Goods & Services: Staff Picks

Best Exotic Dried Fruit: Sure, Trader Joe's has old standbys like raisins and prunes, but they also have dried mangoes, blueberries and pineapple rings and exotic stuff you've probably never tried before like dried dragon fruit and gooseberries. All the flavor, no dribbling. 7788 Montgomery Road, Kenwood,
513-984-3452.

Best Place to Smooth the Dry Patches: It's all about being beautiful at Sephora, where you'll find countless ways to enhance your looks. The upscale cosmetics chain has everything you need for hair and nails, plus beauty products from national and international manufacturers. Get a free makeover and take home a few samples. You'll be back for more. 7875 Montgomery Road, Kenwood, 513-794-0250.

photo: sean hughes/peWork Resource Center Photo: Rebecca Carter Novotni

Best Place for Hardware Under $10: Work Resource Center
A local nonprofit that provides career training to people with disabilities, WRC had the bright idea to do something productive with the hundreds of tons of building materials dumped in local landfills every year - they sell it. Building Value, a cross between hardware store and thrift store, is one of Cincinnati's most financially successful nonprofits. People who are remodeling their homes can find bargains such as casement doors for $20 or light fixtures for $10. They have cabinets, ductwork, nails and wood, an aisle of paint and a room full of tile. Much of what Building Value sells is in "like new" condition, and you can even take a tax write-off for your old stuff. 2901 Gilbert Ave., Walnut Hills, 513-475-6783.

Best Garage Shop: So we're at The Comet on a Saturday night, and some friends meet up and are retching about how they weren't allowed past "security" at some posh party. After a Comet cocktail, they hit Avant Garage next door to "suit up" and head downtown to posh out. Where else? 4573 Hamilton Ave., Northside, 513-542-8268.

Best Place to Find a Unique Fashion Bargain: Forget the staid, boring consignment shops - the place to go for the good (non-Mom) garb is the Mustard Seed boutique. Owner/Buyer Christie Reinshagen-Wallace opened the shop after returning to Cincinnati following a stint in San Francisco, where she occasionally revisits to scour the town for one-off West Coast finds uncommon here. Stock includes an eclectic mix of "new with tags" (past-season merch from local upscale boutiques) and gently used yet up-to-the minute modern finds alongside some choice vintage items. 344 Ludlow Ave., Clifton, 513-221-4022.

Best Cheap Vanity: At Aveda Fredrick's Institute, a school for aspiring salon stylists and estheticians, you get dirt-cheap hairstyling, facials, manis, pedis ($30 for partial foil highlights, $12 manicures), and around the block you'll pay quadruple the amount. Seriously. Call far in advance, though. A longtime secret, this resource is no longer so. 3654 Edwards Road, Hyde Park, 513-533-0700.

Best New Face: Avalon Salon & Aesthetic Day Spa is staffed with a hip and sassy crew whose talents reach beyond the limits, shaping the cut to your head andÊselecting the color to your skin tone. And check out the spa separated from the salon where you can escape and relax without the outside noise of voices whispering and doors closing that might bring you back to reality. 3848 Paxton Ave., Hyde Park, 513-533-1700.

Best Person to Help You Pick Out Wine for Any Occasion: There are now four locations in Cincinnati, including Glendale, Madeira and White Oak. The College Hill store is the original, opened in 1989. Guy Discepoli, owner of Piazza Discepoli, tastes everything before he'll keep it in stock. This means a small but select selection. Patrons rave about the friendly service and the imported beers. Guy will probably talk you into another bottle of something to try when you're at the register. 5901 Hamilton Ave., College Hill, 513-681-8466.

photo: sean hughes/peCincinnatiTees

Best Hometown Pride Clothing: CincinnaTees
Jen Walke and John Cramer like T-shirts as much as we do, but they hoped for more than a fashion statement. So they created CincinnaTees, non-commercial T-shirts with a humorous pig-inspired message about being proud of Cincinnati and its neighborhoods. Shirts sold well at Findlay Market last fall; theyÕre still available at Urban Eden. 1313 Main St., Over-the-Rhine, 513-621-3336.

Best Small Retail Wine Shop: Go to microWINES for their small but well-chosen selection of domestic and international wines. They also have a tasting bar that's always showcasing about eight choices so you can "try before you buy." 7292 Kenwood Road, Kenwood, 513-794-9463.

Best Place for a Paper Chase: Arvey Paper & Office Products isn't a fancy place. But if you need a special envelope (you can buy just one if that's all you want, or a carton of them) or paper in a color you can't find anywhere else, these are the guys to help you out. 914 Dalton St., Queensgate, 513-421-5300.

Best World View: If you want a unique necklace or a set of earrings, Vernita Henderson is who you need to see. Working from a booth at Findlay Market, she sells one-of-a-kind items assembled from exotic beads that she buys from around the world. Her eye for color and shape is extraordinary, and the results will have everyone asking, "Where did you find that?" 114 W. Elder St., Over-the-Rhine, no phone.

