FIRST: Off the Wagon

Off the Wagon has been in Kent since 2009 and specializes in weird and funny toys, games and gifts.

Off the Wagons’ products range throughout the store. The game section showcases classic games like Clue or Jenga, newer games like Codenames or Exploding Kittens and even an area for more complex games like Dungeons and Dragons or Magic the Gathering.

“We offer an open and welcoming environment to a bunch of different types of people,” Off the Wagon employee Greyson Thorman said. “It’s more of a diverse shopping experience.”

Off the Wagons’ toy selection includes yo-yos, Rubik’s cubes, stress balls and stuffed animals. 

“I think we’ve built a really awesome team. I think we’re able to kind of bring a sort of fun element to the experience for customers,” Thorman said. “Tell a few jokes, bring them in on it, make it fun for everybody. We like to really emphasize that it is a fun and happy place to be.”

Customers can buy gag gifts such as sour cream and onion candy, hot dog flavored candy canes and an “emotional support chicken” toy. Socks with phrases like “It’s OK to Fart” hang on the walls. The shop also sells stationery products.  

“We cover a lot of different bases,” Thorman said. “We have a big game section, we’re great for gifting. I think that because of how many products we offer and how different a lot of our products are, that helps us to kind of get an edge.”

SECOND: Hippie Fox Rocks

Walking into the Hippie Fox Rocks, customers will see rows of crystals in an array of colors lining the windowsills, tables and shelves. The shop specializes in crystal-based jewelry, other metaphysical items like tarot cards and incense. 

The business, which opened in December 2021 in Acorn Alley, even recently started selling clothing.

Owner Jared Abell said he and his staff try to be “super” helpful when customers come in looking for specific items. 

“If someone comes in with something they’re going through in life, maybe they’re moving to a new place for a new job, and they want a stone or crystal that’s good for new beginnings, we’d recommend lepidolite,” he said. “Just being very customer-focused I think helps a lot.” 

The shop has become more popular the longer it has been open, Abell said. 

“It has turned out to be a lot of fun. We have a fan base now. When we first opened nobody even knew we existed,” Abell said. “Now that people know that we exist and we got a lot of regulars that come in the store, that makes it a lot of fun.”

With a colorful and diverse selection of gemstones and crystals, Hippie Fox Rocks has “something for everyone.”

“Even if someone’s not really into crystals, and maybe they’re not even a hippie, but there’s a lot of fun things in here, even if it’s just gifts,” Abell said. “If someone’s just stumbling around, kind of bored in downtown Kent, it’s a great place to visit. There’s a lot of fun things just to look at.”

THIRD: Last Exit Books

Last Exit Books opened in 2004 as just a small bookstore in downtown Kent. 

Since then, it has grown and expanded into a vinyl house and coffee shop that also sells movies, CDs and more. 

“You can grab a coffee and be able to walk around and do your shopping,” manager Cassady Troyer-Schnippel said. “The openness and the vibe that the place gives is just very open and accepting.”

Students are seen sitting at tables, studying or chatting with friends while sipping on a drink from the coffee shop. 

Last Exit hosts open-mic poetry and book readings, which allow local writers to showcase their work. Local musicians play live music in the store throughout the year. Musician Dale Galgozy came in to perform during this year’s Beatlefest in February. 

This shop specializes in selling used books, which customers can donate or bring into the store.

“A lot of those are donations, or we do buybacks as well,” Troyer-Schnippel said. “People can bring in books, and we’ll take a look at them and give them cash or in-store credit for them.”

With rows of bookshelves filling one side of the shop, lines of vinyls on the other and tables and chairs throughout, Last Exit has it all according to Troyer-Schnippel. 

“I had been a frequent customer of Last Exit since I came to college in 2017,” Troyer-Schnippel said. “Books, movies, music and coffee all in one. It’s just the perfect combination.”

Addison Foreman is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].