By Lindsay Blake – Article from Los Cabos Magazine – Issue #8
Some people travel to shop, others shop while traveling. In either case, Cabo is the quintessential shopping mecca. While I tend to seek out the jewelry and pottery stores, you may prefer to explore the galleries, home furnishing stores and other various artsy boutiques. Whatever the interest, there is a place here for you.
In the village of Cabo San Lucas, life radiates from the plazas. The way to travel is by foot as everything is close at hand. The town is host to wonderful restaurants, lively nightclubs, and beautiful hotels, and for those who love to shop, the main streets and alleys of Cabo overflow with fun and fanciful boutiques brimming with souvenirs, arts and crafts, jewelry, pottery, beachwear and clothing. The street vendors bring their own version of creative marketing to the village. Featuring a wide range of merchandise, downtown Cabo San Lucas is a great place to discover local artisans, along with everything from traditional Mexican artifacts to American made products. While shopping in Cabo, you will discover something that you cannot live without; some treasure that will make you feel good, or is the perfect gift for a loved one back home.
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Although downtown offers more authentic Mexican gifts, the Puerto Paraiso Mall, opened in the fall of 2001, caters to shoppers with more ex-pensive and sophisticated taste. Unique silver jewelry and pottery made from local artists are popular items for tourists to take home. As you wander the mall, many of the stores may appear to be similar in style and merchandising, but upon walking through, it becomes more evident that each store and vendor has a variety of novel gifts.
Boulevard Marina and the nearby streets that back up to the main square make up Cabo San Lucas’ main downtown shopping district. Since the opening of Puerto Paraiso Mall, this area has been referred to by some as “Old Town” and offers just about every gift that one could imagine. Located by the harbor, Boulevard Marina is a magnificent area to browse as you walk through the plazas past little boutiques that line both sides of the street. Shoppers can spend hours gazing through shop windows or meandering in and out of interesting locales until they find themselves compelled to purchase “must-have” items. There are so many wonderful home furnishings, Mexican art pieces and other decorative merchandise to bring home for yourself or a friend.
With seemingly endless shops displaying shiny silver in the windows, it is immediately evident that México is well known for its high quality and reasonably priced silver. Cabo San Lucas, like everywhere else in Los Cabos, is brimming with street vendors and silver shops offering their own creative and original designs. Most of the stores carry silver of excellent quality, however, it is wise to be cautious, as some vendors and artisan markets often carry silver of an inferior caliber. You can tell whether the silver is adequate by determining it’s weight. If a minimum of .925 is engraved into the back, the piece has merit. Among the stores located on Boulevard Marina, Bla, Bla, Bla Silver Shop carries a large selection of beautifully designed bracelets, necklaces, charms, earrings, money clips, and many more items of interest. Their silver pieces (.925 & .950) are handcrafted in Taxco, Guerrero, know for its exceptional silver craftsmanship. They also have stores in Plaza del Mar and at the Los Cabos Airport. Just ask anyone who has been to the area where to look for silver and the answer will likely be Bla, Bla, Bla. How-ever, it is not a bad idea to wander around before making a purchase since there are so many great places to buy silver in Los Cabos.
México is also well known for its meticulously hand-crafted pottery. The pottery in México is often so painstakingly detailed and beautiful that it is hard to resist. Talavera, the most well known type of pottery in Cabo, originated from the Spanish Majolica wares that were first produced during the Italian Renaissance, with influences from Moorish, Islam, and Asian cultures. This style of pottery was brought to México and was first made in the town of Puebla. Talavera pottery has its own distinctly creative style, but also reflects the Spanish, Arabic, Asian and Italian cultures. It is easy to tell the high quality Talavera pottery by its intrinsic detail and generally higher price.
Necri, located on Boulevard Marina since 1988, has a good selection of unique gift items—many pieces are easy to pack, for that favorite friend back home. Necri has a very nice collection of exclusive pewter pieces from México City ranging from picture frames to candle sticks as well as a large inventory of fine Talavera from Puebla.
Who doesn’t look at clothing while they are shopping? Even those who don’t want to buy new clothes are drawn to the racks when traveling. Cabo offers many clothing and beach-wear boutiques for any style of shopper. One of the more popular places to shop in Cabo is Magic of the Moon, a clothing boutique located on Hidalgo just up the street from Plaza Las Glorias. Magic of the Moon opened in 1991 when Pepita and Ron Nelson fell so in love with the area that they quit their jobs in the States and moved down to begin a new life in México. Pepita opened a small store focusing mainly on selling lingerie and bustiers. Her creations became so popular that 11 years later she has two stores filled with her own unique blend of exotically feminine and conservative clothes with a trendy edge. No longer solely a sexy lingerie store, Magic of the Moon has become a true icon for fashion in Cabo. Carrying a wide spectrum of fashionable clothing, from camisole tops and stretch pants, to designer dresses fit for a wedding, Pepita offers a little something for everyone; including an incredible line of accessories ranging from handbags and belts to stunning jewelry made of turquoise and coral.
