Sunday in Los Angeles: Melrose Avenue Shopping Walk

Melrose Avenue—the other famous shopping street in Los Angeles—is accessible, diverse, and, luckily for us shopaholics, long. Melrose hosts some of L.A.’s favorite stores, offering everything from hard-to-find sneakers to healing crystals. Ideally, you’ll take this walking route on a Sunday morning, when Melrose Trading Post (a fancy flea market) is up and running at the corner of Melrose and Fairfax.

Total Distance: 1.3 miles
Walking Time: 1-2 hours

fresh gorditas at a los angeles restaurant
Gorditas from Gracias Madre. Photo courtesy of Gracias Madre.

Start at the east end of Melrose and fuel up with some vegan tacos at Gracias Madre.

Wander around the West Hollywood Design District, speckled with high quality shops and galleries. Get some inspiration for your next home remodel.

The highlight of the Design District, the Pacific Design Center is an awesome place to visit even if you’re not buying an outrageously oversized chair to bring home. Arts meets interior design at the MOCA’s satellite exhibition space next door.

Keep walking west for a bit, window-shopping and people-watching, before you reach Melrose Place. Here you’ll find the hip, popular Alfred Coffee. Grab a Stumptown brew to go and take a selfie with its huge “But first, coffee” mural.

Also in Melrose Place is the luxe Balmain, one of two in the U.S. The beautiful, Parisian pieces are nice to look out even if you can’t afford any of them.

Go back to Melrose Avenue and cross the street for a fun shopping break at Duff’s Cakemix, run by the famous Ace of Cakes man himself, Duff Goldman. You can bake and decorate your own cupcake masterpieces here. (Or just eat someone else’s.)

You can’t miss the huge, ivy-covered Fred Segal store. You also can’t leave the iconic California shop without buying some cute clothing, accessories, or home goods.

A few blocks east, you’ll hit the corner of Melrose and Fairfax, where the Melrose Trading Post is held every Sunday 9am-5pm. Angelenos from all over the city head to the parking lot of celeb-attended Fairfax High School to find unique clothing and handcrafted goods and accessories at reasonable prices.

people walking between a line of commercial tents at an outdoor market in Los Angeles
Head to Melrose Trading Post on Sunday for unique clothing and handcrafted goods and accessories. Photo © Steffany Ayala.

Continue east on Melrose and in a few blocks you’ll get to Japanese clothing and accessories store Joy Rich. If you’re looking for a cool background for your selfie, consider Joyrich’s flower-painted exterior.

If you’re in the mood for a drink, pop into the divey Snake Pit Alehouse next door and take a break with a beer (or whiskey) and some jukebox tunes.

Once you’ve refueled, cross the street and find Anthem, a big, cool shoe store with fashion-forward footwear for men and women. Check out the creative street art on the sides of the buildings on the north side of Melrose and Sierra Bonita (the same side of the street as Snake Pit).

storefront of a metaphysical accessories store in Los Angeles's Melrose neighborhood
Stop in at the House of Intuition for all of your metaphysical shopping needs. Photo courtesy of House of Intuition.

Two blocks down, House of Intuition is a one-stop shop for all of your metaphysical shopping needs. Grab some spiritually-minded books, incense, crystals, and jewelry.

End your journey at Wasteland on Melrose, a haven for gently worn high-end clothing. If you don’t have any shopping bags in your hand at this point, now’s a good time to stock up.

Halli Jastaran Faulkner

About the Author

When she was 17, Halli Jastaran Faulkner traveled alone from upstate New York to work in a rural school in Ghana. Officially bitten by the travel bug, she has spent the ensuing years plotting and planning her next adventure. Her favorite travelling moments include searching for a hookah bar in Tel Aviv, riding a Ferris wheel in Madrid, and dancing barefoot in Negril.

After receiving her law degree from The George Washington University in 2011, Halli headed to California where she discovered the majestic Pacific; she hasn’t looked back since. In Los Angeles, Halli has found a home as an attorney, a writer, and a yoga teacher.

On any given day, you can find Halli hanging out with her beautiful wife Rachel, or headstanding on Santa Monica sands. She loves a lot of things about L.A., including its art, tacos, and casual-cool aesthetic, but the beach remains her favorite thing of all, especially during sunset.

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