Long Beach Shopping Districts

Not surprisingly, Long Beach’s many shopping districts reflect the city itself: diverse, distinct and a lot of fun. Some feature a vintage vibe, others are laid back, but all share a commitment to local merchants and artisans while offering lots of entertaining options, including exceptional food, drink and desserts. Check out these popular areas to shop and stroll.

DOWNTOWN LONG BEACH

Perhaps no shopping district has so many distinct parts to it as Downtown Long Beach. On one end is The Pike Outlets (95 S Pine Ave), offering discounted items from major retailers like Gap, H&M and Nike. North on Pine Avenue is a collection of interesting boutiques, clothing stores and specialty shops as well as an array of top local restaurants, bars, lounges and dance clubs. Nearby is the East Village Arts District, an uber-cool area with plenty of galleries, art shops and one-of-a-kind boutiques featuring slow fashion, sustainable beauty goods, iconic music stores and whiskey bars. For more information and a directory of businesses, click here.

UPTOWN

One of the hottest, up and coming districts is Uptown, located in North Long Beach. Over the past five years this region has steadily grown in popularity by offering a widening selection of shopping and dining options, as well as great community gathering points and terrific outdoor and public spaces. Uptown offers some of the best coffee in the city as well as some of its most popular barbecue. Food options are wide and varied, from noodles to seafood, Filipino to Mexican – even an outdoor food hall. The energy extends to the activity at the local skatepark and DeForest Park. For more information and a directory of businesses, click here.

BELMONT SHORE

Possibly the city’s best known shopping and dining district, Belmont Shore’s shops, bars and restaurants are centered around Second Street. This highly strollable district sells lots of options, from Long Beach-themed accessories and apparel to jewelry to hardware to fashionable home decor. If you’re looking to get your steps in, walk across the bridge at Alamitos Bay and into Naples, where you’ll find more shops, restaurants and bars as well as the iconic canals spectacularly lit up for the holidays and the authentic gondolas to cruise them. For more information and directory of businesses, click here.

ZAFERIA

Located along East Anaheim Street, the Zaferia neighborhood is a place you can browse for cool, repurposed home decor as well as beauty items, clothing, and flowers, all of it locally owned and uniquely put together. Zaferia is just as well-known for its wide variety of food options including some of the absolute best Cambodian and Khmer restaurants in the country. Given the constantly evolving nature of the area, it’s not at all unusual to find art pop-ups popping up, as the vibe of the district is very much given toward community, beauty and wellness. For more information and directory of businesses, click here.

RETRO ROW

This stretch of Fourth Street – between Walnut and Temple Avenues – offers many shops that, as the name suggests, are vintage-inspired and highly curated. The majority are locally owned and have the history to have seen Retro Row grow from funky oddity to one of the most popular destinations in the city for unique retail–independent bookstores, vegan ice cream–and great dining and drinking. Retro Row also contains the Art Theatre, a crown jewel in presenting great independent and international film. For more information and directory of businesses, click here.

BIXBY KNOLLS

Though this shopping district is primarily located on one of Long Beach’s busiest thoroughfares –Atlantic Avenue–Bixby Knolls has an undeniably cozy, cohesive and neighborly feel to it with lots of locally owned shops and boutiques selling everything from home furnishings to clothes to toys to wine. And, as with other districts, there are myriad dining options, though Bixby also offers the widest/best collection of craft brew pubs, a fact that has led it to being dubbed Brewery Knolls. For more information and a directory of businesses, click here.

About the Author

Steve Lowery

Steve Lowery is a longtime local. Over the years he has written for the Los Angeles Times, ESPN, and others. If you're looking for the hidden gems of Long Beach, Steve is your go-to.