Tax-free shopping without going all the way to Oregon

This Saturday, April 25th, head to West Seattle for The Junction Rebellion, your chance to shop a slew of fantastic West Seattle businesses without the sting of that pesky sales tax. If you already know and love the Junction (the downtown area stretching out from the intersection of California and Alaska streets) then this is another, more heavily discounted, chance to visit the neighborhood. But if this is one of those parts of Seattle you know about and always mean to explore but haven’t yet, the time is now!

A few of my favorites, all of which are participating in Saturday’s festivities:

Shoofly Pie Company offers fantastic sweet pies like banana cream (yum!) as well as their savory cousins, including a carmelized onion galette and a ham gruyere scallion quiche.

If you’re looking for interesting shoes that can’t be found just anywhere, Clementine is worth a visit. It’s one of several shoe boutiques around town that offers a unique selection of footwear, but I go there because they are always incredibly friendly and helpful. Why not spend your money where people are actually nice, I say.

Swee Swee Paperie’s name may sound a bit precious, but I’m a sucker for lovely and well made paper goods and they have some of the best. I especially like their selection of letterpress notecards. Who wouldn’t want to receive one of these beauties?

Ah, Bakery Nouveau… They offer a dizzying selection of mouthwatering breakfast pastries (twice baked chocolate croissants and the like), breads, sandwiches (roast beef on brioche, anyone?), pizza, and quiche, but you absolutely must try the cakes, tarts, and desserts. A small sampling: chocolate mocha cheese cake, praline dream mousse, black currant panna cotta, salt caramel apple tart, and pot de crème.

[Thanks to Daily Candy for the tip on The Junction Rebellion]