Shopping

Written By Kati Knowland

Whether it’s for antiques or art, jewelry or flowers, Cary Magazine readers know where they like to shop. And while they have some perennial favorites, readers have brought a few new stores into the Maggy Award family this year.

The Best Antiques category, fittingly, brought back some old favorites, with the NC Flea Market taking the Maggy Award in the category again this year. With free admission, free parking and a sea of vendors, the flea market has garnered the loyalty of antique-hunters throughout Western Wake. The Flea Market was joined once again in the rankings by two antique shops in downtown Apex — Antiques on Salem Street and The Rusty Bucket — both of which received honorable mentions.

One newcomer to the list is Artspace, which captured this year’s award in the Best Art category. Artspace, a nonprofit visual art center, allows visitors to not only view and purchase art but also participate in the creative process. The center, located in downtown Raleigh, features a wide variety of exhibitions and offers a range of educational programs for children and adults.

"Artspace is honored to receive a 2009 Cary Magazine Maggy Award,” said Mary Poole, Artspace’s executive director. “At Artspace, we strive to have something for everyone through our professional artist studios, nationally acclaimed exhibitions, and engaging art classes and workshops. We pride ourselves on our uniqueness of providing the community with the opportunity to interact with working artists and experience firsthand the amazing creative process."

Once Cary Magazine readers have art on the walls and they’re ready to spruce up the yard a bit, they head down to Cary’s Garden Supply Co., which topped the list for Best Garden Center. The full-service garden center combines an extensive selection of annuals, perennials, bedding plants, trees, shrubs, vines and tropical plants with a sampling of decorative touches like fountains and statues to help Cary gardeners make their yards and gardens something special.

Another new name on the winners list is Bailey’s Fine Jewelry, which was named Best Jeweler by Cary Magazine readers. The jeweler, which has locations in Raleigh, Greenville and Rocky Mount, prides itself on its customer service and extensive selection of diamonds.

“If I had to take a guess, I’d say we won based on our unmatched customer service and excellent staff,” said Trey Bailey, director of operations for Bailey’s Fine Jewelry. “It doesn’t matter if it’s someone’s first time visiting our store or they’ve been in 100 times, we take our commitment to provide top-notch customer service seriously and work hard every day to make each customer’s shopping experience as pleasant as possible.

“Bailey’s is unique because we offer not only top-designer jewelry and have one of the largest selections of diamonds in the area, but we are also a full-service jewelry store,” said Bailey. “We are one of the rare jewelry stores in the country that not only designs and repairs in-house, but we also have our own manufacturing facility right on the premises. Our customers’ valuables never have to leave the safety of our store.”

Our readers have an eye for a deal, and this year, they chose HomeGoods as the store with the Best Bargains. This relative newcomer to the area opened in Apex’s Beaver Creek Crossing shopping center in 2007 and provides a little bit of everything for the home — pillows, plates, seasonal items, furniture, artwork and more. With its constantly changing inventory and discount prices, HomeGoods has certainly captured a spot in our readers’ hearts. Joining HomeGoods in the Best Bargain category were Kohl’s and TJ Maxx, both of which received honorable mentions.

All three of the top stores for bargains can be found near Beaver Creek Commons, which again topped the list of Best Non-Mall Shopping Centers. Beaver Creek Commons is home to chain-store favorites like Super Target, Lowe's, Office Max and the new A.C. Moore. The shopping center also features a variety of restaurants, including Qdoba, Panera Bread, Chili's, IHOP and Chick-fil-A. Plus, right next door is the Beaver Creek Crossing shopping center, which houses a movie theater, Borders, Old Navy, Ulta and the bargain triumvirate — Kohl’s, TJ Maxx and HomeGoods.