City: Richmond, VA

Category: Shopping

Telephone: (804) 746-7337

Description: This antique mall hides out in an old Southern States building and shouldn’t be confused with Antique Village, but it is. Twenty dealers share space here, and you’ll find a mix of merchandise that includes furniture, some from the 19th century, glassware, American pottery, art glass, currency, coins, stamps, clocks, and toys. They pride themselves on personal service and swear they give customers a half million reasons to shop in Mechanicsville.

City: Richmond, VA

Category: Shopping

Telephone: (804) 560-5557

Address: 8004 Midlothian Turnpike

Description: This building showcases the wares of 85 dealers seven days a week. Though there is an emphasis on reproductions and home decor, you will find some 19th-century furniture in here, along with porcelain, china, glasswork, and original oil paintings.

City: Richmond, VA

Category: Shopping

Description: If you haven’t found the piece of your dreams at local shops, make sure to hit up this annual event, held at the Science Museum of Virginia in Feb. This charity fund-raiser has been bringing the country’s finest antiques dealers to Richmond for almost 50 years. The quality is extremely high, and so is the fun quotient. Three dozen exhibitors from the mid-Atlantic, South, Northeast, and even Michigan and Ohio, bring their wares, and proceeds from ticket sales go to local charities that improve the health of Richmond’s citizens. A weekend (Fri through Sun) pass for the show is $15.

City: Richmond, VA

Category: Shopping

Telephone: (804) 769-8866

Address: 3000 Mechanicsville Turnpike

Description: This show, held four times a year, brings 175 dealers from all over. Each show features a specialty within the larger show, such as antique tools, garden, Civil War, and antiquarian books, but every show will have a mix of antique maps, toys, furniture, and much more.

City: Richmond, VA

Category: Shopping

Telephone: (336) 924-4359

Address: 3000 Mechanicsville Turnpike

Description: This three-day antiques and old collectibles show has been coming to the Showplace in Mechanicsville twice a year since 1985, bringing as many as 150 high-quality dealers to town from up and down the East Coast. Buyers come from throughout the mid-Atlantic to browse and buy American and European furniture and decorative accessories, including silver, linens, pottery, period clothing, and much more. A weekend pass is $7 or $6 for one day. Parking is free.

City: Richmond, VA

Category: Shopping

Address: 4402 W. Broad St.

City: Richmond, VA

Category: Shopping

Telephone: (804) 730-0756

Address: 8073 Mechanicsville Turnpike

Description: This auction house holds antiques and collectibles auctions frequently throughout the year and throughout the area—50 auctions in all if you count their on-site estate auctions that often include antiques. The antiques auctions are generally held on the weekend, usually with a preview the same day. Depending on the day, you might get the chance at furniture from the 19th century, coins, jewelry, fine porcelain, and folk and fine art.

City: Richmond, VA

Category: Shopping

Telephone: 804-674-4206

Address: 9131 Midlothian Turnpike

Description: Perhaps I should have put this place in the nightlife chapter, because their famous Thurs auctions start at 6:30 p.m. and go typically until 1 a.m. and sometimes until 4 a.m. Preview the 700 items up for bid the day of the auction, starting at 9 a.m., and if you can’t be there during the auction, you can leave a bid with one of their agents, who will bid on your behalf up to your limit. It’s an archaic yet well-oiled machine that never fails to entertain. Not everything being auctioned off is an antique, but it’s typical to find such pieces as a 19th-century Chippendale chest on chest or a leaded-glass dressing screen up for grabs. Thank goodness food is available for purchase, so nobody will faint from hunger.   

City: Richmond, VA

Category: Shopping

Telephone: 804-788-1594

Address: 1312 E. Cary St.

Description: Tucked snugly into Shockoe Slip, this charming, small, independent bookstore is what bookstores are supposed to be like—warm, friendly, and full of good books. The staff here makes fabulous recommendations and will help you find what you want even if you don’t know what that is. The site of many literary events and author signings, the shop is open seven days a week. Park on the street or in the Virginia Street parking deck on level 5. It’s free until 3 p.m. on weekends.

City: Richmond, VA

Category: Shopping

Telephone: (804) 353-9476

Address: 2601 W. Main St.

Description: Black Swan Books rates as perhaps the classiest used-book store in Richmond because it’s interested in rare, out-of-print, leather-bound, and antiquarian tomes. Here you’ll find some beautiful books—classic literature, art, Civil War, and more, including a selection of children’s books, too. Black Swan is open Tues through Sun and on Mon by appointment.

City: Richmond, VA

Category: Shopping

Telephone: (804) 422-8066

Address: 2913 W. Cary St.

Description: This place has a friendly, hipster vibe courtesy of the community-minded crowd that runs this mostly used-book shop with 45,000 volumes on two floors in Carytown. Though it probably doesn’t have the latest best seller, it offers a strong selection of literature; photography, art, and design books; and graphic novels. The store’s contents are in great shape—no musty books allowed. Thoughtful staff will order anything in print for you and give you a 10 percent discount if they didn’t have it in stock when you wanted it. Chop Suey features 800 hand-picked new titles in stock, ones you likely wouldn’t come across at those predictable chains. Check the Web site for literary events and readings.

City: Richmond, VA

Category: Shopping

Telephone: (804) 353-5675

Address: 3100 Kensington Ave.

Description: This adorable shop packs the best of classic and contemporary literature into its Museum District spot. With close to 1,500 titles to choose from, you will be impressed by the staff’s expertise at matching book to child. The little bookstore that could, Narnia brings several nationally known authors, such as Tomie dePaola, to Richmond every year for literacy promotion and special events. Gift wrapping is complimentary, and there’s a parking lot behind the store. E-mail narniabks@aol.com for more information. The store is closed on Sun.

City: Richmond, VA

Category: Shopping

Telephone: (804) 288-4346

Address: 536 Granite Ave.

Description: This is an old-fashioned bookstore with 20,000 new and used books jammed into an old house just off Patterson Avenue. Among other treasures, you’ll find foreign-language books and a good mystery selection. These book people take your book search seriously—if it’s out there, out of print or not, they will do their best to find it for you. Lots of book signings and monthly book swaps add to the community feel.

City: Richmond, VA

Category: Shopping

Telephone: (804) 261-7710

Address: 4021 MacArthur Ave.

Description: The name is a vestige of all the years in Carytown, but this small, independent bookstore has been in North Side the last five of its 80 years in business. Cassandra is the resident book kitty. For bookworms, there are 6,000 new and used books, cards, and gift bags.

City: Richmond, VA

Category: Shopping

Telephone: (804) 225-7323

Address: 904 W. Broad St.

Description: Bringing comics to serious and silly fans since 2003, Velocity Comics offers great fun and great deals near Virginia Commonwealth University. Look out for sudden “sneak attack sales” that chop 25 percent off everything in the store for two hours.