Magic of the Moon opened its own Cabo San Lucas clothing factory in 1998 to achieve better quality control and now, just a few years later, has ten employees. Their second store, Magic Too, is located on Medano Beach behind Billygan’s Island and The Mango Deck. It carries all of the same great fashions that Magic of the Moon offers. Pepita’s success is not only due to her creativity and intuition. With the help of her husband, Ron; their new manager, Dominic; and the assistant manager, Angel, Pepita’s dedication and hard work has certainly paid off. She is very proud of her mantra, “we make clothes the old fashioned way, one at a time.” Pepita’s designs are not limited ladies clothing. She designs clothes of a complimentary fashion for men and children as well. Special orders can be made upon request and will be ready within a couple of days, ensuring that you can return home with your new creation. Visiting Pepita and her crew at one of their lovely stores is guaranteed to be enjoyable.
With its grand opening in June 2002, Rain Sensual Wear, is the newest clothing store in downtown Cabo. Lo-cated next to Cabo Wabo on Vicente Guerrero, Rain offers a complete collection of sensual wear for men and women. This sexy and romantic line of clothing is designed and created with Mexican fabrics by Lluvia Sugey Payan in Cabo San Lucas. Lluvia Payan uses beads, buttons and precious stones, collected from around the world, to adorn the luxuriant natural fabrics of the clothing. The store’s fixtures, made using bamboo and rock, create a unique and memorable shopping experience.
For beachwear, there is no doubt, that Chicas Sin Limites (girls without limits) is a great place to shop. They offer custom made beachwear ranging from bikinis and full suits, to tongas and wraps. Located on Miguel Hidalgo street in front of the Town Square, Chicas Sin Limites offers a unique opp-ortunity to buy exactly what you truly want. All you have to do is pick out the fabric and twenty-four hours later, you will have your own custom made bath-ing suit, created exactly to your liking. Chicas Sin Limites also has a large selection of exotic, unique and striking accessories.
Margarita Partridge owns and op-erates five stores in Cabo San Lucas—Tropica Calipso Swimwear, Tropica Boutique, Cabo San Lucas Official Store, Something Special, and Cotton Club—each boasting very different styles of articles of clothing.
Tropica Boutique is located on Boulevard Marina and features a variety of garments with everything from bathing suits and linen casual wear, to Cabo San Lucas t-shirts and sweatshirts. The store also carries a large selection of giftware and accessories such as unique bracelets, watches, and necklaces.
Recently relocated to the new Puerto Paraiso Mall, The Cotton Club has been a Cabo San Lucas favorite for over a decade. This specialty stores carries a good selection of comfortable cotton, linen and rayon resort wear fashions.
Located in Plaza del Sol right across from Tropica Boutique, is Cabo San Lucas Official Store, offering the latest in fun beach wear. With a little more focus on trend, this store holds the attention of many teens and young adults. Lining the store from front to back, are racks filled with every style of bathing suit available as well as sarongs, t-shirts, tanks, and cute surfer shorts for men and women. This hip little store is a great place to find the hippest in beach wear fashions. Tropica Calipso Swimwear opened in December of 2001 and is located on the main floor near the fountain entrance of Puerto Paraiso Mall. This trendy boutique has beautifully displayed swimwear, with matching sarongs, dresses and tunics to entice stylish women of all ages, tastes and body types.
No Worries, located on Marina Boulevard adjacent to the Cabo San Lucas Official Store, is another perennial favorite offering clothing in the latest fashion. This store designs and creates t-shirts, shorts, hats, and many other items that don their logo. If you are looking for a fun flowery sun dress, No Worries has a nice selection in cute styles. Very popular with all ages, No Worries has a surfer flare to it, and is a little different than many other tourist boutiques in Cabo San Lucas.
Plaza del Mar, located next to El Squid Roe across the street from Hard Rock Cafe, has an interesting mix of stores that offer a variety of t-shirts, tank tops, bags, hats, accessories and more. Inside Plaza del Mar you’ll find Cabo Hats, with an extensive selection of hats for men and women including The Scala Collection and Dorfman Pacific. Also found there is Bla, Bla, Bla Silver; Harley Davidson Los Cabos, offering motorcycle apparel and souvenirs; Baja Riders; Peer offering a wide selection of t-shirts, posters and post cards; Cabo San Lucas Surf Shop with a selection of sandals, sunglasses, t-shirts and beach wear; El Agave Bar; and Wide Open Baja where you can arrange to take a test drive in an actual Baja racing off-road vehicle.
You need only to embrace the fact that shopping is a fun part of your vacation, since Cabo is the place for shameless purchases. If you’re anything like me, spending an afternoon in downtown Cabo is sure to have you walking home with your arms full of new goodies to remind you of your trip. Whether your purchases include something fun, practical, or extravagant, the experience will be inspiring, and you will want to go back for more! That is, of course, after you have taken time out for that pleasant swim, relaxing massage, or hole in one! Then, you’ll have to make time to hit the shops again!
