Arizona Highways Magazine Gift Shop

Tiny gift shop at the magazine headquarters. They used to sell AZ Highways calendar at Walgreens and other retail outlets, but not any more. So, I make an annual treck down here from N. Scottsdale every year to pick up the neato calendar. They have a sparse amount of other gift sho items, but again, it's really small and they don't have a lot of stuff.

The Arizona Highways Magazine Gift Shop is a hidden gem. Not a huge selection but what they have is amazing. It took me a while to find it because it is tucked away. It was definitely worth the trip over. I managed to find the post cards and calendars I was looking for to send our friends back east.

I have two Cavalier King Charles spaniels (they were rescue dogs) the only dogs allowed on the Parliament floor in England because they are so well behaved... which translates into they are very lazy and could be mistaken for pillows. Unless they get out of the gate and suddenly they turn into greyhounds chasing an invisible rabbit around the track of my neighborhood. They have only chewed up three things in the year they have lived with me... the cover of Haruki Murakami's novel The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle an amazing read and obviously a tasty cover, a lime green fat boy chair I bought at the going out of business sale at Haus (tears run rings around my eyes) the day I brought it home, and my recent copy of Arizona Highways. The Arizona Highways was only nibbled and slobbered on so perhaps they were reading about new places to run to. Have you seen the newest issue with "33 of the state's quirkiest names and where they came from...?" Baby Mummy Cave, Bloody Basin, Gripe, Nothing... If I had a dollar for every time I wondered why Bloody Basin was named Bloody Basin while speeding past the sign at eighty miles an hour... well, I could afford a really good steak and bottle or two of the best wine at Durant's. Really, no kidding. And, I just found out they have a store. What does the Arizona Highways' store sell? I live nearby so today I am making the trek to find out. It was fun finding out how some of the crazy names in Arizona came to be. I love this magazine and especially the older issues... I find them at Bookmans. (Top Secret: I bring in some of the more horrifying videos in my five year daughter's collection such as her Care Bear videos and exchange them for back issues of A.H. sweet.) So if you want to know the secret to Bloody Basin check out your nearest grocery store magazine stand... and I'll let you know more about the store as soon as I get back.

Not a huge selection of trinkets, but What this place lacks in variety it makes up for in character. It is a tiny gift shop for the worldwide publication of Arizona Highways Magazine in print since 1925. There are beautiful postcards, books, magazines, jellies, Dream catchers, candles, earrings, Stuff for kids and for adults, socks, etc. The older woman who works there took to our two little girls and gave them some free magazines, she was very nice and sat down with us for a while and taught us about Arizona. Definitely a place to pop in to if you are in the area!

This is the original store, over by the Fairgrounds. Its jammed with all sorts of Arizona souvenirs and memorabilia. I think the Christmas ornaments are a great value. State owned at least for a while