One of Telluride's two bookstores, this "Main Street" store specializes in guidebooks on Colorado and the West. There's an espresso bar in back.

Open Mondays through Fridays 8 am to 9 pm, Saturdays and Sundays 9 am to 9 pm.

Telluride is the type of place where dogs are de facto decision makers who govern the daily schedule of their "masters." Hence, Mountain Tails's $415 dog bed. An extensive canine snack collection includes Fido Fish Jerky and its optimal chaser, Good Dog Breath Mints.

Open Mondays through Saturdays 11 am to 5:30 pm, Sundays noon to 5 pm.

Altruists like Telluride's longest-running sports store for its ongoing sponsorship of local bike racers and grassroots ski competitions. Others come just for employee Herb Manning (who works at the store's Oak Street Branch), a frequently photographed ski model who's renowned as the town's best technician for mounting bindings. Paragon also carries gear ranging from cold-weather North Face apparel and K2 skis to Smith goggles.

Open daily 8 am to 8 pm.

The Toggery is a clunky name for the most venerable clothing store in town. Thirty-something years after its founding, it remains the place to buy Ugg boots, Levi's, or the swimsuit for the hot-tub fest tonight.

Open Mondays through Saturdays 9 am to 9 pm, Sundays 9 am to 8 pm.