the Guggenheim and Colette. OHWOW, the publishing company that he co-founded two years ago with Al Moran, prints books displaying work by his artist friends, including Scott Campbell, Phil Frost, Neckface and Terence Koh. The bookstore-showroom is the first spot to carry all of OHWOW’s publications under a single roof, and those craving color, inspiration or simply a place to talk art can do so sans snobbery. The art lies not solely in the books but also in the decor itself. Designed by Bondaroff’s longtime friend Rafael de Cárdenas, the 150-square-foot interior has black-and-white stacked shelving units, fluorescent lighting and turquoise walls with Navajo patterns. Some titles we’re digging are Maneater by Aurel Schmidt ($40), New York Minute by Kathy Grayson ($75) and Bondaroff’s autobiography My Life in T-Shirts ($30).