12 September 18 - 24, 2025 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Contents | ReadeRs’ PiCks | shoPPing & seRviCes | aRts & enteRtainment | Food & dRink | sPoRts & ReCReation › BEST GIFT SHOP Outpost Fine Goods At this finely curated space, peruse the shelves of constantly changing hand-selected high-quality products, rummage through the racks of vintage goods or just sit by the bar and enjoy a brew on tap with the healthy companionship of the owners and their dog. Offerings range from hand-poured candles to eco-friendly skin care, and all in between, perfect for the last-minute gift for even the pickiest of birthday boys and girls. A stop at Outpost is never the same, but it’s always a treat, and just about impossible to escape without a shopping bag. Be warned. 1320 W. Davis St. outpostfinegoods.shop › BEST ANTIQUE MALL Lula B’s There is no better place for trinkets and tchotchkes than Lula B’s. More than 50 booths are at both locations, so it takes hours to go through all the treasures that line every inch of the massive warehouses. Whether you’re looking for the single-stitch quality of an ’80s era T-shirt, an ornate stained glass Tiffany lamp or new- to-you shelf decor, Lula B’s is your place. Most of the booths at the Oak Cliff location are rented by vintage clothing resellers, while the Design District spot has more furniture, but both are well worth a visit. 1982 Fort Worth Ave., 214-824-2185 1010 N. Riverfront Blvd., 214-749-1929 instagram.com/lulabsoc › BEST INCLUSIVE SALON Crecer Salon Everybody’s had “just a trim” become a hack job, but that doesn’t happen at Crecer Salon. The space, which doubles as a plant shop and nail salon, goes above and beyond to invite open communication between clients and stylists. The LatinX- owned shop cuts and colors anyone and has several Spanish-speaking stylists, making sure language won’t keep you from the perfect ’do. Their seasoned stylists can do almost anything, so whether you’re interested in playing around with an asymmetrical hime cut, want a lived-in blond or need a hand- tailored curly cut, they’ve got you covered. 428 W Davis St., No. 2 972-863-9288 crecerdallas.com › BEST THC SHOP Dallas Hemp Co. Get it, and get it good while you still can. Dallas Hemp Co. brings luxury to the Dallas hemp scene, from a family farm in the valleys of Colorado to the sparkling, lit glass display cases in the Lakewood Shopping & Services Jessica Patrice Turner LOOK AT PEN AMERICA’S LIST OF BOOKS BANNED in some of the nation’s school libraries, and it’s not hard to spot a theme: Books about people of color and LGBTQ+ people are targets. “During the 2023-2024 school year, 36% of all banned titles featured characters or people of color and a quarter (25%) included LGBTQ+ people or characters,” the literary/free speech group wrote earlier this year about the status of school book bans. “Erasure of identities is even clearer within certain types of books: 73% of all graphic and illustrated titles feature LGBTQ+ representation, people or characters of color, or discuss race or racism.” Erase as hard as they might, book-banners seldom succeed in eliminating the words that capture the people, history and images they would rather bury. People like Akwete Tyehimba, owner of Pan-African Connection Bookstore, Art Gallery and Resource Center, are devoted to ensuring that doesn’t happen. For nearly 37 years, her bookstore, art gallery, clothing shop and community center has offered Dallas readers books written by and about Black people and culture often not found on the mass market. “They’re trying to erase history,” Tyehimba says. “It can be erased if it’s not accessible.” She says it can become less accessible if readers don’t support independent bookstores. The Observer spoke with Tyehimba in a side area of her shop, next to a table lined with clothing from her son’s line of athletic wear. She runs Pan-African herself with help from her three grown children, maintaining a business created by her husband, Bandele Tyehimba, first at Jefferson Boulevard and Beckley Avenue in Oak Cliff before it moved east to Marsalis Avenue 10 years ago. “It was really his idea … to dispel myths and replace negative images with positive ones, especially of our young ones,” she says. When he passed away in 2012, she was working for Delta Airlines. She retired a couple of years later to run the store to keep his goal alive. Calling Pan-African a bookstore might seem strange once you step inside. Much of the store is filled with African carvings. There are racks of brightly dyed clothing, art on the walls and shelves of jewelry, oils and cosmetics. At the heart, though, is an extensive collection of books, and the center’s online shop highlights titles such as The Black Agenda: Bold Solutions for a Broken System, a collection of writings about racism and white supremacy in post-COVID America, edited by Anna Gifty Opoku- Agyeman. Books of poetry, fiction, history, memoirs and children’s books fill the list. Books are its biggest sellers, Tyehimba says, but “you don’t make a lot of profit out of books.” Items such as shea butter, cosmetics and health and wellness goods support the literary side of the business. More important is the support her store gets from being a long-term center offering programs for the community. “It’s a loyal base that wants to see us stick around,” she says. “...They do make sure they’re coming here to buy those books.” She welcomes the growing number of independent bookstores that have opened over the nearly four decades of Pan-African’s existence. The economy, she says, is a “little scary” right now. With money tight and censors emptying bookshelves in school libraries, independents are needed to connect with their communities and keep the words and ideas flowing. “You can buy those banned books here,” she says. “...That’s what we’re going to have to do, is support our local stores and buy those banned books.” 4466 S Marsalis Ave., 214-943-8262, panafricanconnection.com Best Seller of Banned Books Akwete Tyehimba, Pan-African Connection Bookstore, Art Gallery and Resource Center
