Fictional Stores We Wish We Could Shop At

Movies, in addition to having actors we'd like to sleep with, living lives we wish we led, also frequently feature places we'd love to be able to experience—cities we'd like to visit, bars we'd like to drink at, and stores we'd kill to shop at. You know, if they were actually real. On the upside, if the following retail establishments did exist, they'd just be yet another temptation in the midst of summer sale season.

We've put together a collection of our favorite fictional stores that sell everything from records to whoopee cushions to crazy disco platforms with goldfish swimming in the soles. These shopping spots may be figments of our imagination, but we'd be down to browse through their shelves, stacks, and discount bins if they were to magically materialize off the movie screen and in the real world.

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As seen on: To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything...
Desirable wares: Vintage clothing, '60s modwear, second-hand books

It's no shocker that Noxeema Jackson flips out over the vintage '60s fringe she finds in a ramshackle shop, and we'd be hard-pressed to find someone who wouldn't have a similar reaction to the goldmine of retro finds at Jimmy Joe's. As Mackelmore would say, "One man's trash is another (wo)man's come up."

As seen on: This Is 40
Desirable wares: Hippie-chic couture, free boob grabs

A place where the employees bang random dudes on the cash register and let you feel them up doesn't make for the healthiest work environment. But hey, the clothes in Debbie's boutique in were cute as hell. We'd definitely shop there; we'd just bring some Purell just in case some of the surfaces in the store were, erm, gently used.

As seen on: Clerks
Desirable wares: VHS rentals, snarky clerks, Jay & Silent Bob Cameos

RST Video, the shop where Kevin Smith worked and filmed Clerks (the cult classic that launched his career) did exist, but it's been closed since the movie wrapped in 1994. We'd definitely swing through to grab Chasing Amy on VHS (if, you know, we still had a tape player) and check it out in living color, given that we got to know RST Video in black and white.

As seen on: Pretty in Pink
Desirable wares: Second-hand tapes, 8-tracks, vinyl

Molly Ringwald's Andy may have been an awkward outcast at school, but she hung around one of the raddest record shops in film history, Trax. If the shopkeeper's rocking liberty spikes and the kind of clothes you'd never dare to wear yourself, you're definitely in the right spot for funky finds, and Trax's owner Iona (Annie Potts) definitely pushes the envelope sartorially as Andy's big sister-type and boss.

As seen on: Notting Hill
Desirable wares: Hot British shopkeepers, travel guides, assorted travel lit

Who says you can't judge a book by its cover? Hugh Grant owns and runs a posh, beautifully lit bookstore in Notting Hill, and based on his looks and the store's charming interior alone, we'd undoubtedly be regualrs. Yes, even if it meant pretending to be in need of guidebooks for trips we'd never take.

As seen on: High Fidelity
Desirable wares: Rare vinyl, bad attitudes, bitter mid-life crisis resentments

You know you're in good hands when the jerks running the vinyl shop care more about their records than they do their girlfriends, especially when they happen to be walking music encyclopedias, one-upping each other over obscure rock and roll trivia. High Fidelity's Championship Vinyl may not win in the congenial employees department, but they certainly take home the title for our favorite fictional record store.

As seen on: Hairspray
Desirable wares: Whoopee cushions, Gag gifts

Why Tracy Turnblad doesn't hang out in her dad's laugh emporium whenever she's not dancing her face off in Hairspray is a mystery to us. This place is full of every kind of whoopee cushion and joke toy you could possibly dream of, and it'd be sure to entertain any prospective shopper for hours on end with its plethora of cheesy gags.

As seen on: Empire Records
Desirable wares: CDs, Vinyl, Rex Manning memorabilia

Shock me, shock me, shock me with that cart full of fantastic '90s vinyl! 1993-1996 may have been a golden age for cult cinema in and of itself (Dazed and Confused, Reality Bites, etc.), but the best spot to comb the racks in all our favorite '90s flicks has to be Empire Records' namesake shop. Where else are you going to find a Chainsaw Kittens mix tape and an impromptu rooftop performance from your new favorite band? Exactly.

As seen on: The 40 Year Old Virgin
Desirable wares: Fishtank disco nightmare shoes

Though we can't understand the business model of a store that banks on the laziness people who can't create their own eBay account, Trish's store in The 40 Year Old Virgin still gets an honorable mention on this list for its shamelessness alone. Plus, did you see those sparkly boots? They were glitter platforms with goldfish in the damn soles! We don't blame Jonah Hill's character for obsessing over them. Not one bit.

As seen on: Be Kind Rewind
Desirable wares: Videos, duh

Even though all of its VHS tapes get totally erased in the beginning of the movie, a pop into the video store in Be Kind Rewind would be a no-brainer for any film aficionado. DVDs are great and all, but we'd be more amped to rent the zany, DIY takes on Ghostbusters and Rush Hour 2 Jerry (Jack Black) and Mike (Mos Def) conjured up to replace the tapes they accidentally destroyed early on in the flick.