Ithaca is home to one of the world's most successful local currency experiments. The Ithaca Hour (http://www.ithacahours.org) is Ithaca's local currency and is accepted by more than 600 local merchants and service providers. Using Ithaca Hours contributes to Ithaca's economy and small businesses. The Autumn Leaves bookstore at Ithaca Commons serves as the unofficial home of Ithaca's local currency and is the best place to go to acquire Hours. Of course, U.S. dollars are also used in Ithaca.
Shopping in Ithaca is in four major areas: Downtown/Commons, Meadow Street/Route 13, Collegetown, and Lansing/Mall area.
Downtown/Commons
The most typical ithaca items can be bought downtown in the commons area. local crafts are of exceptional quality. ubiquitous green "ithaca is gorges" t-shirts can be bought here as well.
Meadow Street/Route 13
Also known as the strip. the "big-box" stores have been moving in in a major way in recent years along meadow st. drugstores, cellphone stores, supermarkets, and major discount retailers are often present in multiple incarnations. there is not much exciting here for the out-of-towner although it is certainly practical. an exception is northside liquors see the drink section.
Collegetown
Just across cascadilla gorge from the cornell campus, is mostly home to restaurants and businesses catering to the college crowd, and there are several shops specializing in cornell- and ithaca-related merchandise.
Lansing/Mall
Finally, just north of ithaca in lansing is the shops at ithaca mall formerly known as the pyramid mall, recently expanded to hold borders now closing, best buy, dick's sporting goods, and target, offering a fairly broad and ubiquitous selection of shops. nearby are the triphammer and cayuga malls, which are less elaborate.
Books
Comics for Collectors
207 n. aurora - graphic novels and comics.
Colophon Books
205 n aurora.
Home Green Home
215 the commons, has small book section with titles related to sustainable living.
Snow Lion Publications
605 w. state but enter via parking lot off 600 block of w. green - a tibetan buddhist book publisher, also has a browsable area in their warehouse for books and buddhist tchotchkes.
Autumn Leaves
115 the commons. 607 273-8239. open 7 days a week. 60,000 books, 10,000 records and a cafe, all under one roof.
The Phoenix Books
1608 dryden rd. [rt. 13], going north toward dryden
Barnes & Noble
Route 13 s next to tops supermarket
Mayer's News Stand
318 e. state - a huge selection of periodicals with some mass-market books.
Within a 20-minute drive of Ithaca you can also find two barn-sized used-book sellers:
A number of independent book sellers continue to thrive in the city and its immediate vicinity. Downtown Ithaca bookstores on or very near the Commons include the following:
Book Barn of the Finger Lakes
198 north rd. just off rt. 13 in dryden, across from the tompkins-cortland community college entrance.
Also, one "big-box" bookstore can be found in Ithaca:
Cornell University Bookstore
135 ho plaza on the cornell campus - has a selection of general books in addition to textbooks.
If you'll be in Ithaca in May or October, look into the dates of the huge Friends of the Library (http://www.booksale.org/) book sale, which lasts a week or two for each sale period and offers over 250,000 items for sale, with proceeds supporting the fancy, new but cash-strapped county library on the corner of Green and Cayuga Streets.