So here's the lowdown on the Greater Lexington shopping scene. In one day of good shopping in the area, you could purchase hand-painted dolls from Russia, pottery made from local clay, a pair of jockey's racing silks and even a 19th-century armoire. In terms of variety and sheer number of shopping possibilities, Lexington and the surrounding area are a retail paradise.

In terms of superlatives, the area boasts several unusual ones, including the oldest continuously working pottery west of the Alleghenies (Bybee Pottery), the second largest mall in the state (Fayette Mall) and, for what it's worth, a Wal-Mart with the state's largest retaining wall in front of it (on Richmond Road).

This chapter loosely groups shopping options by location, with the exception of antiques stores and shops and sporting goods stores, which are listed together under specific category headings.

If you're determined, and you have a full day to spend, it's possible to sample the scope of what the area has to offer in the way of stores, shops, boutiques, malls and studios. But you will probably enjoy local shopping more if you are able to spend a few days and divide your shopping excursions into categories.

For instance, you might want to take the better part of a day to go to Berea, about 40 miles south of Lexington, and browse through the dozens of antiques stores and malls and the many working arts and crafts studios. Then you could take another day to do Lexington's malls, a day to spend in the Hambur Pavilion and another for downtown shopping, etc.