Best Competition for Kroger: Biggs offers a truly viable alternative for grocery shopping at Hyde Park Plaza. Of course, we like all the free samples, but what's really impressed us is how the store has paid attention to where it is: The walls are decked out with historic Cincinnati photos, and the coffee shop is run by Awakenings. And who even knew there were that many types of mushrooms? OK, maybe a mycologist, but who else knew? 3872 Paxton Ave., Oakley, 513-354-5340.

Best Bookstore to Find a 50-Cent Paperback: Significant Books has a claustrophobia-inducing, musty sort of appeal that only a book lover could fancy. It's a mom-and-pop kind of store where you can find well-worn classics, newer and hard-to-find books as well. 3053 Madison Road, Oakley, 513-321-7567.

Best $10 Eyebrow Wax: Longer-lasting and less painful than plucking, eyebrow waxing is the cleanest removal you'll find without electrolysis. The experts at Pinnokio's rip out your hair quickly and know how to apply even pressure so that you'll barely feel the sting. As a plus, Tina and Ashley are great conversationalists and a whole lot less expensive than a shrink. 4201 Hamilton Ave., Northside, 513-541-4668.

Best Place to Pawn Your Wedding Ring: The recent demise of Will's Loan & Jewelry Shop has left a local vacuum among some patrons in search of brokering loans or finding pawned urban treasures. The Newport Pawn Shop fills this void nicely, every bit the old-school dive. Fair deals are to be had here - or at least the best you're going to find - and the shop's ambiance will give you that Sam Spade kind of feel that makes hawking the family jewels worth the loan. 634 Monmouth St., Newport, 859-431-8197.

photo: sean hughes/peTalk of the Town Photo: Matt Borgerding

Best Blast from the Past: Talk of the Town
Whether you're jonesing for a fabulous vintage score or need an outrageous costume from top to tails, Talk of the Town has you covered. The knowledgeable, laid-back staff seem to genuinely enjoy what they do, making the treasure hunt that much more fun. Whether you're looking for something specific - say, a bias-cut diaphanous silk gown from the '30s - or you prefer perusing clothing by category, the stock is well-organized, well-selected and covers a wide range of eras. Think somber Victorian through bad-neon '80s. Also not to be missed - the craziest, most colorful selection of fancy ladies' hats around. 9111 Reading Road, Reading, 513-563-8844.

Best Place for Low-Cost Pet Supplies: Pet Supplies Plus always has a killer deal for quadrupedic consumers. Their bargain bins in the front of the store are filled with a wide variety of supplies. You can find food, bedding and chews at up to 75 percent off retail and their bulk cat litter - name-brand litter that's spilled and been scooped back up - is only 19 cents a pound. You can even bring your dog in the store for a fun outing for both of you. 7712 Montgomery Road, Kenwood, 513-791-0850.

Best Holistic Veterinarian: Dr. Robert Gaston and the staff of the Veterinary Wellness Center in Harrison do things a bit differently than other vets. They'll still mend Fido's broken leg or spay Fluffy for you, but they also offer holistic pet care - which includes nutritional therapy, herbal and botanical medicine, chiropractic adjustments and acupuncture. While Western medicine is focused on suppressing symptoms, the Wellness Center seeks to correct the underlying problems leading to disease. 9970 Old Harrison Ave., Harrison, 513-367-4111.

Best Way to Get into Words: InkTank continues its dedication to making Cincinnati a more literate city, offering a variety of workshops and events aimed at "changing Cincinnati one word at a time." The Writer's Weekend is always a grand time - it features everyone from local scribes to national bigwigs like Dave Eggers - and is always free and open to the public. (This year's weekend is Sept. 29-30 at the new Art Academy in Over-the-Rhine.) Led by its dedicated staff and volunteers, InkTank is a treasure worthy of discovery. 1311 Main St., Over-the-Rhine, 513-542-0195.

Best Way to Get Away: In an age of cell phones, the Web and any number of head-invading diversions, the Mercantile Library is the perfect place to get away. Its well-stocked stacks offer an array of rare and not-so-rare finds, and its knowledgeable staff doesn't hesitate to point you in the right direction. If interaction is more your thing, the Mercantile hosts a number of events, from heavy-hitting author lectures - Don DeLillo and Salman Rushdie are past speakers - to writing workshops and book-group discussions. 414 Walnut St., Downtown, 513-621-0717.

Best Downtown Spot to Get a Hit of Graeter's: Sunshine Fine Foods would be fine by us for its extensive selection of juice, pop, cookies and potato chips - the hallmark of any good deli. But they've also got good fresh food from the deli counter and, to top it all off, with the Fourth Street Graeter's closed it's allegedly the only downtown spot stocking quarts of Graeter's ice cream. The deli trifecta. 720 Elm St., Downtown, 513-723-1331.

Best Funny-Ass De-funkdafier: MetroNation gets kudos for being an independent retailer that's managed to 1) stay downtown, 2) lend some real personality to a dead street corner and 3) stock eclectic home furnishings. The latest are their car air fresheners. We like "President Bush's Dumb Ass On a String," though we're afraid to open it. It is his dumb ass on a string, after all. 824 Elm St., Downtown, 513-564-0095.