Los Angeles Travel Guide (Los Angeles, California)

You can buy virtually anything, anywhere, anytime in LA. The big department stores or the exclusive Rodeo Drive will have it if the ubiquitous run-of-the-mill retailers don't, and if all else fails try LA's massive malls , which often resemble self-contained city suburbs as much as shopping precincts. The antiseptic CityWalk mall at Universal Studios distills a dozen LA neighborhoods into cutout facades fronting all the national chain stores, complete with a sandy beach. At the central seven-acre Beverly Center , at Beverly and La Cienega boulevards, you'll find designer stores, fourteen cinemas and ample opportunities for star-spotting, all above a giant parking garage. Another local favorite is the Century City Mall , 10250 Santa Monica Blvd, Century City, aimed at middle-class and upscale - but unpretentious - buyers. West Hollywood and Melrose Avenue hold many of the city's trendier boutiques, but if you're after a first edition of Shirley MacLaine's autobiography, old movies stills or a rare Beatles "butcher cover" LP in mint condition, try one of the places we've listed.