Edition: St. Louis Attractions
Shopping: Made in St. Louis
Author: Erin Callier
When you travel to Florence, it's an unwritten rule-- you must purchase some sort of leather food. When you venture into Switzerlad, you often return with a certain multi-function tool, a suitcase full of half-melted chocolate, or both. And every last one of us knows what the town of Hershey, Pennsylvania is best known for. But when you visit St. Louis, what must you absolutely, positively bring home? A miniature replica of the Arch? A sunburn from spending an entire day at the Zoo? Well, yes of course, but there are also many products and goodies made right here in St. Louis that visitors will remember long after the sunburn has faded.
Any amount of time spent in St. Louis requires a stop into Bissinger's -- St. Louis's own version of Godiva or Ghirardelli's. The Bissinger family has been in the business of handmade confections for over 350 years. In France, founder Karl Frederic Bissinger was even named the Confiseur Imperial , or "Candy Maker of the Empire," by Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1845, Karl Bissinger innigrated to the U.S. and in 1927, his son, Karl Jr., opened the first Bissinger kitchen and shop in St.
Louis. Hand-making each of their chocolates and other confections one piece at a time, Bissinger's is committed to tradition, class and quality-- yielding the most decadent of results. Visit one or all three of Bissinger's locations to taste the chocolates oce favored by the Emperor of France himself.
Many cities are known for a particular food. Philadelphia has its cheesesteak, New York has its pizza, and San Francisco has Rice-A-Roni. Foods unique to St. Louis may not be universally know, but when asked, any true St. Louisan will tell you that our two famous foods are toasted ravioli and gooey butter cake. If you've never tasted -no, savored- the latter, HollyBerry Baking Company is the perfect place to try your first piece. Founded by Holly Cunningham, HollyBerry Baking Company offers both original and Bissinger's Chocolate gooey butter cake, delectable cookies, fudge browies, and more. Once you've experienced HollyBerry's confections ad you leave our fair city, the cravings will most definately set in. But, don't fret, HollyBerry ships their tasty treats throughout the country on a daily basis.
A trip to St. Louis in which you do not visit the Anheuser-Busch Brewery would be like visiting Orlando and not seeing Disney World or travelling to Paris and not seeing the Eiffel Tower. Budweiser, "The Kind of Beers" was bor right here in St. Louis in 1876, and forgoing a trip to its birthplace would be downright un-American. Free tours of the
brewery run seven days a week ans, age permitting, you can sample a few of the new brews. The gift shop carries everything you would expect from a brewery shop -- beer steins and more.
Since its inception 11 years ago, Build-A-Bear Workshop has taken the all-American teddy bear to an entirely new, inspired level. Many people may not know that the "beary" first Build-A-Bear Workshop, where kids and adults help make and clothe their own furry friends, debuted in the Saint Louis Galleria. The company's "World Bearquarters" is right here in St. Louis, as well. Our proximity to the Bearquarters means St. Louis is often the first place Build-a-Bear tries something new. In addition to three mall locations, Build-a-Bear Workshop has unique locations in the Saint Louis Zoo, Busch Stadium, and the Saint Louis Science Center, where they offer exclusive outfits for their variety of creatures, such as dinosaurs or the Cardinals mascot, Fredbird.
Inevitably, every St. Louis attraction has some form of a gift shop, and in said gift shop, they probably offer t-shirts and other parapernalia emblazoned with our town's name or some sort of cheesy quip. If a wearable memento is what you seek, but touristy fashions will not do, the folks at STL-Style have cornered the market on clever clothing for St. Louisans or visitors who want to represent. With inspired slogans like, "East St. Louis: Feel the Magic" and cool, vintage-like graphics, STL-Style is a refreshing alternative to the oversized tourist-T's you will find elsewhere. Founded by brothers Jeff and Randy Vines, STL-Style is primarily web-based, but you can also find their clever (Warning: sometimes adult-themed) t-shirts, underwear, stickers, 
hats, children's apparel, and more at local stores like Vintage Vinyl in Universal City and Paperdolls downtown.
Like the rest of our nation's cities, St. Louis has the requisite Starbucks popping up on every corner, but nothing conveys a city's people and atmosphere more honestly than the locally owned and operated coffee shops. Kaldi's Coffee Roasting Company is the perfect neighborhood cafe and so much more. Named after the Ethiopian goat herder rumored to have discovered the stimulating effects of caffeine, Kaldi's hand-roasts and blends their own, incomparable beans here in St. Louis. There are four locations in the St. Louis area and each has its own neighborhood-appropriate feel. In addition to the addictive coffees and espressos, Kadi's offers soups, salads, sandwiches, and sweets- their humus and/or oatmeal bars are a must-try. At any of the Kaldi's locations, you can sit, sip, munch, read, and just soak up the St. Louis-ness of it all for hours. Kaldi's also has an online presence (kaldiscoffee.com) for those out-of-towners who would be hard pressed to find a better brew and want Kaldi's freshly roasted beans shipped to their door.
