13 Best Shopping in Palm Springs and the Desert Resorts, California

About 20 miles west of Palm Springs lies one of California's largest outlet malls, which hawks everything from bikinis and bags to sunglasses and stilettos. The complex's 180 stores include Jimmy Choo, Samsonite, Levi's, Saint Laurent, J. Crew, Armani, Gucci, lululemon, and Prada.

Find coffee-table books, greeting cards, home decor with cheeky and naughty sayings, candles, wearable souvenirs, and other eclectic items at this fun gift shop that celebrates the area's retro-modern lifestyle and desert dolce vita.

This 10,000-square-foot marketplace filled with boho bits and baubles, prints and other art, clothing, foodstuffs, dried bouquets, candles, and toiletries—created mostly by artisans and makers from Joshua Tree, the Coachella Valley, and elsewhere in California—feels like a brick-and-mortar Etsy. 

It's easy to lose track of time in this female-owned, fabulously curated apparel, gift, and curios shop housed in the former Coachella Valley Repertory Theater, where wall murals feature positive messages, and staffers are sociable. Every table, shelf, nook, and cranny is filled with jewelry, art, graphic tees, stuffed animals, books, crystals, hats, candles, bags, toiletries, glasses, and toys. Although the store carries some national brands, it also works hard to promote local makers and artists, often through limited-edition collaborations. A second smaller location at The Gardens on El Paseo in Palm Desert carries RR logo products and best-selling items.

What started as a fundraising endeavor for a high-school trip to Italy in 2006 has grown into a four-store, family-owned empire peddling the preservative-free, non-GMO, chocolate-topped toffee that has been touted by Oprah Winfrey and Martha Stewart. You can watch candy being made while enjoying toffee milk shakes, pretzels, popcorn, brownies, or ice-cream bars. You can also stock up on souvenir tins. (Good luck getting them all the way home.)

This contemporary take on the old-timey general store opened in 2022 and stocks an eclectic array of gourmet food, books, games, novelties, and canvas desert hats. It also sells household necessities including a lot of environmentally friendly cleaning supplies and sustainable everyday items. In addition, it emphasizes local vendors and community involvement through collaborations and exhibits. While you're here, check out other occupants of Corner 62, a renovated retail complex, such as Scorpion Lollipop (candy/gifts), Pisces (swimwear), and The Moon and the Mat (yoga studio).

Parallel to Highway 111 lies "The Rodeo Drive of the Desert," a mile-long, Mediterranean-styled shopper's paradise lined with fountains, courtyards, and upscale boutiques, including those in the Gardens on El Paseo complex. You'll find shoe emporiums, jewelry boutiques, home goods stores, beauty salons, and children's shops as well as two dozen restaurants and nearly as many art galleries. It's a pleasant place to stroll, window-shop, and watch both people and the annual alfresco concert series.  In winter and spring, a free shuttle ferries shoppers from store to store and back to their cars.

Just off I–10 near the Desert Hills outlet mall, stock up on dried fruit, nuts, candy, and other road-trip treats at what was once a roadside stand owned by the folks who invented trail mix. Although the café serves sandwiches and other quick bites, a must-order is the date shake made with caramel-tasting, California-grown, Deglet Noor dates. (A vegan version is available, too.)

This nouveau-boho boutique carrying a little bit of everything is just the kind of shop you hope to happen upon during a vacation. Between apparel, candles, journals, art, coffee, tea, cocktail kits, felt Coachella hats, jewelry, dried flowers, and photos of desert splendor and the nearby national park, most of which are made by local creatives, you’ll likely find yourself in a “one for them, two for me” souvenir scenario.

Given the name, you might assume that this is a pet shop or fancy feed store. But unless you want to pamper your pooch with Jenni Earle's positively inscribed bandanas, this is a store for free spirits of any gender or age who appreciate colorful and comfy clothes, candles, crystals, witty cards, cool tchotchkes, and the occasional hat customization pop-up. There's also a lot of park-theme paraphernalia and desert-inspired art. 

At this downtown fine-foods market, shelves and displays are filled with small-batch snacks, sauces, and sweets that make great edible souvenirs. There's also a selection of wine and beer, and the deli case—well-stocked with nitrate-free cold cuts, cheeses from boutique creameries around the world, pickled veggies, and fancy condiments—provides the starting point for yummy sandwiches and trendy charcuterie boards that would be perfect for a picnic or a pool party. 

Throw a dart in any direction in any high desert city, and it's likely to end up at a vintage store. Even new-clothing proprietors usually have at least one rack of secondhand threads. This downtown business is filled with upcycled, good-condition Western wear (cowboy boots, scarves, belts with big buckles, leather cuffs, silver jewelry), as well as things like frilly 1950s TV mom aprons. 

Fronting a man-made river and waterfalls, this complex has several beauty and fashion shops, as well as a Cinemark multiplex, a cigar lounge, and lots of eateries, including Acqua (sister to the popular Lulu California Bistro in Palm Springs). In addition, family-friendly events like dance parties and movie nights are held at the on-site amphitheater.